The Edmonton Oilers have not been getting great goaltending through the first two months of the season, but superstar Leon Draisaitl is confident in Stuart Skinner.
It’s been a disastrous start to the season for the 26-year-old Skinner. Though he does hold a winning record of 7-6-2 through 15 games, Skinner also has a dismal .882 save percentage and is second-last among all NHL goalies with -9.8 goals saved above expected (GSAx). The only goalie with a worse mark is Utah Hockey Club netminder Connor Ingram, who has a -10.9 GSAx.
While recent reports say the Oilers are willing to “sink or swim” with Skinner, GM Stan Bowman could very well test the trade market to see if improvements are out there. For Draisaitl, the belief in Skinner to be the team’s starter is very much still there.
“He is very capable of being a starting goalie,” Draisaitl told reporters after practice on Thursday. “We’ve seen it, he’s done it before, he’s shown it before, just drop some of the baggage that comes with the pressure or the talk from the outside.
“He’s a good goalie, he’s our guy.”
“It’s always exciting. It’s always good to see new facilities & new atmospheres, new crowds. I’m excited to go & see what it’s all about.”
Leon Draisaitl on the #Oilers making their first visit to Utah. @Enterprise | #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/Chxox8yhOM
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) November 28, 2024
Draisaitl has had a front-row seat to see just how good of a goalie Skinner can be. He was one of the best goaltenders in the entire league for the second half of last season, and while he struggled early in the playoffs, he came up clutch in both the Western Conference Final and the Stanley Cup Final.
Draisaitl thinks the solution to finding more consistent play between the pipes is simple.
“It’s just about playing,” Draisaitl said. “He just needs to play and do what he does… I think he’s played lots of really good games, some he’d like to have back, somewhere he played really good for 40 minutes and maybe we didn’t help him out for the last 20.”
Skinner has certainly built a reputation as being a very calm, cool, and collected presence off the ice. One can only hope that such a mentality will help him shake off yet another disappointing start and get him firing on all cylinders as the schedule rolls into December.