The Edmonton Oilers pulled defeat from the jaws of victory last night, and lost a valuable part of the team during the disappointing HNIC tilt. What should have been a well played game with solid defensive consistency turned on a dime with one wayward Evan Bouchard pass. That was followed by another unusual play, one in which two Oilers defenders were unable to get to the puck after it skipped the Toronto zone. That play ended with an easy go-ahead goal for the Maple Leafs.
Taking care of the puck has always been an issue for this team, partly because so much of the roster is offensively skilled. Here are my thoughts on the game.
The Athletic article today is about Edmonton’s improved procurement at the goalie position. There are three youngsters of note coming down the pipe. Article is here.
WHAT TO EXPECT IN NOVEMBER
- At home to: NJD, VEG (Expected 1-1-0) (Actual 0-2-0)
- On the road to: VAN (Expected 1-0-0) (Actual 1-0-0)
- At home to: NYI, NAS (Expected 2-0-0) (Actual 2-0-0)
- On the road to: TOR, MTL, OTT (Expected 1-2-0) (Actual 0-0-1)
- At home to: MIN, NYR (Expected 1-1-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- On the road to: UTA, COL (Expected 1-1-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- Overall expected result: 8-5-0, 16 points in 13 games
- November results: 3-2-1, 7 points in 6 games
- Oilers in 2024-25: 9-7-2, 20 points in 18 games
Opportunity missed for this Oilers team, but it was a shared overtime loss. There will be those who tell you Evan Bouchard had a terrible game, and that’s true. The Oilers are playing the hell out of their feature players, and that will increase now that Darnell Nurse is hurt (and likely out for some time). Coach Kris Knoblauch has been fading several players on the roster in favour of increased time for the impact players, but that has its own reckoning.
THE NUMBERS
The hit on Darnell Nurse was vicious and predatory. Much attention will be focused on the extent of the suspension, but the impact on the Oilers will be the big story long term. Nurse with Brett Kulak was coming on, and now it’s gone. A damn shame and completely unnecessary. Ironic the TML are helped by the suspension, as a better actual player will take Reaves place.
Evan Bouchard is a young defenseman who is trying the patience of all observers currently. I would stay the course unabated, we’ll see what Knoblauch does. The problem in life is you develop a past. Bouchard’s past includes the brilliant and the reckless, and he’s worth it. You have to live with the mistakes of youth and hope the young person involved finds a way to reach higher ground. I believe Bouchard is important to this team’s chances to win Stanley. After last night it’s hard to argue against the idea that he has one year’s experience five times (as opposed to five years experience). I remain firmly on the side of believer in regard to this player. Bouchard is money. Both ways. For me, he’s inner circle keeper on this team.
Stuart Skinner is a good goalie and not a great one, and the Oilers are a 4-3 team in a 3-2 league. What does that mean? Since Connor McDavid arrived in Edmonton, the team has deployed five starting goaltenders. That’s about two seasons before changing out. There’s a solution here, more responsible play with the puck. Any of Cam Talbot, Mikko Koskinen, Mike Smith, Jack Campbell and Skinner were and are capable, but chaos exists in every corner of the defensive zone for Edmonton. I like the style of play, I believe this team can win Stanley, but they’re going to trade for a goaltender to replace Skinner. Not his fault, this team has been running through goalies (and coaches) for a decade in pursuit of a perfect fit. There isn’t one. There is only what you see currently, a fine goalie being challenged by all skaters on the ice, friend and foe.
I wanted to mention Adam Henrique this morning. I’m liking his game more now, that’s going to be a key as Ryan Nugent-Hopkins continues to fade. I keep expecting Jeff Skinner to slide in over Nuge, hasn’t happened yet. It may be that Knoblauch has decided Nugent-Hopkins is the hill he dies on. I get it, big time Nuge fan here. He isn’t right. Just isn’t. These Oilers are missing him, and now Nurse too, and the feature players are being deployed with incredible minutes. It’s November. Lord have mercy.
New for The Athletic: How the Edmonton Oilers’ improvement in drafting goaltenders could pay off
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5925772/2024/11/16/oilers-goaltending-draft-develop/
Love Bouchard but the play that really has me worried he’s not going to ever get the risk/benefit analysis right was the Marner toe drag with 6 seconds left.
The pass through the slot is one he makes a bunch and it was more about time-and-score.
The McMann goal was about a lack of urgency on his first steps and terrible optics.
But that toe drag; frankly poorly executed and incredibly lucky to gave worked, it a way more “consciously” poor decision.
Agreed. I’ve been very hard on Bouchard and when he pulled that me and my wife just looked at each other, jaws on the floor. The gumption, appreciated. The spectre of him ever truly leaving these bonehead moves behind, not good.
Meh. There was not enough time for Marner to make it down the ice.
Ovechkin with a hat trick.
He might pass Gretzky this season.
29 to go.
He’s definitely got the juice again. Team is better, he’s got some decent running mates again post-Backstrom
Dylan Strome is having an incredible season setting him up.
Now up to 26 points with 21 assists.
He passed Gretzky in adjusted goals four years ago.
I know many (including eminent vets like Bruce McCurdy) don’t agree with me, but adjusted goals/points is my hill to die on. I see a goal in a 2-1 game to be twice as valuable as a goal in a 4-2 game.
You aren’t wrong.
Whats amazing is that ovi has also gone through two lockouts…
Without missing a year in his absolute prime, and another half we could be talking about his hunt for 1000. Just insane.
I hope he sets the all time. He is the greatest scorer ever. No doubt. So hopefully he can silence any debate at all…
Gordie Howe spent critical years in the WHA, and the NHL doesn’t count those goals. It should.
Washington is discovering the additional benefits of — when you build a team so your top scorer can score a lot of goals — you also win a lot of games that way.
Holtby cratered after playing too much.
Talbot took a few years to bounce back after McLellan ran him into the ground.
82 games in a season is too much for a goalie.
Keenan knew this, of course. That’s why he only played Fuhr 79 games in 1995/96.
Yes, Goalies loved playing for Keenan. He was so good to them.
Luongo said Keenan pulled him after one shot once!
Did anyone see the penalty on Stutzle yesterday? Gets fed a pass and while in his windup Svechnikov reaches in with one hand on his stick, Stutzle one times the puck and scores, Svechnikov’s stick is knocked out of his hands. Goal is waved off and Stutzle is giving an interference penalty. It may be the worst call I’ve ever seen in an NHL game.
Here it is . . .
https://www.nhl.com/video/stutzle-s-goal-doesn-t-count-6364812751112
I solemnly agree to give Josh Brown a fully fresh start and chance.
I will evaluate him as an Oiler based on his play as an Oiler during regular season (and playoff) games.
Come on Josh, play big, play hard, play quick, play simple and play smart.
Earn an every day job on this roster – here is your chance!
I applaud your even handedness. I wait.
Josh Brown did have his best game of the year last night – couple of assists and a beat-down.
At the same time, his call up is, well, not a great sign on many fronts – he’s generally been somewhat meh at the AHL level and, of course, this likely means that Nurse is not “A-OK” – to noone’s surprise.
I would expect we see Kulak/Emberson as the 2nd pairing and Dermott or Stecher with Brown as the 3rd pairing.
God help us all if Arvy can’t go and each of Dermott and Brown and Stecher are in the lineup.
The former 3rd pairing is now the 2nd pairing….
@EdmontonOilers
The #Oilers have recalled defenceman Josh Brown from the @Condors
4:11 PM · Nov 17, 2024
Eeeeww
we’re in danger.
A game late
Summarizing!
Stonehouse’s one-timer on the PP with less than five minutes left in the third stood as the GWG in a 4-3 win. His 2nd goal of the year earned him the game’s 3rd star.
Prospecting takes a break until Tuesday.
Campbell on waivers today – only mention as it means that he’s out of the Players Assistance Program so here is hoping he’s doing well and can stay happy and healthy!
I wonder if anyone gives him a chance to play
Likely headed to Grand Rapids to play for the Griffins.
Trading Stu Skinner will be a mistake. I hope the management team isn’t making reactionary moves before the 20game mark with the goalie that played in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final last year.
Reaves gets 5 games.
Sadly, this league has never cared about the health and safety of its players which are the foundation of the league.
DoPS has been run by fools for one forever.
Ditto the NHLPA.
Just enough to signal they don’t like it but they don’t really care about concussions
someone with a history only gets 5, that is pathetic. I guess % wise with someone making 1.35 million, it is a big hit financially.
The Jannot hit on Boeser was just as bad, actually worse given it was late, and he got 3 games.
I think the extra 2 games for the repeat offender aspect is about right, no?
Unfortunately with Reaves, he is a multiple repeat offender.
John Gibson at half salary.
He rebounds hard on a contender.
Only this year and next on his deal.
(and yes, I’m aware 3/4 of you hate John Gibson)
I would take Gibson and Skinner …
Not sure I would trade Skinner for him though at this stage of careers.
I agree I think Gibson would rebound and be very solid.
Gibson has done nothing in the past five years, after his early career success.
While we’re at it, maybe we could get Matt Murray to back up Gibson. He’s also done nothing in the past five years, after his early career success.
Regarding Skinner, his splits are starting to show a rather consistent pattern of being characterised by the phrase “struggles early, dials in as the season/series progresses”.
OCT: 5-7-2 .895
NOV: 16-13-1 .897
DEC: 14-8-1 .915
JAN: 12-2-2 .920
FEB: 7-7-2 .895
MAR: 16-2-3 .912
APRL 7-2-1 .918
(https://www.hockey-reference.com/players/s/skinnst01/splits/)
Definitely and it likely coincides with how the team is playing I would think.
As Godot says 🙂 Team D helps any goalie.
Nice article LT. Very bad timing for Nurse and the oil in that sense.
As much as I want Skinner to make a clutch save, in many games, last night was on Bouchard.
The maple leafs didn’t have much going up to that in the third, the oil looked pretty solid with a few hiccups here and there but keep defending and play relatively safe, possess the puck and wind down the game.
Bouchard decided an up the middle stretch pass between players was a safe play. Now sometimes he makes those passes and so I guess that is why he tried it?
Game awareness HAS to come into play there. That was obviously not the time to try that, he had other safe routes out of the zone.
I was so mad at that play (likely because I have to listen to my friends that are leafs fans, lol) Surprisingly, I didn’t turn the stream off.
The guy is a great player and I wouldn’t trade him but these bone headed plays, showing lack of game awareness is what gets me. He should of sat the rest of the game, lack of D and talent be damned.
This team is beyond frustrating with their 3rd periods. The entire team.
Some good arrows from the game even with this rant 🙂
Nuge aint what he used to be; Hyman is in a slump as is Skinner, Bouch has to get better NOW and Skinner is maybe a 1B
Why is Nuge not what he used to be and Hyman is in a slump?
Why isn’t Nuge is a slump and Hyman not what he used to be?
https://x.com/jfreshhockey/status/1858196913515897156?s=46&t=VKZ79-9hN-xwMNTBjohq7w
the worst goalie in the nhl is …
well you can probably guess
And the guy we definitely do not want to trade for is …
well off his normal game but still top 10
The difference between Saros and Stu is 14 goals. That is over 1 goal per game
Saros is obviously a better player.
I would not trade for Skinner because the contract extension is a poison pill.
The only reason for Reaves employment on the Leafs in the NHL is to play that type of game. Berube was the same type of player. The NHL needs to make a statement, he should be suspended for life. But he won’t they will give him 5 games. This league is an absolute joke.
For life? Really? Reaves may be a fighter, but he’s not a Matt Cooke type who deliberately tries to end careers. Reaves tries to hit hard, and he was a bit off in his timing, but that’s different from intent to injure. Sure, he deserves a suspension, but let’s dial back the outrage a little.
The NHL gives punishments based more on intent than on damages, and I don’t think they should change that precedent.
In the old days, Sather would be on the phone with his friend Harry in Boston, figuring out which 3/4 players each they would flip to get the teams going. Sadly not many hockey trades like that anymore.
Who do you propose?
Hey LT, I’m a big fan of Skinner, love his personality and demeanour. I attended Game 6 vs. Dallas, he was incredible. Agree he’s struggling.
I am less certain, however, that the Oilers make more 5 alarm mistakes then any other team. Bouchard’s gaffe was huge but we’ve seen teams make the same mistake and have 97 or 29 knock it down. The xGA and HDCA suggest the Oilers limit chances better than most. The eye test says the other goalie outplays Skinner almost every game this season. Doubt is creeping in for me, I’m not certain he’ll be better than average to below average across all game states. His 5v5 save percentage is solid, but his 4v5 percentage has been low for two years has it not? I agree with 5v5 focus for skaters, but at 4v5 your goalie is crucial.
I’m not sure the Oilers make a trade, as I’m not sure there’s good options. But I don’t fault them for thinking about it, the window isn’t forever and a goalie that wins the goalie battle more nights than he loses it might go a long way for this team.
Skinner has a .912 SP since mid-October at five-on-five. He isn’t the best goalie in the league, and he’s struggling but things are improving. I’d love to see Bowman upgrade the position, sure I’m not alone. I think it’s unwise to assume another $2.6 million goalie will help, and fully expect Skinner to get better. It might also help if the offense was scoring at last year’s rates.
Skinner was 10 minutes from a 2-1 victory until Evan Bouchard made a big error.
Fair. Looking at the stats it seems Skinner was closer to average 4v5 last regular season, and incredible in the playoffs. Hopefully it rebounds as the season progresses.
Skinner has to rebound soon, or he’ll be heading the Dubnyk career route. That won’t help anyone, and for the Oilers it means more assets out. The Oilers in goal have basically been a revolving door for the last decade, so moving off Skinner and on to Saros is probably the expected move.
I wonder if Skinner and the 2026 first gets it done? There’s an increase in cap dollars in that deal, so the club might have to offer a sweetener to a third party.
I wouldn’t do it, suspect Bowman will in the days to come. Dubnyk hit a career nadir in Toronto too, matter of fact. Deja vu all over again.
I am not on board with trading him either but it may come to that. Skinner is not a true reflex goalie, he is a puck blocker. I have time for puck blockers but would prefer a tender that has the reflex and quickkness to make more clutch saves. I don’t believe Stu is by any means a bad athlete, obviously not, he is just not a fast twitch tender and I feel that hurts him making the quick, clutch reflex saves more often than not. His glove hand is horrendous and his movements can be clunky and slow.
The oil are brutal for giving up those kind of chances that require that… just my opinion.
The Oilers have set their course, and part of that course is a $2.6 million goaltender. I understand he has flaws, but the pool of talent who are certain to come in and transcend the position is not large. It’s also possible Skinner regresses to his career normal, although he seems to be drifting now. We’ll see.
Hear that. It is harsh critique because it has to be broken down so far because he is a pro, in the best league and is a solid tender in that league. I think he regresses for sure as will the team when healthy. Its happening.
I still stand by what I said with the being clutch. A few more of those types of saves and we don’t have this convo.
I like Skinner. Game 7 finals… that is huge.
Agreed he’s drifting. I’m not sure he’d agree, though. I get concerned when Skinner talks about the stat that matters for a goalie is wins. That may be true if you are on an exactly league average team, but if you are on a contender you are going to win a lot of games while not playing that well or improving. Of course, what he says to media and what he’s doing to raise his game behind the scenes might be different.
Hmmm and who is holding that revolving door for the last decade ….Dustin Schwartz
Dustin Schwartz mention! Drink!!
You win (-: .But great idea as the Grey cup is up in 90
Before we spend any of our limited resources on a S.Skinner upgrade, I would hope that we get a look at Rodrigue at the NHL level. Over the last three years he has posted improving save percentages of .912.,.916 and .929 in the AHL. Future Vezina winner Jesper Walstedt has been .908, .910 and .864 over the same time period.
Yes, I know some will say that Rodrigue had a shite pre-season, but his longer term record is promising.
The Condors had a week off before last night’s game and don’t play again until Tuesday, I have no idea why Delia got the start last night.
Skinner is 47 of 55 in sv% you don’t win much if your starter is below a .910% I assume Schwartz has major input on goalie signings and trades .. why is Schwartz still employed. Talbot is #2 is save percentage .. I get it .. it’s a system thing … what’s the definition of insanity again?
https://www.espn.com/nhl/stats/player/_/view/goaltending
Not allowed to question why the Schwartz is still employed by the Oil.
NHL Department of Player Safety tweeted out that Reaves will have a hearing. It did NOT say an “in-person” hearing which is required for a suspension of 5 games or more.
Jeanot got 3 games for his hit on Boeser which was just as bad (if not worse, as it was late as well). Reaves, of course, is a “repeat offender”.
The expected goals and related goaltender stats are always going to be a bit flawed given the inability to take all the required context in to account – not just shot distance and where the shot came from but pre-shot movement, who is taking the shot, etc., etc.
At the same time, even if flawed, it does provide some real information and that is getting very hard to ignore vis-a-vis Skinner.
I haven’t seen him let in many real stinkers recently but, at the same time, I swear the Oilers have given up like 6 or 7 high dangers in the last few games are are getting zero saves right now.
That will change a bit.
Well, isn’t that just great? Team Canada’s three best up-and-coming goaltenders are the three worst goalies by GSAA.
As if our national netminding situation weren’t already bad enough….
The NHL’s Dept. Of Player Safety is likely to disappoint Oiler fans on the Reaves suspension.
George Parros was a player a lot more like Reaves than Nurse. Most of these suspensions end up being lighter than you’d expect. In this case, I suspect you’ll hear the consistent specious argument they make that the player who was headhunted could have done more to have his head on a swivel and protect himself from danger .
I’m predicting 2 games, 5 games at the absolute max. Hope I’m wrong but the NHL is more about minimizing financial damages to suspended players than they are actual player safety. The bottom line is the players want to police themselves and not have heavy suspensions and fines.
Mattias Janmark is third in forward points.
Atta boy Janny, great job!
Nuge, Hyman, Henrique, Skinner, Arvidsson – LETS GO!!!
Is this cause for celebration?
I’d say so. I love watching Janmark. I love the effort and the never give up attitude. I’m hoping Podz at least becomes like Janmark if not better.
Janny had 7 straight 20+ point seasons to start his career, then a snake bit campaign last year which he looks to have recover from.
Podz definitely has some of the Janny elements with more physicality, not sure if he ever gets near his rookie campaign again offensively. He is 1 point ahead of last season in 1 less game though.
The effort is certainly always there.
However, I’m not sure a 3 year contract for a very soon to be a 32 year old is preferable to the alternatives that were available in the offseason.
Ryan McLeod who also shares the effort attribute is thriving on a poor team in Buffalo with 6 goals and 12 points.
Warren Foegele is also outperforming Janmark in Los Angeles while Dylan Holloway is matching Janmark in St. Louis.
Perhaps the cap hits allocated to Janmark, Henrique, Skinner and Arvidsson would have been more wisely spent on younger players with speed and remaining upside.
All of those guys have 2-3x the cap hit of Janmark.
Which is why I mentioned others who the Oilers signed rather than opting to keep their younger, faster players.
What is this on about?
McLeod is $2MM, Foegele is approaching $4MM and Holloway is $2.3MM.
What do any of them have to do with as a comparison to Janmark?
Janmark was among the group of aging vets that the Oilers decided to sign while offloading every forward under 30 except McDavid and Draisaitl who will soon get there.
Just looking at the dominant looking Carolina forward group by way of comparison.
The Canes have 11 forwards under 30 with 6 being 25 and under.
Which team do you think has a more sustainable future?
This has nothing to do with anything I posted about.
Janmark has been fantastic and should be celebrated, go back to gargling on the Avalanche and leave us be.
Pretty good for a guy you believe is nothing more then a 4th line winger with some PK responsibility, who you’ve been calling to be scratched at times.
I do believe he’s best suited as a 4th liner on a deep contending team.
When he was struggling earlier in the year and making mistakes for goals against, yup, he was in the conversation.
Jeff Skinner had always been a player that for every goal he scores he gives more than one back. And now he’s not even scoring. I would waive him
Trade him for Ceci!
What an odd thing to say about a player who has outscored at 5v5 over his past 10 seasons. Mostly on poor teams.
What you say is demonstrably false.
Possibly his absence is exactly what Darnell Nurse needs to recast his reputation? Nothing like missing a player to appreciate them more.
Queue Cinderella’s “Don’t Know What You Got Til It’s Gone.”
The Oilers continue to outplay, in some cases dominate, teams at 5 on 5 – including some very good teams.
The Oilers also continue to make single poor plays once or twice late and are not getting bailed out by the goalie, like ever (right now).
This team continues to have a ton of underperforming players including Hyman, Nuge, Skinner, Henrique and Arvidsson.
The Oilers are still 6-3-1 in their last 10 (including 3 games without McDavid, actually 4 given he played one shift in the other).
Frustrating to give away regulation wins and points but the “issues” seem fixable with mental commitment, which this team has shown they can provide when they need to. I wish they would provide that commitment to the right play at the right time consistently but we know they can find it in due course. We’ve seen it.
Hoping Nurse is feeling as good as can be this morning.
I have zero knowledge of the protocols he faces. Any idea how many hours of non concussion symptoms he must go through would it be standard even if he’s feeling well to sit him the rest of the trip? I wonder what the protocol on flying is. Did? Did Nurse fly with the team after the game or is he still in Toronto for observation?
This team not scoring at least once and probably twice on the 5 minute man advantage in a 2-1 game is unforgivable. Really simple as that. Bouchard’s play and even Skinner shouldn’t have mattered.
The lack of scoring this year is kicking them right where it hurts.
This is my position too. The team was built to score goals. They are in the bottom third for GF.
This team was built to score goals…..also to win.Jackson and Bowman broke up a team that would have won last year without injuries.Now has no chemistry!Should have left them as they were.Shame on them!
That nurse headshot changed the game for both teams. Ruined the flow for both teams
A viscous headshot I hope he’s alright this could be bad. The league needs to send a message and give him at least 10 games which doesn’t hurt the leafs but it does hurt Reeves pocketbook. Oilers have zero pushback on the club besides a injured Kane. Does Wanner get the call? It’s too bad Clattenburg isn’t a few year older.
Oilers needed to make them pay for that hit and pumped in a couple goals to seal it. But they didn’t. Give the Leafs some credit. And Oilers have to get over this giving up the lead late in the third period. Obviously, the top pair is fatigued late in the game and prone to mistakes. Skinner’s skating needs to improve, I also wonder about his flexibility. Maybe he should do yoga or try stretching.
I’m not convinced about Gully or Schwartz. It is a mistake to me to give much credit to the PP coach when you have the Duo to work with. They are going to score, the rest of it is stale and has been for a while. They should be running at historic rates because they have historic talent. They should be able to pick any PK apart, but they revert to the same things regardless of outcome
I’m not sure if Gully is involved with offensive strategy, but that needs tweaking as well to me. Schwartz was involved with choosing Jack. The goalies aren’t improving, good goalie coaches are able to move their guys forward to their talent level. Dubnyk talked about it after he left, new coach got him learning new techniques and he played better because it addressed weaknesses in his game
I’m coming around on moving along from Schwartz. I found myself defending him often, early in his tenure. WHL goalie consultant, well liked in the industry, etc.
What I’ve seen over the last few seasons is a trend of mediocrity. Koskinen didn’t improve. Neither did Nilsson. Talbot got burned out, that’s on a lack of a viable backup and TMc over playing him. The one goalie that did improve year over year, Mike Smith, hired his own coach in the summer and worked on his tracking to great success.
Trying to steelman the case for Schwartz, the one last thing I can think of is Stuart Skinner is known to have credited DS for his development after being drafted. That they have a (publicly) strong relationship is an important factor. But winning trumps all, in my opinion.
We need to cast about to find the next big goalie coach. All the big names (Korn, Allaire, Clarke, Burke, Flaherty, etc) seem out of reach, so it’s about high time they found the next up and comer ready to rise through the ranks.
As for Gully, that he stayed on board this year has me wondering what he’s got stuffed into a manilla envelope. Like you said, he’s the guy running the offensive schemes and PP, which have gone stale almost since Tippett was here. And there’s been next to no adaptation on the fly in the playoffs when teams start making adjustments.
If anything, I’d say that would be the most obvious fresh voice in the room next year.
I’m not sure Gully runs the offense 5v5, but even outside of the issues this season, it hasn’t evolved beyond either a great play by the Duo or heading to the corners, back to the point, etc etc
They get their chances yes, but very few of what probably got called HDSC that I was watching seemed likely to go in outside of luck. This team should be deadly in the O zone beyond Connor and Leon. It’s still like what McLellan wanted, and his teams have always had trouble scoring enough in playoffs even with a lot of talent. The balance between good team play and enough attack isn’t easy, and I don’t think what they do 5v5 is good enough for who they have. It could be the roster make up. I know as GM without NMC clauses I would be wanting to make some unpopular trades. Sather would have
Knoblauch has been mentioning not enough rush plays, too much one and done. Zone time is great but I agree with Struddy, if you aren’t doing that to get the puck into scoring positions aggressively it’s just as he called it a skate-a-thon around the boards
Maybe KK just hasn’t had enough time to change them. Maybe his new D aren’t good or settled enough to help drive play. Although to my eye they can move the puck
As for Schwartz, he may be good, and may have helped Stu early on. I don’t like his pro evaluations though. But coaches run out of time despite that. Maybe a new voice could help Stu take the next step that he hasn’t yet. Maybe DS has gone as far as he can with his skill set with Stu
I think the Oilers still have too much ‘good in the room/nice guy/coachable/can play with skill/swiss army knife’ – whatever cliche – and that includes goalies. Players that win championships are aggressive people, have to be. Not out of control, but foaming at the mouth to win. Connor and Leon are hyper competitive. I think Ek is
Maybe a back up in the vein of Smyth (with less adventurism) is needed to juice things up, push the battle level up in the nets. Just go win games, play your game, and forget about the rest, or you may get a break
For me this is half the problem though. When they do get a rush play, if they don’t score, the shot ends up going the other way for an odd man rush against because the forwards weren’t back checking hard enough to get into position to support/hold the zone.
This is about where I’ve landed. If he couldn’t help Mike Smith with something as fundamental to the position as eye tracking, and apparently largely solvable over one summer, then he’s probably hit the end of his time as a contributor to the team. Never mind the whole Campbell debacle.
The power play cooked with Klefbom, with Nurse, with Barrie, and with Bouchard. Bouchard has been awful this year, overshooting into pads.
The Oilers have tilted too much of the power play towards Bouchard. Instead of being creative and working harder, they are defaulting to a Bouchard shot into the shinpads, the one thing they didn’t do when they didn’t have an elite shot on the point.
Klefbom and Nurse knew well enough to not overshoot. And Barrie was excellent at restraint from the temptation to overshoot.
PK’ers love it when they can force an PP into the default option of a point shot. They can force the creativitiy out of the Oilers PP.
Bouchard is a more valuable 5 on 5 player than he is PP guy.
His ability to drive results and play at 5 on 5 (including without McDavid or Ekholm) is his largest attribute.
I believe they are trying so hard to lock it down it’s costing them offensively.
I think so to. But solid defensive play has to stay. I think they need to do that by focusing on winning more battles, keep taking the puck back and attacking. They are disconnected at times as a unit (not enough puck support, playing on the walls), and the lost battles and bad passes kill a lot of momentum, or gives the other guys too much of it
Team needed to extend that lead on the 5-min PP and, yup, as it started I was hopeful for two.
At the same time, citing not scoring 2 goals on a 5 minute PP as unforgivable is providing the most unreasonable of expectations – its expecting a 75% PP.
Great read LT.
BANG on with Skinner. He is a good goalie but not Elite. Last night he has to stop 1 of those goals and an elite guy probably would have stopped 2 Bouchard had his worst game ever. I do think he will always have those lapses, maybe just not as blatant but they will be part of his game. He has that easy going non aggressive mentality a bit to much a lot. I think that is just the guy he is. He makes some great plays and can shoot, but he is frustrating a lot of times to watch. With the pp struggling a fair bit he suffers as well.
As for Nuge, would like to see him shooting more. He is passing a bit much right now and just seems off in general. You would think he snaps out of it as he is a smart player and still skates well. Here is hoping sooner than later.
The Nurse hit was savagery , He didn’t see it coming at all and Reeves put his shoulder right into his chin ( the button for sure). His head also hit the ice quite hard as well when he went down. With the NHL always stating they want that type of hit out of the game, here is the chance to send a good message. 10 games . But I doubt he gets that much. Hope so, but I bet 3-5.
That was the 3rd OT and letdown in a row. Oil we’re playing with fire in the 3rd periods letting teams in and we’re bound to lose one .
I feel bad for Nurse as his game was really good over the last 4-5. Hopefully he is back sooner than later.
if Pitt is really selling off the farm. 1 guy I would like to see traded for and would add some younger talent onto an older roster is 6.4/215 ish Drew O’Conner. Kid is big and can shoot the biscuit. He had 16 goals last year, and has dropped off this year. He is a hard worker that finishes his checks , battles hard in puck battles and can play both wings.
I do hope Nurse is back right away, but if out for a bit will the Oil start looking for a D man hard again.
I highly recommend watching Ice Guardians (Amazon Prime). The theory of one enforcer was to modify the instigator rule to the one head hunting (Reeves) in this case, and the guy (Kane) answering the call would only get the fighting major. Sure would have come in handy with Nurse in the Vegas series two years ago.
With the enforcer role minimized, we have human bullets throwing their bodies around and maximizing collisions. Why, because it’ll only equate to a 2-5-10 minute penalty. I hope they throw the book at Reeves, as Gazdic alluded to last night. Nurse will miss some time, whenever you see the eyes roll back it’s never a good sign.
As for Bouchard, personally I’m cursing his play as much as Draisaitls passing these days, until he scores of course, negating the bad plays. I would not trade this player either, but am somewhat hopeful it impacts the next contract by $1.5M. An $8.5M Bouchard is different than a $10M Bouchard.
Team defense still remains an issue after all the lessons learned through 23 games last spring. I do enjoy LT’s recent rationale of 4-3 team vs. 3-2 league, but man it’s infuriating sometimes for the eye test.
It’s time to see if Pickard can handle duties for awhile and let Skinner reset if not I’m sure Bowman has something on the back burner. Skinner is batting .877 and if you take away his 27 save shutout and change his name to Jack Campbell he’s already run out of town on this platform.
Stu Skinner
He’s better than his stats. He’ll climb back to .900 when we play a run of 10 games against lousy teams starting Dec 20th. He’s a #1 NHL goalie, just not a top-tier one. He’s Chris Osgood.
But it’s foolish to rely on Skinner / Pickard to win you a cup.
Youll never be wanting in goal with a top-10 netminder like Saros.
Besides, it looks like Evan Bouchard won’t be costing $10M.
Osgood played in 129 playoffs games and had a .916 SV% / 2.09 GAA / 15 SO
I wish he was Chris Osgood.
Osgood has six quality NHL defensemen in front of him, and Scotty had transformed Yzerman’s offense only game to elite two way play by threatening to trade him to Ottawa.
And Fedorov and Larionov where elite two way centres.
And yet none of Vernon, Cujo, and even Hasek had the same level of success or quality of individual results while playing on the same team during that era.
How about we start a compare the last season Oilers to the new additions?
Who and which players have been good, and which players have been bad for their respective new teams so far?
Fogele,McLeod,Desarnais,Holloway,and Broberg have been good.Skinner,Arvie,have been a waste of time!Congrats Jeff.
Thanks.
Nice to see the new management is up and running so well.
Deharnais has been healthy scratched for 6 of Vancouver’s games this season.
Vinny is to passive for Tocchet he needs to starting taking some mean pills.
He’s working with Defensive Development coaches Sergei Gonchar and Adam Foote.
Foote had more than 1500 penalty minutes in his NHL career.
The Sedins have been in player development for the Canucks for a while yet Petterson was on a year plus long slump until last week.
Petterson scored 34 goals and 89 points last season.
Is that a slump?
32 points in the last 40 games.
5 points in 13 playoffs games.
10 points in 16 games this season (which includes his recent heater).
I didn’t think it was arguable that Pettersson had been in a long and extended slump that was very concerning to the organization – that was fairly accepted fact.
You claimed it was “a year plus long slump”.
It wasn’t.
He faded at the end of last season due to a rumoured wonky knee.
His start this season has been slow but is coming around now and he has outscored every Oiler forward not named Draisaitl or McDavid.
His cap hit is more than double any Oiler not named McDavid or Drai – i sure hope outscoring underperforming $5MM players isn’t the bar for Pettersson.
Given 89 points was a large decrease from the prior year and below expectations for a player signing for $11.5MM per, yup his game has been down for greater than year
13 points is not a large decrease for a player with a knee injury.
He was doing just fine for the first 60 games last season.
47 points in 70 games for a guy making $11M a year? Damn right that’s a slump.
Vinny was never a big bruiser – not in the AHL nor in his time as an Oiler. No doubt he had a presence out there and is likely imposing to the opposition but he never really used his body much to bang (he would use his stick more as a weapon than his body). Aside from the double headlock in scrums (which was awesome) and the cross-check, I never found him to be that physical of a player.
He’s being platooned with Noah Juulsen.
He missed last night’s game with a minor injury.
Every season is Groundhog Day as an Oilers fan.
Goalie issues? Check.
Questionable coaching decisions? Check.
Lack of depth scoring? Check.
Lack of depth on D? Check.
Lack of commitment to team D? Check.
Next stop the Stanley cup finals!
Commitment to team D?
Oilers held the Leafs to 20 shots through 3 periods. Besides a couple of awful plays from #2 I thought they played excellent team defense.
Agreed. My comment was intended to be in jest.
Except I agree on all the other points 🙃
Not sure if you saw how they played the net front. Multiple times there was no D man out front or forward low enough. Those are the type of big breakdowns they get burned on so often this season
Playing with fire doing that. Play a good game overall and give up some easy ones
At what point do we start to worry about the Oilers two top prospects shy offensive starts to the season? Savoie and O’Reilly under a point per game.
Probably best to see how Nurse is doing, before unleashing the worry machine.
Roger that.
Perhaps its a good time to breakup 14-2 for a few games.
Watching the replay it was clear Mr. Bouchard is relying too much on his stable partner.
But who do you replace him with? The coaching staff barely plays Stetcher and Emberson. And Emberson has looked very underwhelming the last 3-4 games.
Lots of season left but it’s hard to see this team winning the division. No depth at D. The vet scoring wingers can’t score. Stu has Jack Campbell Syndrome.
You’re conceding it to Vegas because they’re 4 points ahead? Even though the Oilers are still last in the league in PDO?
Ignoring J. Skinner’s NMC for the moment, I wonder if him plus draft picks are enough to acquire another NHL quality Dman. J.Skinner is wasted on the 4th line so might as well send him packing; they didn’t acquire him to play with D.Roy and Perry for 8 minutes a night. If there is no deal for a Dman then perhaps he can’t be traded for a young winger who’s a better fit in the bottom 6.
The D is no where near good enough, and they sure look small out there after Ekholm and Nurse.
I have had similar thoughts. The coaching staff clearly does not trust J.Skinner. Maybe that changes but I doubt it.
The coaching staff should stop being obstinate morons then.
The team isn’t scoring. How about deploying one of the most talented goal scorers they have differently.
Hell at this rate, you would wish you could cash Hyman for max value.
People piss all over talented players way too easily.
Oh I agree. They should deploy him differently but I doubt they will. If that is the case then cash him for a useful player that will actually get played.
That was my point. Playing a goal scorer like JSkinner on the 4th line is a complete waste so either play him where his skills are maxed or trade him for something more useful.
Jeff Skinner’s main observable talent in his career is losing.
This is a nonsense comment. In your world we should lump Ales Hemsky into your group.
Ales Hemsky made the playoffs several times, including the Stanley Cup final
WHO ON EARTH GAVE SKINNER A NMC
Jeff Jackson. He thought he was getting a deal. When it really was an offer too good to be true, the kind like old guy like me get on the phone 10 times a day.
Derek Roy hasn’t played for the team in quite a few years. Hopefully the plan wasn’t to play them together.
Sounds like Nurse getting his clock cleaned put the heebee jeebies up Bouchard.
Bouchard always had the heebee jeebies. They are not as noticeable when the rest of the team is playing well.
He is a player that gets better when the team around him is playing well, and gets worse when the team around him is playing poorly.
He is a volatility amplifier in both directions. If the Oilers could only run the “Bouchard current” through a half-wave rectifier….
Is it a bad observation to say that Skinner would rather see 30 shots a night then 20 to 25? does he need 35 SA ?
Woodley said some goalies like work he mentioned Markstrom as an example
It would be so Oilers that they get their shot share sorted out and it makes the goalie struggle
Just get rush chances against him
Just eliminate the 1000 bell alarm chances against that the Oilers forwards and D allow pretty much every game.
Aside for the Bobby M. breakaway (which Skinner played as poorly as possible), were any of the other 3 goals against any more 1000-bell than the saves we keep seeing the opposition goalie make multiple times a night?
Stolarz saved shots just as dangerous as the Marner shot a number of time – at least two on McDavid. The Oilers had point blank chances in front with rebounds, just like the first goal against.
Who didn’t think the game was over when Marner was on the 2-1. Skinner correctly played the shooter but he guessed on glove side. Its not that Skinner was scored on it’s how awful he looked. I swear the boys are tight offensively because every breakdown is in the back of our net. It’s not like I want to give-up on Rodrique who I do think leaves after this year. If Rodrique can’t step in now then when? Delia has a past with Bowman can he be a stop gap if Skinner continues his struggles.
This happens to every single team every single game.
Talk about Prima Donnas much?
Imagine an NHL goalie who prefers a certain amount of shots otherwise he’s ineffective.
The sad part is you might be right lol
I’m not a hater on S. Skinner. I’ve said for years this team struggles with playing smart defensively. That said, Skinner is not playing good enough. Were all 4 goals scored blocker side?
I didn’t like Skinner’s play on the partial breakaway.
Looks to me that he partially lost his net on the GWG and was too far glove side. He also initially reacted like the shot was going glove side.
He needs to find his game and quick, or it will be time for a change.
Skinner is one of those low event goalies that might win a series or might lose a series; but they never inspire their teams in any meaningful way like the real deal goalies.
The Bulin Wall gave even the Lowe+MacT Oilers a quarter season of hockey without worrying every time the puck is in the Oilers end of the ice.
To me it looks like when he’s not at his best he isn’t reacting to the shot. It’s like he’s frozen
He also loses position or ends up rotating after a shot on his knees. Also he’ll end up prone after a shot and not in a good position for any rebound, happened on one last night. Hopefully he starts settling soon and thinking less
Like any player, but especially goalies, if they are prone to getting into their own heads it seems it usually isn’t good for developing stability over time. Everyone has slumps, it’s how often and how long. Exactly what sinks Campbell. Just play
Agreed, Skinner had no idea where his net was on the winner, Marner had the entire far side of the net and 5 hole to shoot at. Looked like Skinner thought he had 3 pucks coming at him. It’s baffling that the Oilers haven’t changed Goalie coaches.
I said at the beginning of the year that we should expect a worse Skinner this year in all likelihood.
He played 82 games last season.
He may bounce back next year
This is why not getting a clear upgrade on Pick was a mistake. I don’t see that the coaches see Pick as anything other than good for the odd game. Stu needs a break, he’s not playing out of his funk. I’m not suggesting move Stu or he’s awful, but it’s pro sports and losing your starting gig should happen if you can’t get it done well enough
The team would be better served with one less forward signing and one more goalie with NHL experience. They should have been able to leverage the team success and Connor to sign someone in summer. It’s just too important to not. Maybe run Pick for a few, get on the phones if it doesn’t help. Also the team seems to pull their heads out when Pick starts. Reset
This coach is looking the same as the previous coaches in the context of icetime. Let’s hope the top minute-munchers aren’t burnt out by spring.
Would also say that it’s not guaranteed Nurse will be out for a long period of time. Biggest concern would be concussion protocol. If he was seen joking and walking around with trainers after the game, rather than lying in a dark room, that’s a good sign that he may be out for a week if following return to play concussion guidelines and things move smoothly
Nurse is tough.
To paraphrase OTC, it seems like this ream has a few too many Fancy Dans and Barbara Ann Scotts.
The trouble with concussions is that symptoms can show up later.
Then stay for a while.
Happened to my wife
I’m curious what you liked about Henriques game last night, other than the goal of course.
To me he seems a step behind, all over the ice. Smart player, with a good set of hands, but maybe he can’t skate well enough to play center anymore. Watching him try and cover Marner at the offensive blueline at the end of the game was painful. Marner was toying with him, because he could. Marner knows that even if Henrique strips the puck, Marner will catch him in about 3 strides, so there’s no risk ragging the puck there.
The Nurse injury really sucks. He was playing some good hockey. And now, who knows how long he’ll be out, and how long it will take him to get back to that level. The Oilers are dangerously thin on defense. Thanks Jeff.
The Reaves hit was definitely a hit to the head, and definitely suspendable. I do not believe he was headhunting, but do believe he was going for the “blowup” hit. And there’s the problem with players like Reaves. They don’t bring any offense, they are not good defenders (has anyone ever seen Reaves kill a penalty?), and no one wants to fight them. So the only impression they can make in their 6 minutes of ice time is to blow someone up. Everyone knows this, and yet some coaches and GMs still think that player is worth a roster spot.
Unfortunately, the Reaves hit exposed Nurses biggest weakness as a hockey player. He just doesn’t see the ice well. I don’t know if it’s a processing issue, or a peripheral vision issue, but Nurse should have recognized there was a forechecker closing fast on him. And he never even sensed it, until the shoulder hit his chin.
I looked at a replay and he was looking at the puck I imagine trying to keep control of it. Most D would be looking up ice for the pass. The ice seemed rough, could have been that and bad luck in the moment
My opinion and only time will tell if I am right or wrong
J Jackson not really a hockey man and his non hockey nerd analysts in one summer ……..got rid of a hall of fame GM that wanted to stay and had taken the team to within 2 goals of a Stanley cup ——– Made the team one of the oldest and slowest teams in the league —————got rid of three big strong, fast young hockey players coming into the primes of their careers and replaced them with three smaller slower and at the end of their careers players.. Just watch how old and slow this team looks come February March once those old legs get older and slower.
Would you rather have last years team maybe without Broberg who wanted out anyway or this years team .Stop and think about that for a moment . We would be bigger faster and probably challenging for the top of the pacific division. He in my amateur opinion has set this team back at least two years and may have lost us McDavid because once the true flaws of this team become more evident he may second guess his desire to stay here
I would love to know who really made the decision to not sign Holoway/Broberg was it really Holland or Jackson because the latter had lots of time to sign them after Holland left. Same with Macleod we replace big strong and fast and just coming into his prime with an unproven little guy.
Jackson may go down as the person who all by himself caused the demise of the cup window for this team .
That’s the trouble when you change the management over and over.
If McDavid thinks Jackson has to go, then Jackson will go. Pity the players he’s brought in are generally useless. And yes, the Oilers are doomed unless they find another toughness gear.
This is exactly what I have been saying since the third game.Why not leave a Stanley cup finalist alone.No other players needed,just keep what you have.Jackson wrecked this team,now and more importantly the future!!!
The only really planned moves seemed to be McLeod for Savoie and letting Foegele walk (for Arvidsson).
The loss of Broberg and Holloway were not intended moves – the plan, and it was 100% reasonable, was to have them both signed for an aggregate of under $2.5MM.
The offer sheets changed the entire landscape of the middle of the roster.
The plan was not reasonable. Old guy in his pajamas in his basement tapping away at his keyboards told you offer sheets were a real risk in the middle of the playoffs.
Which meant Broberg and Holloway would have to be paid fairly based on projected performance.
Jackson played in the NHL and after a short career at a prominent law firm (which did go bankrupt a few years ago), was in the Leafs management for about 4 years including AGM and GM of the Marlies and then was a hockey agent for like 14 or so years before being hired by the Oilers.
How is he “not really a hockey man”?
Im not sure working in the Leafs organization or being an Agent for 14 years is a resume I would want to put up against either Hollands or Bowmans .What was the big rush to make all those moves 10 minutes after Holland walked out the door and before Bowman was on board .Yes maybe he lets Broberg go because he didn’t want to be here anyway .But losing Holloway was in excusable. And Macleod would be second in scoring on this team right now Would you still do that Macleod deal now.As to Skinner and Arvidson were they represented by agents from Skinners old office?? I don’t know but I am curious
Mcleod would be 3rd.
Mcleod became expendable with his soft play and fly by’s in the playoffs.
No one was thinking Henrique was going to fall off of a cliff like he has.
Savoie has lots of time to come in and shine.
McLeod’s contract was also going to be an issue. Same as Stuart Skinner’s will be. Evan Bouchard will get his deal from the next group of internal free agents. After that? Not sure. We may see trades similar to McLeod in the future.
We may all look like fools for worrying and making deals to clear space based on 82-83 m if it goes to the speculated 100m , The owners and GM’s had to be aware of the potential of it going up substantially. .The owners are made aware of the numbers pretty much in real time you would think .The cost and on ice results of Skinner and Ardvisson vs the cost and performance of Macleod ,Holloway and maybe Feogele is a conversation that Im sure will be on going this year
The Oilers have had a major issue over the years because the owner changes cooks so often. It’s a thing. Everyone has a better mousetrap and no one wants to come in and do nothing.
Two very valid points and not the first time the owner has been noted as being very hands on .He has been observed being that way in business too.
I don’t think this owner meddles in hockey ops at all – maybe a decade plus ago, once, with the Yakupov thing but never since (that I’ve heard about).
I think reference to “owner changing the cooks” is to the revolving door of management (and coaching) not to the owner being “hand on” hockey ops.
Yeah, real passive guy. I bet he still doesn’t know about the offer sheets. 🙂
Katz is involved in a big way. There are so many tells, OP. The number of management and coaching changes, Jackson’s being airlifted a year ahead of Holland’s exit.
Katz runs the show. He always has.
Of course he runs the show, he’s the owner but I personally don’t believe he meddles in hockey operations decisions aside from hiring the upper management. I believe he allows him management team to decide player procurement and daily cap management moves without interference and he essentially signs off on anything management brings.
Of course, if Bowman and Jackson wanted to trade Drai or McDavid, the owner would be involved but I don’t think he was involved in the summer signings or the Holloway / Broberg decision, etc.
I could be wrong but that is my sense and understanding and I’m just providing my opinion.
So we replaced McLeod because he was to soft sometimes with the definition of soft Jeff Skinner who has 6 points and is -7 ,while Mcleod has 12 pints and is a plus 7 ??? That is an argument that at this point of the season is hard to square .
With respect, that is not a valid reason for “not a hockey guy”.
The moves were made on July 1 because, well, that’s when those players are available.
Lets not forget, those moves were made on the premise of signing the RFAs coming off their ELCs as non-established NHL players (neither had played a full NHL season) to reasonable value contracts.
The perfect storm was there for Doug Armstrong and, sure, maybe there was a mistake not seeing it coming, however, in my opinion, the off-season strategy was sound.
There were very few that didn’t think Borberg/Holloway were not going to be signed for apx $2.5MM, probably less.
We will have to agree to disagree on Jacksons qualifications as a GM vs many others like Holland for Bowman ( Im not opining on his qualifications as a CEO). We were not in the room and did not know all the facts available to the decision makers .. A conversation about his moves will Im sure be revisited through out the season by all of us amateur hockey fans . .Don’t you think that is the fun part of being a fan .We get to discuss ,debate and speculate all things Oilers and thankfully it doesn’t have a direct impact on the decision making the real hockey decision makers arrive at
The initial statement wasn’t about his qualifications as a GM or CEO but was “not a hockey guy”, that’s the sole point I have discussing. He’s been involved directly in the NHL, daily, for like two decades, no?
One positive – 8 straight penalties killed over past 3 games?
I think that the goalie play is amplified because generally, the Oilers have been outplaying teams all season long, but single moderate-large mistakes have ended up in the back of our net and it is easy for fans to look at those single events in frustration as they have sunk games. Again, it is never entirely on the goalie, but the scrutiny is what they sign up for, and this is not some unique Oilers thing.
If I understand correctly, some think it is our chaos that is the problem and cite the examples of some goalies playing better for 1 or more seasons after they were traded. I respectfully disagree, I think goalies like Talbot are just inconsistent, like most of the goalies in this league. There are very few goalies who perform at high level year after year, there are a lot more Dubnyks and Talbots than there are Shesterkins. On a trapping LAK team Talbot had one good season and was still pulled in favour of Rittich in the playoffs. His best season was still as an Oiler. Dubnyk took years and 4 different teams to provide 4 solid starter seasons in his entire career. Most teams understandably don’t want to throw away seasons for an indeterminate duration waiting for a goalie to pop and I don’t think that’s a sin from management.
Oilers are still finals hungover. I would prefer to see them after about 50 games before worrying too much.
https://x.com/jfreshhockey/status/1858157461120631295?s=46&t=VKZ79-9hN-xwMNTBjohq7w
we have two Ahl goalies. Night after night the other guys have the better goalie. It’s time to go shopping and fade Skinner.
I know the excuse will be bad giveaways and they were horrendous but night after night our forecheck causes horrendous giveaways and their goalie doesn’t fold like a cheap suit
https://www.naturalstattrick.com/playerteams.php?fromseason=20242025&thruseason=20242025&stype=2&sit=all&score=all&stdoi=g&rate=n&team=ALL&pos=S&loc=B&toi=0&gpfilt=none&fd=&td=&tgp=410&lines=single&draftteam=ALL
we have a skinner problem
That’s pretty damning. But of course, the fans are at fault for demanding average goaltending from a 2.5 million goalie, and our players are at fault for not being perfect
Haha yep, at least according to in here.
This has all the makings of NJD’s season last year. I sincerely hope I’m wrong
Skinner has definitely stalled in his development. His technique is OK but he backs up into his own net too much on rush chances – he doesn’t get across the crease well without being able to push off his posts, which leads to him staying in too deep. His glove hand is weak. He handles the puck poorly. He doesn’t track the puck well either and gets beat up high a lot when there is any kind of traffic in front of him, despite his large frame.
He’s a 1B type goalie, similar to a Jake Allen. A solid NHL goalie who can do well if he’s not the main guy in net. Not a guy who’s going to be back stopping a team a to Cup.