Skinner with the Shut Psych

[TheNumber4]

Well if you follow the chart beyond the first 27 games, last year did peak around game 35 before dipping back down a bit because of a pretty pedestrian 6 game segment before settling in for more balanced finish of a few good a few bad and so on and finishing slightly below his peak save percentage achieved in the loss vs. Vegas to end the streak.

So if he continues to follow the same trend he's bound to slump a bit again around February, before finishing out the season more balanced. That or maybe he slumps a bit again after the 4 nations cup if his slumps are tied to longer resting periods (could also explain his poor Vancouver series as that was the longest break Edmonton had during the playoff run and his first three vs. FLA weren't as strong as the previous 8 starts or final 4).

Yeh I remember that February lull from last year. After our 16 game win streak was it? It would be interesting to see if he can avoid that this year. The increase in overall performance could come with an increase jn consistency as well. We could hope anyways.

And yeh there could be some theory to coming off rest. Coming back rusty, which seems most pronounced at beginnings of season and less so but still present after mid-season breaks.

Keep updating this chart as the season goes along though, would be have an idea what we can expect from Stu headed into the playoffs this year vs. Last.

 

[Stoneman89]

Yet the Oilers are somehow 1st in the NHL in team SV% since November 23rd with him playing most of the games.

Almost like he started terribly which impacted his total year statistics, but turned it around has been playing solid hockey for nearly two consecutive months since.

No doubt, his stats were so bad for the first 10 games or so, it's taken until now to climb into something resembling competent.

I want you guys to just take a deep breath and say: "he's going to get $10 and we will be ok".

Honestly, Oobga below is right... offensive defensemen like him do not come around very often. And rightly or wrongly they get paid. And we absolutely need him.

Let's not freak out at the number and vilify the guy. He's having a bit of a slump to start this season and he's STILL on pace to put up 60 points.

If we can take the good with the bad with Barrie we can certainly take it with 25-year old Bouchard... who to my eye is still improving his reads defensively, to the point where I completely trust him in our zone. Where he struggles is at the opponent's blue-line... but many offensive guys struggle in that regard, never willing to give up on the offensive play early enough.

That will come with more experience, especially in the playoffs where your heart actually aches for two days after every mistake you make. And one thing I can see in Bouchard that should relax us all in terms of his future trajectory... he's competitive and he wants to win.

PS: if we are smart with Bouchard, we actually sign him to 8+2/season on a deferred salary deal. He's going to play until his 35-37, so that 2x8=$16M deferred would be deeply discounted back to present value... likely the cap hit comes in around $9M in that case.



Well said.

If we can get him for 10 bucks, count me in!

 

[AddyTheWrath]

He's performing like a $5M Dman, legit top 4 guy this year. He's always been good but this is the best hockey of his career, and there was a group of people who wanted to trade him which I never understood.

There was a group that wanted to trade him because he blocked Broberg. And neither Kulak nor Broberg was (at that time) comfortable playing on their offside.

Kulak has been fantastic but I’d still rather have the young, high-pedigree future top 4 defenseman.

 

[Jimmi McJenkins]

He's performing like a $5M Dman, legit top 4 guy this year. He's always been good but this is the best hockey of his career, and there was a group of people who wanted to trade him which I never understood.

Honest? The pull of Cody Ceci in the latter playoffs made that look different before the season started.



You love to see it.

 

[jesusbuiltmyhotrod]

Honest? The pull of Cody Ceci in the latter playoffs made that look different before the season started.



You love to see it.

Craig button is a moron though. He said the oilers were not a legit contender again after the slow start. Said same thing last year. He knows nothing about hockey people here don’t already know and prob less.

 

[Jimmi McJenkins]

Craig button is a moron though. He said the oilers were not a legit contender again after the slow start. Said same thing last year. He knows nothing about hockey people here don’t already know and prob less.

lol totally, I wasn't trying to pump his tires at all, just looks good that the Oilers caused this for someone else

 

[jesusbuiltmyhotrod]

lol totally, I wasn't trying to pump his tires at all, just looks good that the Oilers caused this for someone else

Oh I agree that used to be us lol

 

[TheNumber4]

Craig button is a moron though. He said the oilers were not a legit contender again after the slow start. Said same thing last year. He knows nothing about hockey people here don’t already know and prob less.

The most obvious of all back pedals was coming when he said that. And yeh just like last year. Good ol Craig “Flip Flop”Button, guy should be a politician.

 

[K1984]

Craig button is a moron though. He said the oilers were not a legit contender again after the slow start. Said same thing last year. He knows nothing about hockey people here don’t already know and prob less.

Button is a carnival barker defined. A loud fool that built a career just off being a loud fool.

 

[SupremeTeam16]

Well, it beats the Skinner skeptics having an orgasm when he has a bad game.

BTW, here's his goals against since November 23rd per game and the Oilers have the top save percentage in the entire league in this timeframe btw

2
1
1
2
1
3
6
2
1
4
1
2
0

2s and 1s being the dominant numbers.

Now, I've seen a lot of Skinner sucks posts in that time period despite the actual numbers painting a different story. It's not like this was his 1st good game of the year, just about every one has been good in the last month and a half so I think the reason why some folks are "orgasming" over his game last night is because they've been having to hear incessantly for a long time now about how much he sucks so it's a counter to all of that.

With that said, Skinner does have his inconsistencies (as just about every NHL goalie has in this now higher scoring league), he has athletic flaws and the team in front of him does help to limit chances but he's been a good goalie the past 2 seasons and has been a good goalie the last month and a half, one of the best in the league in that timeframe for that matter, so it should be acknowledged as much as it should be acknowledged when he sucks.

Overall he’s been average the last two years but it’s been a very bi polar average, which is why the “he’s the worse goalie in the league” crowd turns to the “he’s inconsistent, he’ll fall apart” argument when he’s having his good stretches to justify their position of him being a bad goalie. The fact is 90% of the goalies in the league are inconsistent and even the very best can hit a lull at the wrong time as we’ve seen before so Skinner certainly isn’t unique in this fact. Then you take into account situation, playing in a fishbowl market for a team with cup aspirations, not exactly easy mentally. Even the conditions of playing for this team, on the surface looks great because they are pretty well structured defensively but that doesn’t always make it easier for goalies. Sitting around facing almost nothing for shots and then having to stop a breakaway or stop a couple grade A chances in quick succession. Many goalies likely prefer to be getting more work and touches rather than standing around and then having to make grade A saves occasionally. Many fans here over analyze skinners performances to death and they’d do the same to any other goalie we acquired and when they scrutinized every second of play they’d find the same inconsistency that Skinner has shown and of course then the refrain from them would be “management picked the wrong goalie”.

All that said, I think it would be a smart idea to hedge their bets with a veteran 1B.

 

[Stoneman89]

There was a group that wanted to trade him because he blocked Broberg. And neither Kulak nor Broberg was (at that time) comfortable playing on their offside.

Kulak has been fantastic but I’d still rather have the young, high-pedigree future top 4 defenseman.

If I have to choose, I'm picking the solid vet Kulak at this time, in order to win a cup or 2. If I want to roll the dice on the cup aspiration, I choose Broberg to really fill the roll 3-5 years from now. And that may be too late for the window. Tough call. Wish we could have had both.