Rumor: Rumors & Proposals Thread | The Oilers Biggest Roster Need Is?

[Jumptheshark]

Who's our zamboni driver?

Whomever it is should be fired! he clearly is over paid and has no idea what he is doing

 

[TopShelfGloveSide]

For different reasons.
Campbell sewered this team and likely Skinners career as well.
Developing a goalie doesnt amount to throwing him to the wolves befroe he is ready (mentally and physically) and thats exactly what Campbell indirectly did with Skinner due to his sheer incompetence as a so called vet goalie.
Campbell was a fraud from the get go and the ripples of his incompetence are still causing issues for this team years later.
This will not be easy to solve.

Seems a bit silly to blame Skinners struggles on Campbell. If he had all the tools in the toolbox but lacked confidence you would have a point.

 

[guymez]

Seems a bit silly to blame Skinners struggles on Campbell. If he had all the tools in the toolbox but lacked confidence you would have a point.

Well...goalies dont all develop the same. Different parts of the development process have to be cultivated and confidecne is a major part of that.
Its possible that Skinner was never mentally tough enough to be a starter but his development path has been less than ideal and having his development process expidited by 2 years has not been a positive at all. For him or the team and its possible that Skinner is done because of it.
How good could he have been is a different debate IMO.
Opinions will be all over the place and ultimately it doesnt matter at all.

Signing Campbell was a shit plan A and it was bound to fail and it did completely fail.
Skinner NEVER should have been a #1 option at all at any point since 2022/23.
Now here we are with a so called contending team that (amongst other major holes) has 2 backup goalies and no starter.

So yes...I do 100% blame this current situation on Holland and Campbell.

The question is...now what?

 

[Canovin]

Keep defending him. He's done wonders for this org, scouting amazing goalie after amazing goalie.

I don’t even like Schwartz and want him gonee. You’re the one deflecting it to Schwartz when Skinner has a bad game

 

[iCanada]

For different reasons.
Campbell sewered this team and likely Skinners career as well.
Developing a goalie doesnt amount to throwing him to the wolves befroe he is ready (mentally and physically) and thats exactly what Campbell indirectly did with Skinner due to his sheer incompetence as a so called vet goalie.
Campbell was a fraud from the get go and the ripples of his incompetence are still causing issues for this team years later.
This will not be easy to solve.

Campbell and his .875 sv% with -0.610 GSAx/60 sewered the team last year, but Skinner and his 0.876 sv% with -0.769 GSAx/60 this year is totally fine?

 

[guymez]

Campbell and his .875 sv% with -0.610 GSAx/60 sewered the team last year, but Skinner and his 0.876 sv% with -0.769 GSAx/60 this year is totally fine?

If thats your conclusion is pretty clear that you didnt actually read any of my last couple of posts.

 

[belair]

Well in Campbell's case his performance did carry over ... he carried his shit 2nd half of the season over straight into Edmonton, lol.

We don't need an elite goalie per se (if we had one we'd have Cup banners already), but we need someone better than bottom of the barrell though. We would have won the Cup in 2006 if Roloson didn't go down.

I think our chance to win a Cup with a Skinner-tier goalie was last year. The stars aligned for it to be nearly so.

I don't know if that's going to repeat. It was good fortune enough that it happened once. You need to get someone better than bottom 2 in the league for GSAA ... that's just not gonna work.

Skinner can't even blame the D for his terrible numbers this year, they've been playing much more structured this year and Pickard is allowing almost an entire goal less against per game, which is an enormous gap.

Otherwise every year is going to be this same soap opera, frankly I think everyone including the players are beyond tired of it.

GSAA is a stat I just don't trust yet. Most of the the guys at the top play for bad teams and the reasoning is obvious. I don't think that we have enough evidence that the guys at the bottom of the list necessarily stay at the bottom either.

That said, I do believe that a goalie upgrade was always in the cards this season just looking at Pickard's contract. I don't think the Oilers see him as a 30+ game starter. And I don't think it'd be wise for a team with Cup aspirations to run a mid range starter past the 50 game mark.

They're going to trade for a goalie.

 

[Twowingcantfly]

The GM is quietly putting together pieces needed for a deep run. Skinner & Kane will be fine come playoff time. The waiver wire pickup(Kapanan) will pay huge dividends come playoff time. He will score a few short handed goals for sure.

 

[Oilhawks]

They both suck.

Skinner is only a “number 1” because Mike Smith was too old to continue

 

[Tobias Kahun]

Mike Smith should be healthy by now right?

Call him up.

 

[brentashton]

Mike Smith should be healthy by now right?

Call him up.

Probably a healthy 240. No thanks.

 

[Tobias Kahun]

Probably a healthy 240. No thanks.

Cant be any worse than the Unhealthy 240 we see play every night.

 

[Heavy Dee]

The GM is quietly putting together pieces needed for a deep run. Skinner & Kane will be fine come playoff time. The waiver wire pickup(Kapanan) will pay huge dividends come playoff time. He will score a few short handed goals for sure.

Stan, is that you?

 

[brentashton]

Cant be any worse than the Unhealthy 240 we see play every night.

I can assure you that age slows your reflexes.

 

[McAsuno]

The GM is quietly putting together pieces needed for a deep run. Skinner & Kane will be fine come playoff time. The waiver wire pickup(Kapanan) will pay huge dividends come playoff time. He will score a few short handed goals for sure.

Lol?

 

[soothsayer]

Mike Smith should be healthy by now right?

Call him up.

Hell yeah.

 

[McAsuno]

Mike Smith should be healthy by now right?

Call him up.

Rather him as our goalie coach instead of moron Schwartz

 

[Sheikyerbouti]

I get the outrage, but the best goalie alive isn't going to make this team start scoring from the outside.

 

[backhandsauce]

What about Husso? Or a Talbot reunion.

 

[Senor Catface]

I get the outrage, but the best goalie alive isn't going to make this team start scoring from the outside.

No, but the best goalie alive would help them stop losing completely winnable games lost by bad goaltending.

 

[McShogun99]

Cant be any worse than the Unhealthy 240 we see play every night.

If Skinner was playing in the late 90’s/early 2000’s, he’d be one of the best in the league with his size and the giant equipment they wore back then. He wouldn’t even have to move and every puck would hit him.

 

[Scrapin Ice]

Its time to go for it.
Its time to overpay and get the basics.
2 players now and 2 within a month of the deadline.

Yes some very hard and in one case quite drastic things must be done.
But hey were not here to win right; were here to be entertained. Failing to make the playoff on the last game of the season would be dramatic. Connor quietly asking for a trade in total frustration (and possibly backing down) would make for awesome ratings. Imagine the scramble. Imagine the new TV deal that could be signed. Imagine the offers from Boston, NYR, ST. Louis that won't stop coming. THE SUMMER OF '25.

 

[FiveFourteenSixOne]

He was OK, one bad season, 3 decent ones, 1 oustanding playoffs.

.905 (05-06) good despite the low sv% in reg season, playoffs oustanding
.909 (06-07 no Pronger) alright
.901 (07-08) bad
.915 (08-09) good

Goaltending like that and the oilers are first in the division this year by a mile, even with our anemic offence. Oh to dream!

Doesn't it seem like the team is as well? Some of the teams best games this season have been with Pickard in goal where they can settle in to their game and know if they are the better club they will win. Pickard has some hot and cold games but not usually so bad where he costs what would otherwise be a W.

Plus the defensemen don’t have a heart attack every time he comes out of his net to play the puck.

 

[guymez]

Skinner is only a “number 1” because Mike Smith was too old to continue

...and because Jack Campbell was too shitty to be an NHL goalie.

 

[FiveFourteenSixOne]

And frankly - for as bad as Skinner was nearly all playoffs long - if he just held the fort in game 7 we likely win the cup.

We out worked and out chanced them basically the entire game. We even bailed out his weak first GA with the beauty from Janmark basically immediately after.

Difference in that game 7 was between the pipes.

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Keith just refuses to acknowledge any of this. Game 7 Skinner under performed and was the second best goalie on the ice. Bob did his job and stopped more pucks despite the fact he had to make more difficult saves. The weak ass game winning and cup clinching goal that California Closets allowed with forever haunt my dreams.

There is one reason and one reason only that the oilers haven’t won the cup twice in the last three years. The reason is poor goaltending.