Edmonton Oilers player review and 2023-24 preview: Stuart Skinner

Welcome back, Stuart Skinner.

After a great start to the season last year for the Oilers filling in for a struggling Jack Campbell, Skinner’s game began to trail off towards the end of the year and into the playoffs. While the workload for him was significant — something he’s well adapted to, given his status as a workhorse in the past — the NHL grind is a different game.

In the playoffs, Skinner struggled in the crease, and the Oilers struggled in their zone. It led to his playoff numbers being significantly lower than his regular season numbers.

What lies ahead is an intriguing season for Skinner. He should be the Oilers’ number one guy, but Jack Campbell posted a .971 save percentage across three pre-season starts this year, forcing himself back into the starting goalie conversation. We saw Skinner start 48 games to Campbell’s 34 last year, but is there a world where we see both goaltenders hover around the 41-win mark as a true 1A/1B situation? It’s likely.

Campbell is paid as the starter and Skinner the backup, but the Oilers don’t view the salaries as any level of determining factor in who their No. 1 is. It’s a sum of parts rather than two individual numbers. And after all, the $7.6-million Edmonton has invested in their goaltending is right around, if not just below, the league average mark.