Player Discussion Stuart Skinner

[Ninety7]

It might also just be he’s not actually that good of a goalie.

I dont think he’s particularly good or bad. He’s just a mediocre goalie all around.

 

[Spawn]

Someone said in the PGT that Skinner starts playing worse when he gives up a couple weak ones and starts getting into his own head. Obviously that’s a normal human reaction, but you cannot be that mentally weak in the NHL playoffs. Last night after reading all these heartfelt defenses of Skinner in this thread I went back and (painfully) watched the goals against in the Vegas series. There were many objectively bad GA and no amount of stat parsing is ever going to change that. Gotta hope that changes this year, but performances like Skinner put out tonight shouldn’t fill anyone with confidence.

In the big picture the problem isn’t even tonight. It’s tonight combined with it being his 5th straight start of 3 or more GA and a sv% under .900. When he’s bad he seems to collapse for days or weeks on end. It’s a recipe for disaster come playoff time.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Wrong thread, why is this thread even here

Good question. I sometimes wonder that myself.

 

[Soundwave]

In the big picture the problem isn’t even tonight. It’s tonight combined with it being his 5th straight start of 3 or more GA and a sv% under .900. When he’s bad he seems to collapse for days or weeks on end. It’s a recipe for disaster come playoff time.

Jack Campbell somewhere in California:

 

[OfCorsiDid]

Skinner is a strange goalie to analyze.

He’ll look calm, collected and controlled for long stretches and then suddenly forget the basics of his position.

Back during his first few starts in 21/22 and last year I identified the following as areas of improvement:

• Lateral movement - unsure if related to skating ability or just adjusting to NHL speed.
• Rebound control - not uncommon problem with young goalies. NHL shooters are the best in the world for a reason.
• Dealing with Net-Front pressure/screens - for a big guy he struggles with being able to see around screens.

Here we are. Starting goalie in this year of our lord 2024 and yet I see the same flaws. Seems to be another case of a goalie’s development stalling in Edmonton.

The biggest problem I have is point 3. We can count the amount of goalies we have had that struggle with screens and tips. Yet somehow it never improves. Is this Schwartz’s doing? Who knows.

 

[iCanada]

In the big picture the problem isn’t even tonight. It’s tonight combined with it being his 5th straight start of 3 or more GA and a sv% under .900. When he’s bad he seems to collapse for days or weeks on end. It’s a recipe for disaster come playoff time.

He has glaring weaknesses that get scouted and he takes 5-10 games to fix. Going back to like mid last year.

Lately he's being lit up by shortside shots up high and chinsy rebounds. At the start of the year it was any east west play. In the playoffs it was basically anything through traffic. Mid last year it was the frying pan.

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

He needs to be consistently reliable. These Cold Hot Cold Hot Cold cycles are not championship calibre goaltending.

 

[mkatcherin00]

Here are all of Skinners goals allowed against Vegas. Not all his fault, but I do not want to see this sh** again this playoffs.

 

[KCC]

In the big picture the problem isn’t even tonight. It’s tonight combined with it being his 5th straight start of 3 or more GA and a sv% under .900. When he’s bad he seems to collapse for days or weeks on end. It’s a recipe for disaster come playoff time.

Usually when he’s playing well it’s because the team in front of him is really really helping him and limiting the chances. But when they struggle he struggles. It’s not a coincidence. He’s not a good goalie and if he’s a starter come playoff time he will absolutely cost the team like he cost the team against Vegas last year. If he was even average they win that series and at Least make the finals.

 

[harpoon]

Here are all of Skinners goals allowed against Vegas. Not all his fault, but I do not want to see this sh** again this playoffs.

Those replays don’t show a lot of what led up to the goal. When I rewatched all the goals yesterday I saw Vinne f***ing Desharnais personally responsible for at least three goals, including two in one game. And people still post about how it has been ‘debunked’ that Vegas ate Vinne’s lunch. They ate it up real good.

 

[Frank Drebin]

I think once his time is up with the Oilers he'll be out of the league . He just isn't an NHL goalie.

Love to be proven wrong on this but if he's the starter going into the playoffs Oilers are in big trouble, again.

And the worst part is I think Holland thinks he's fine

 

[The Panther]

Love Skinner! One of my favorite players these days. Looking forward to seeing him lift the Cup.

 

[Frank Drebin]

Those replays don’t show a lot of what led up to the goal. When I rewatched all the goals yesterday I saw Vinne f***ing Desharnais personally responsible for at least three goals, including two in one game. And people still post about how it has been ‘debunked’ that Vegas ate Vinne’s lunch. They ate it up real good.

I don't know how you can be so (justifiably) harsh on Desharnais while ignoring the fact that Skinner was also terrible.

He's Desharnais in goalie pads.

 

[DingerMcSlapshot]

Does Skinner look a little burnt out? To anyone else?

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

don't think Skinner is THE guy

good 1B but won't steal you a game in the playoffs when you need one

 

[Canovin]

Here are all of Skinners goals allowed against Vegas. Not all his fault, but I do not want to see this sh** again this playoffs.

Not all his fault but 3/4 of it were. Like I said before, if we had decent goaltending from Skinner, we would have beaten Vegas

 

[oilers4life5]

Just when I think Skinner has turned a corner he shits the bed. Very odd. Hard to tell what we have. So up and down.

 

[TB12]

We might be seeing what we did last year with him.

Fatigue seems to be a problem for him.

Well he is FAT

/s

 

[GMofOilers]

Does Skinner look a little burnt out? To anyone else?

He shouldn’t be, hasn’t be only played 6 games in 25 days?

God if he’s tired that should tell us everything we need to know about him being a starter.

 

[TKB21]

Here are all of Skinners goals allowed against Vegas. Not all his fault, but I do not want to see this sh** again this playoffs.

The big thing I noticed from most of those goals as well as many this year is just how incredibly slow he is at reading plays and lateral movements. It’s amazing how fast other goalies move around in the crease, equally amazing how slow Skinner is. The guy solely depends on positioning, if it’s off at all he’s getting lit up.

 

[GMofOilers]

The big thing I noticed from most of those goals as well as many this year is just how incredibly slow he is at reading plays and lateral movements. It’s amazing how fast other goalies move around in the crease, equally amazing how slow Skinner is. The guy solely depends on positioning, if it’s off at all he’s getting lit up.

That’s why the opposing teams always have a wide open net to shoot on. Never seen anything like it in my life.

 

[BlueOil]

to my eyes, he's the next jake allen. solid 1B who can take the 1A role for awhile, but will eventually erode back to a 1B after 15-20 games. gets exposed too much on his shortside and moving laterally to be completely comfortable with him in high pressure situations.

that said, he doesn't get anywhere near the help he needs in front of the net and slot, so on a better defensive team, he could easily flourish more. wish he was more aggressive in the net and that's something he can develop still.

 

[Canovin]

Well he is FAT

/s

Markstrom is 6'6 206 lbs

Skinner is 6'4 230 lbs.
He does need to trim some fat. He's very slow. Just watching their highlights, Markstrom is so much more agile and fluid.

 

[Soundwave]

to my eyes, he's the next jake allen. solid 1B who can take the 1A role for awhile, but will eventually erode back to a 1B after 15-20 games. gets exposed too much on his shortside and moving laterally to be completely comfortable with him in high pressure situations.

that said, he doesn't get anywhere near the help he needs in front of the net and slot, so on a better defensive team, he could easily flourish more. wish he was more aggressive in the net and that's something he can develop still.

The Oilers are among the leaders for lowest amount of high danger chances allowed in the league.

This narrative that he gets hung out to dry is simply not true.

Markstrom is 6'6 206 lbs

Skinner is 6'4 230 lbs.
He does need to trim some fat. He's very slow. Just watching their highlights, Markstrom is so much more agile and fluid.

He's the slowest goalie we've pushed as a starter in the McDavid era, probably one of the slower ones in franchise history.

Koskinen was faster post to post and had better 2nd/3rd effort on the ice.

 

[mkatcherin00]

The Oilers are among the leaders for lowest amount of high danger chances allowed in the league.

This narrative that he gets hung out to dry is simply not true.



He's the slowest goalie we've pushed as a starter in the McDavid era, probably one of the slower ones in franchise history.

Koskinen was faster post to post and had better 2nd/3rd effort on the ice.

It's that the Oilers are streaky. One minute they look like the worst team in the league, but are not playing terrible D every game during the losses.

Then they are playing like the 1995 Devils on D for almost one quarter of the season.

Now they are back to the middle.

It can make goaltending streaky, but we can all see Skinner has a few warts. They are not just going to improve in 2 months.