Leon Draisaitl is not having a good season, he's having a great season

[Perfect_Drug]

I wouldn't say Skinner had a bad game. He let in 6 sure, but I don't think any were egregious.

Goal 1 was a breakaway shot placed just between the pad and blocker.

Goal 2 was a kicked in goal that trickled fivehole.

Goal 3 was a fluke rebound bounce off Emberson then off Skinner's shoulder in.

Goal 4 was a completely wide open cross seam chance. Don't know what the forwards were doing there.

Goal 5 was a shot from behind the goal line off Skinner's head and in.

Goal 6 was a wide open shot from the slot, Skinner screened by his own player.


Comple of fluke goals, couple of disaster defensive breakdowns. Team had an off night. In the previous 6 starts Skinner is like 5-1 with a .950 s%. Hes playing well.

You realise goalies are able to make a high danger save once in a while right? Like most average NHL goalies can occasionally save a breakway, or a deflection right? They don't have to let in EVERY grade A chance right?

We are saying Stuart Skinner lets in WAY MORE high danger chances than most other goalies, and this is backed by his lower than average HDSAA%.

 

[MessierThanThou]

You realise goalies are able to make a high danger save once in a while right? Like most average NHL goalies can occasionally save a breakway, or a deflection right? They don't have to let in EVERY grade A chance right?

We are saying Stuart Skinner lets in WAY MORE high danger chances than most other goalies, and this is backed by his lower than average HDSAA%.

I have no clue what Skinner did to earn so many defenders but it's amazing...statistically one of the worst starting goalies in the league and yet because he was really good for one playoff series after almost single-handedly costing us the one before that (and actually costing us our post-season in 2023), it's always a "lucky bounce" or "bad luck" or the fault of our defense and even our star players. Statistics be damned.

Yup, our loss to Florida is somehow the fault of everyone but the dude with a .786 save percentage who only faced four high-danger shots that game.

Unlike these Stuart Skinner apologists, I care more about the Oilers winning a Cup than feelings, and know that Skinner in net is an almost insurmountable burden to the Oilers winning it all with McDrai like they absolutely should have done by now.

It got so bad last year that I ended up snapping and getting banned from HF Oilers because there were so many Stu Stans with a flat-earther-level refusal to accept facts.

 

[Coffey]

I have no clue what Skinner did to earn so many defenders but it's amazing...statistically one of the worst starting goalies in the league and yet because he was really good for one playoff series after almost single-handedly costing us the one before that (and actually costing us our post-season in 2023), it's always a "lucky bounce" or "bad luck" or the fault of our defense and even our star players. Statistics be damned.

Yup, our loss to Florida is somehow the fault of everyone but the dude with a .760 save percentage who only faced four high-danger shots that game.

Unlike these Stuart Skinner apologists, I care more about the Oilers winning a Cup than feelings, and know that Skinner in net is an almost insurmountable burden to the Oilers winning it all with McDrai like they absolutely should have done by now.

It got so bad last year that I ended up snapping and getting banned from HF Oilers because there were so many Stu Stans with a flat-earther-level refusal to accept facts.

Local boy. Nice guy. Always smiling. Thick mustache. It’s all it takes in this province.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

How the f*** did this become a Skinner topic?

 

[McFlash97]

I have no clue what Skinner did to earn so many defenders but it's amazing...statistically one of the worst starting goalies in the league and yet because he was really good for one playoff series after almost single-handedly costing us the one before that (and actually costing us our post-season in 2023), it's always a "lucky bounce" or "bad luck" or the fault of our defense and even our star players. Statistics be damned.

Yup, our loss to Florida is somehow the fault of everyone but the dude with a .786 save percentage who only faced four high-danger shots that game.

Unlike these Stuart Skinner apologists, I care more about the Oilers winning a Cup than feelings, and know that Skinner in net is an almost insurmountable burden to the Oilers winning it all with McDrai like they absolutely should have done by now.

It got so bad last year that I ended up snapping and getting banned from HF Oilers because there were so many Stu Stans with a flat-earther-level refusal to accept facts.

Skinner is absolutely not a starter and at times does not even look like an NHL backup. How you gon let Pickard make you look pedestrian 30 plus games into a season? Wtf is wrong with these guys in coaching and management to not recognize this ? Varlamov. Go fn get him.

 

[10YearsHaveGotBehind]

You realise goalies are able to make a high danger save once in a while right? Like most average NHL goalies can occasionally save a breakway, or a deflection right? They don't have to let in EVERY grade A chance right?

We are saying Stuart Skinner lets in WAY MORE high danger chances than most other goalies, and this is backed by his lower than average HDSAA%.

So which goals specifically were Skinners fault? I guess the most "egregious" were the shorthanded breakaway (1st goal), and the late screened shot in the slot from a wide open Verhage?

And Im not going to lay the loss at Skinner's feet. Team played terrible in front of him and had breakdowns that you should not see from an NHL team.

Did Skinner have a good game? No. Did the team in front of him play good. Also no, in fact they provided some of the worst team defense I have ever seen from a NHL playoff team.

If you are this reactionary to a goalies performance, then surely you were singing Skinners praises over his previous 8 games where he was 6-2-0, 0.935 s%, and 2.03 GAA?

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

So which goals specifically were Skinners fault? I guess the most "egregious" were the shorthanded breakaway (1st goal), and the late screened shot in the slot from a wide open Verhage?

And Im not going to lay the loss at Skinner's feet. Team played terrible in front of him and had breakdowns that you should not see from an NHL team.

Did Skinner have a good game? No. Did the team in front of him play good. Also no, in fact they provided some of the worst team defense I have ever seen from a NHL playoff team.

If you are this reactionary to a goalies performance, then surely you were singing Skinners praises over his previous 8 games where he was 6-2-0, 0.935 s%, and 2.03 GAA?

Ah you're learning that every time the team gets scored on its Skinner's fault and only his fault.

Of course, they'll never point the finger at the org that hasn't properly developed a goalie in 4 decades...

 

[MessierThanThou]

How the f*** did this become a Skinner topic?

Because these are actual Oiler fans who actually want the McDrai Oilers to win their long-deserved first Cup and are addressing the team's biggest liability and impediment to achieving that.

Ah you're learning that every time the team gets scored on its Skinner's fault and only his fault.

Of course, they'll never point the finger at the org that hasn't properly developed a goalie in 4 decades...

I've never seen one person love a player to the degree you love Stuart Skinner. It's really sweet...and a little creepy.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

Because these are actual Oiler fans who actually want the McDrai Oilers to win their long-deserved first Cup and are addressing the team's biggest liability and impediment to achieving that.

The shitty management that has sucked ass for decades? The constant hiring of friends that are long past their due date? The terrible owner who for years put his fanboyism first and caused the team to miss the playoffs for an entire decade? The scouting that has more Misses than a polygamist? The abysmal drafting?

You know, those things that have absolutely nothing to do with the goalie?

 

[MessierThanThou]

The shitty management that has sucked ass for decades? The constant hiring of friends that are long past their due date? The terrible owner who for years put his fanboyism first and caused the team to miss the playoffs for an entire decade? The scouting that has more Misses than a polygamist? The abysmal drafting?

You know, those things that have absolutely nothing to do with the goalie?

Yes, those are all root causes of Stuart Skinner being our starting goalie. You do realize that no one here personally dislikes Stuart Skinner, right? We are criticizing the player, not the person... I can't even believe that needs to be said. Again.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

I think the most impressive part is he only has 5 powerplay goals of his 23

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

Yes, those are all root causes of Stuart Skinner being our starting goalie. You do realize that no one here personally dislikes Stuart Skinner, right? We are criticizing the player, not the person... I can't even believe that needs to be said. Again.

You'd be very surprised how much the fanbase takes offense at literally everything Skinner does.

Maybe if Ken Holland didn't f*** up big time and hitch his wagon to Jack Campbell...

 

[MessierThanThou]

You'd be very surprised how much the fanbase takes offense at literally everything Skinner does.

Maybe if Ken Holland didn't f*** up big time and hitch his wagon to Jack Campbell...

No, they're just f***ing sick of this guy dragging us down and are fully justified in having zero confidence in him as our starting goalie going into the playoffs.

Until his little streak that came to a pathetic end on Monday, he was one of the worst goalies, not just starters, in the entire league, and that was supported by numerous metrics. The Oilers should have a much better record right now and his poor play was obvious to anyone with one iota of perceptiveness. Then Nurse and Kulak went into Lockdown mode and made him look like a million bucks...the second they have an off-night, we see what we're still stuck with in goal.

If this was the first time we saw Stu not shit the bed for a week or two, I'd be more optimistic, but this guy has been our starter for two consecutive seasons and we know he'll crash and crash harder than most. I would love to be wrong. I hate knowing I'm not.

We want the team to do SOMETHING about it and it pisses us off that there doesn't seem to be a plan even talked about. And it's pathetic that Stu fans (NOT Oiler fans) can actually argue that management should just sit on its hands and do nothing about the goaltending situation.

I think there's a big difference between Oiler fans, as in people who want McDrai to get the Cups they deserve, and Stu Skinner fans, who...I don't even know what you guys want. Perpetual mediocrity but nobody's feelings get hurt?

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

No, they're just f***ing sick of this guy dragging us down and are fully justified in having zero confidence in him as our starting goalie going into the playoffs.

Until his little streak that came to a pathetic end on Monday, he was one of the worst goalies, not just starters, in the entire league, and that was supported by numerous metrics. The Oilers should have a much better record right now and his poor play was obvious to anyone with one iota of perceptiveness. Then Nurse and Kulak went into Lockdown mode and made him look like a million bucks...the second they have an off-night, we see what we're still stuck with in goal.

We want the team to do SOMETHING about it and it pisses us off that there doesn't seem to be a plan even talked about. And it's pathetic that Stu fans (NOT Oiler fans) can actually argue that management should just sit on its hands and do nothing about the goaltending situation.

I think there's a big difference between Oiler fans, as in people who want McDrai to get the Cups they deserve, and Stu Skinner fans, who...I don't even know what you guys want. Perpetual mediocrity but nobody's feelings get hurt?

They're not going to. The Oilers haven't cared about goaltending since the turn of the millennium. They've always seen McDavid as an instant win button not realizing you have to build a team through a combination of good trades, finding gems in the draft, and savvy signings.

The team didn't win shit when Skinner wasn't here either. In fact they suffered some incredibly embarrassing years and playoff losses.

The signing of Jack Campbell might have ensured this team doesn't win a Cup.

 

[thadd]

Edmonton was the first time with two players to win the Hart for that team without winning a Cup.

This year we can be the first team with two players to win multiple Hart trophies without having won a cup!

 

[MessierThanThou]

The team didn't win shit when Skinner wasn't here either. In fact they suffered some incredibly embarrassing years and playoff losses.

The signing of Jack Campbell might have ensured this team doesn't win a Cup.

Because our defense actually WAS shit. Now it's good, it's our goaltending that's shit. And it's not as hopeless as you say. Vegas won the Cup with their third-stringer standing on his head. We need to take a chance in net like Vegas did or this Cup window WILL close and we will all argue on here for a decade or two about what the Oilers should have done to win it with McDrai.

Simply put: Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard aren't good enough for us to think that we can't do better by acquiring another goalie. Honestly, we could randomly draw the name of a backup out of a hat and have a significant chance of improving in net. Vancouver signed Kevin Lankinen for 875 K and he's clowning our tandem.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

Because our defense actually WAS shit. Now it's good, it's our goaltending that's shit. And it's not as hopeless as you say. Vegas won the Cup with their third-stringer standing on his head. We need to take a chance in net like Vegas did or this Cup window WILL close and we will all argue on here for a decade or two about what the Oilers should have done to win it with McDrai.

Okay, so you're putting in faith in the scouting that thought Jack Campbell was the solution. Or Mike Smith. Or Mikko Koskinen.

Our defense is better but still prone to stupid errors (see Bouchard tripping over himself or throwing pizzas up the middle).

Maybe next time we're in the Finals we can try scoring more than once in the first two games of a series.

 

[NeverForget06]

Any discussion on HFOil or one which draws enough of it's members will eventually divulge into a Skinner discussion

 

[MessierThanThou]

Okay, so you're putting in faith in the scouting that thought Jack Campbell was the solution. Or Mike Smith. Or Mikko Koskinen.

Our defense is better but still prone to stupid errors (see Bouchard tripping over himself or throwing pizzas up the middle).

Maybe next time we're in the Finals we can try scoring more than once in the first two games of a series.

You're putting more faith in the scouting by saying we should rot with Skinner and Pickard. Besides, we do have a new GM, he might actually have a say... Why are you so quick to quit on this team? You don't seem like much of a fan...

Our defense does pretty well in key metrics, even WITH Bouchard's mistakes. It's just that Skinner lets in all of them so every mistake seems so much worse. Most other teams have goalies good enough to stop the lot of those f***ups.

Are you kidding me about the Finals? McDavid had how many points and he's to blame because he went cold for two games out of seven? Skinner played poorly in at least three of them, and was vastly outplayed by Bobrovsky in Game 7 (.958 to .905).

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

You're putting more faith in the scouting by saying we should rot with Skinner and Pickard. Besides, we do have a new GM, he might actually have a say... Why are you so quick to quit on this team? You don't seem like much of a fan...

Our defense does pretty well in key metrics, even WITH Bouchard's mistakes. It's just that Skinner lets in all of them so every mistake seems so much worse. Most other teams have goalies good enough to stop the lot of those f***ups.

Are you kidding me about the Finals? McDavid had how many points and he's to blame because he went cold for two games out of seven? Skinner played poorly in at least three of them, and was vastly outplayed by Bobrovsky in Game 7 (.958 to .905).

Who's quitting on the team? I'm just pointing out that this team hasn't taken things seriously for a very long time. That's why our drafting is terrible. That's why we sign bozos like Campbell to lengthy contracts. That's why we trade 2 2nds for a week of Anthnasiou. (For comparison, Colorado got Devon Toews for that exact same price)

As for the Finals, tough to win when you only score one time or less. Coincidentally the Panthers didn't win the two games where they only scored once.

Also Bobrovsky is paid almost 5 times what Skinner is. Of course he's the better goalie. Our scorers went cold in 3 games in Florida. Our power play was not very good. None of those things have anything to do with Skinner.

You wanna be mad at someone? Be mad at the org that hasn't properly developed a goalie in 40 years.

 

[MessierThanThou]

Who's quitting on the team? I'm just pointing out that this team hasn't taken things seriously for a very long time. That's why our drafting is terrible. That's why we sign bozos like Campbell to lengthy contracts. That's why we trade 2 2nds for a week of Anthnasiou. (For comparison, Colorado got Devon Toews for that exact same price)

As for the Finals, tough to win when you only score one time or less. Coincidentally the Panthers didn't win the two games where they only scored once.

Also Bobrovsky is paid almost 5 times what Skinner is. Of course he's the better goalie. Our scorers went cold in 3 games in Florida. Our power play was not very good. None of those things have anything to do with Skinner.

You wanna be mad at someone? Be mad at the org that hasn't properly developed a goalie in 40 years.

If Florida doesn't get that second goal in regular time, Game 7 goes to OT and maybe we don't score more than once...

As I suggested earlier with the Vegas example, you don't need a goalie who makes a fortune or is a Vezina candidate to win a Cup. Vegas proved that. The Blues proved that. Pittsburgh proved that. And you also don't need to draft or develop your goalie to win it all. Florida proved that. Vegas proved that. Colorado proved that.

Why are you so against this team trying to improve in net?

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

If Florida doesn't get that second goal in regular time, Game 7 goes to OT and maybe we don't score more than once...

As I stated earlier with the Vegas example, you don't need a goalie who makes a fortune or is a Vezina candidate to win a Cup. Vegas proved that. The Blues proved that. Pittsburgh proved that. And you also don't need to draft or develop your goalie to win it all. Florida proved that. Vegas proved that. Colorado proved that.

If if if if if if.

How about if we actually scored more than once in the first two games maybe we don't have to even worry about a game 7?

And your examples fall flat when you mention the Blues (Binnington). How about Vasilevsky? Holtby? Fleury/Murray? Crawford? Quick? Or we could just pay a fortune to a goalie that wasn't developed by us and hope it works out. ...Oh wait we tried that and it completely blew up in our faces.

The team didn't do enough to win. Period. Maybe Florida was just better than us.

 

[MessierThanThou]

If if if if if if.

How about if we actually scored more than once in the first two games maybe we don't have to even worry about a game 7?

And your examples fall flat when you mention the Blues (Binnington). How about Vasilevsky? Holtby? Fleury/Murray? Crawford? Quick? Or we could just pay a fortune to a goalie that wasn't developed by us and hope it works out. ...Oh wait we tried that and it completely blew up in our faces.

The team didn't do enough to win. Period. Maybe Florida was just better than us.

Again, I listed examples of goalies who didn't break the bank and goalies who aren't homegrown for recent winners to prove my point that we can win without drafting a great goalie or having an elite netminder. The improvement needed in net isn't as expensive or as time-consuming as you claim. The time to act is NOW.

It was management that didn't do enough to win by sitting on their hands instead of upgrading in net, despite Skinner showing numerous red flags during the season and effectively costing us a very winnable series against Vegas the year prior.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

Again, I listed examples of goalies who didn't break the bank and goalies who aren't homegrown for recent winners to prove my point that we can win without drafting a great goalie or having an elite netminder. The improvement needed in net isn't as expensive or as time-consuming as you claim. The time to act is NOW.

It was the management that didn't do enough to win by sitting on their hands instead of upgrading in net, despite Skinner showing numerous red flags during the season and effectively costing us a very winnable series against Vegas the year prior.

And my point is we can't draft goalies at all. Which is why we rely on our amazing scouting to poach them from other organizations then act surprised when they suck. Most Cup winners have a goalie they drafted and developed. Bobrovsky sucked ass in Florida until last year. Colorado got by with mediocre goaltending because they were probably the best team of the salary cap era. We are not Colorado.

I don't trust this org that hasn't taken goaltending seriously since the days of Wayne Gretzky to do its due diligence now. I certainly don't trust an org that hired its goalie coach from its local WHL team because that was far easier than actually putting in work. A guy who has been with the Oilers for over a decade and has never once seen goaltending as a strength (except maybe 2016-17). A guy who can't scout for shit and thought Jack Campbell would deliver us a Cup. The same Jack Campbell who isn't even an NHL goalie right now.

Goaltending has sucked for this team long before Skinner ever played a game. I don't see that changing without a severe overhaul in the front office.

Oh and thanks to the salary cap and some horrendous management we can't throw 10m at a goalie like Florida did. Of course those goalies don't tend to hit the market regardless.

 

[MessierThanThou]

And my point is we can't draft goalies at all. Which is why we rely on our amazing scouting to poach them from other organizations then act surprised when they suck. Most Cup winners have a goalie they drafted and developed. Bobrovsky sucked ass in Florida until last year. Colorado got by with mediocre goaltending because they were probably the best team of the salary cap era. We are not Colorado.

I don't trust this org that hasn't taken goaltending seriously since the days of Wayne Gretzky to do its due diligence now. I certainly don't trust an org that hired its goalie coach from its local WHL team because that was far easier than actually putting in work. A guy who has been with the Oilers for over a decade and has never once seen goaltending as a strength (except maybe 2016-17). A guy who can't scout for shit and thought Jack Campbell would deliver us a Cup. The same Jack Campbell who isn't even an NHL goalie right now.

Goaltending has sucked for this team long before Skinner ever played a game. I don't see that changing without a severe overhaul in the front office.

Your lack of faith in this team yet your relative faith in Skinner is something... This team was good enough to make it to Game 7 despite Stuart Skinner having the worst numbers of ANY netminder to play in a Stanley Cup Final since maybe the 80s? Maybe ever, when adjusted? This team was good enough to drag its asses that far with a goalie that bad.

Before Monday, we had just slaughtered three really good teams in a row (granted, Minny was hurting) and had a defense good enough to make our terrible starter shine. We are already there. You just can't see the obvious problem.