BLOG: Skinner well-equipped to handle Oilers starting job

EDMONTON, AB – With only seven days remaining until puck drop on the 2024-25 NHL regular season, teams are in the midst of making their final decisions for opening night rosters.

While the Oilers have been monitoring the makeup of their blueline pairings and who could possibly slot in on the fourth line, Head Coach Kris Knoblauch and his team haven't had to worry about who will start in the crease on opening night.

Who else but Stuart Skinner – the same individual who started 57 games for the Oilers last season?

The phrase 'mature beyond his years' has been used frequently to describe Skinner, and the 26-year-old Edmonton product is often quick to share his personal reflections when asked about his game; or in this case, how much he's evolved as a person over the past year.

"Yeah, very different,” Skinner said following Tuesday’s practice. “I think the way everything kind of happened, the things that I've been able to go through as a person and as a hockey player, it helps you grow. You can take it either way. So for me, it's just trying to learn and trying to be the best that I can possibly be.

"Being able to go through those experiences has helped me get to where I'm at today, and I'll continue that."

There's no speculation surrounding this team's focus this season—they're looking to lift the Stanley Cup at the end of June (or, as defenceman Phil Kemp said earlier in Camp, “they're chasing 35 pounds of silver.”) Stuart will be tasked with being the Oilers' number one netminder, and come February, he could be representing Team Canada at the Four Nations Faceoff.

It's an opportunity he’d be excited to embrace, but not just yet.

"That also doesn't matter,” he said bluntly. “I think the most important thing is just getting ready for the regular season here. We’ve got two more games, so those are opportunities for us to prepare the best way we can to have a good start.

“Obviously, we don't want to do what we did last year at the start of the season, so it's our job to prepare ourselves the best way that we can."

So far, Skinner has appeared in two pre-season games for the Oilers – starting in Winnipeg against the Jets on Sept. 25 and against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Place this past Monday. While he's expected to see more pre-season action, the workload ahead in the regular season for him isn't something the netminder or his coaches are concerned about.

"I don't think it would be [a problem] for Stu," Kris Knoblauch stated. "You look at how well he's handled adversity throughout the year. After a bad game, he's always responded.

“I think he's pretty mellow. He doesn't get too high, too low or whatever. When he has a shut-out performance, he doesn't change. If he has a bad game, which there haven’t been very many, he’s the same guy the next day at practice. So I think his mindset and the way he conducts himself, I'm not really too worried about that. Other goalies who are maybe a little more immature and can't handle that pressure, then I think you do have to worry.

“But I think with Stu, he's pretty level-headed."

That level-headed approach was apparent last year when Stuart carried the bulk of the workload in the Oilers' crease with a 36-16-5 record, a 2.62 goals against average and a .905 save percentage over 59 appearances.

His tandem partner, Calvin Pickard, stepped into the picture last November and shouldered 20 starts over the remainder of the regular season. Pickard also stepped in during the second round of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs and earned the Oilers a split of Games Five and Six. But even more importantly, it gave his partner Skinner a chance to reset.

Skinner has reflected on some of those challenges he faced over the course of the 2023-24 campaign and how they might prove to be valuable lessons for him as Edmonton’s number one goaltender.

"It's really just moments. It's moments in a season", Stuart admitted. "One moment I can think of is when I had a really deep conversation with Vinny [Desharnais] after a game in St. Louis, and it was one of those games that I just didn't feel fantastic physically or mentally as well. So I look back on how I reacted to a situation like that. I also look at how I reacted during Vancouver. Going through that in St. Louis helped me against Vancouver and during the playoffs, and that's why I was able to come back stronger.

"Everything can be a blessing in disguise if you look at it that way."

When asked how many games he'd feel comfortable playing this season, Skinner's response was quick and accompanied by a clever smirk.

"82."

For the ‘Look Good, Feel Good, Play Good’ believers out there, Skinner will be rocking new gear this season.

The netminder has one set dedicated to home games and another dedicated to away games – a style choice Oil Country became familiar with when Mike Smith guarded the Oilers crease from 2019-22.

Stuart debuted his Royal Blue & Orange gear during game action on Sept. 30 at Rogers Place against the Canucks. While the pads, glove and blocker are flashy and colourful, he also added a few details to his mask this season.

On the left-hand side, there’s his infamous moustache. But if you look on the right-hand side, you’ll see a touching tribute to his family that the netminder picked out as the critical piece.

"The bear paws are the most important for me,” he said. “ It just resembles my family, my wife, my one kid [Beau] and I have another one on the way, so I got the third one for him,” he said. “The mustache is just for me.”

Stuart and his wife, Chloe, will welcome their second child in 2025.

With new gear and a fresh mindset, Stuart is ready to tackle this season and all of its glory when the Oilers host the Winnipeg Jets for their home opener on Oct. 9 at Rogers Place.