The Edmonton Oilers haven’t had the preseason they were hoping for, managing to win only half of their games so far. While the forward unit has done its part to generate offense, Stuart Skinner’s continued struggles in goal remain a concern for the team.
Despite the Oilers’ best efforts, Skinner has yet to regain the form he showed before last season’s playoffs. To make matters worse, a recent anonymous ranking has revealed just how far the team’s primary goaltender has fallen behind his peers.
Has Stuart Skinner Fallen Behind His Peers in Latest Goalie Rankings?
The Oilers’ struggles with their goaltending as the franchise once again lost a game to the Vancouver Canucks last week. With opening night just days away, Skinner and Calvin Pickard need to figure out something to secure a playoff berth.
However, while the Oilers continue to struggle, the latest ranking by The Athletic’s judging panel places Skinner right at Tier-4 of their latest judging of goalies. The 11-person panel of voters judged the goaltenders on how they think they will perform this season.
And Skinner failed to impress them. While contemporaries like the Panthers’ Sergei Bobrovsky and the Stars’ Jake Oettinger made it to the top ten, Skinner was stuck at #25.
With an average tier rating of 3.27, Skinner proved to be the most polarizing goalie for the panelists. While two of them gave him a Grade 2, five of them gave him a Grade 4. They argued that despite his back-to-back Finals losses, his resume is phenomenal on paper.
Not to mention, his 62 wins across the last three seasons place him sixth on the list of goalies with the most wins and second on the playoffs list with 21 wins. But his .901 SV% places him 36th out of a list of 52 goalies with more than 50 starts.
The panelists argued that while Skinner’s 6’4″ frame covers a lot of net, he has struggled in his lateral movements and his ability to stop shots. To make things worse for the Oilers, backup goalie Calvin Pickard is at dead last on the 38-man list at #38.
The panelists agreed that while what Pickard did in last season’s playoffs was heroic, it wasn’t enough to take the Oilers to Game 7. With an SV% of .892 and a GAA of 2.72, his performance could only carry him to a 4.64 average tier rating.
But despite his shortcomings, they believe that Pickard has what it takes to remain the Oilers’ 1B goalie. However, with the Oilers recently acquiring Connor Ingram for their goalie tandem, things might be tough for both Skinner and Pickard.
While Skinner is predicted to remain the starting goalie, Pickard’s future might be in jeopardy. In his best season, Ingram saved 17.68 goals over 50 games across the 2023-24 season, which was better than any of Pickard’s 10 seasons, so the ceiling is certainly higher.
It remains to be seen how the Oilers will fare on October 8, when they play their opener against Alberta rivals the Calgary Flames. But for now, both Skinner and Pickard might be standing on thin ice.
