They’ve got it now. The Oilers have found their way, and coach Kris Knoblauch should have one of his patented winning streaks on the horizon. It has been a typical Oilers process. Unlike German trains, where everything is precise, the Oilers are like a chef who goes by taste. Sometimes it takes months to get the seasoning right. It appears the Zach Hyman getting healthy was a key component. Last night the Oilers played well. Full Stop. That’s the lead, the body of the story and the thrust of the message. It’s coming on Christmas, late but not too late to skate away.
WHAT TO EXPECT IN DECEMBER
- At home to: Wild, Kraken, Jets (Expected 2-1-0) 2-1-0
- At home to: Sabres, Red Wings (Expected 1-0-1) 1-0-1
- On the road to: TML, Canadiens, Penguins (Expected 2-1-0)
- On the road to: Bruins, Wild (Expected 1-1-0)
- At home to: VEG, Flames (Expected 1-0-1)
- On the road to: Flames, Jets (Expected 1-0-1)
- At home to: Bruins (Expected 1-0-0)
- Expected Record: 9-3-3, 21 points in 15 games
- Actual Record: 3-1-1, seven points in five games
- Season Record: 14-11-6, 34 points in 31 games
Just like that, the Oilers are on pace to match my predicted December. The team is on a 90-point pace and one suspects that number will increase over the rest of December.. Next stop: Toronto. I have the Oilers going 3-2-0 on this road trip, and if they play close to last night, that’s reasonable.
- Podkolzin-Draisaitl-Savoie 13:46, 6-6 shots, 51X, 4-4 HDSC
- Nuge-McDavid-Hyman 11:43, 8-2 shots, 1-0 goals 81X, 2-0 HDSC
- Frederic-Henrique-Janmark 8:00, 0-5 shots, 0-1 goals, 2X, 0-2 HDSC
- Mangiapane-Lazar-Tomasek 6:49, 3-1 shots, 50X 1-1 HDSC
The top two lines are rock solid, plenty of chances and a fun style. The McDavid line was on, and Zach Hyman appears to be back and that’s a very good thing. I’m not sure what the coaching staff wants from the third unit, but they didn’t get it. Fourth line had some spark, I’ve liked Curtis Lazar in recent days and do believe Andrew Mangiapane could show much better on a line that didn’t dump and chase so damned often. Tomasek is starting to do some things that will get him more playing time, he’s more involved than he was in October.
Edmonton recalled Max Jones from Bakersfield yesterday, his splits suggest that improvement has taken place in the most recent run: 10, 2-1-3 (4-8 even strength goals) through the first portion of the season, and 7, 3-1-4 (5-3 even strength goals) in recent days. Injury issues have also impacted his game in 2025-26. I’m not sure he’ll play, but there should be an opportunity based on the quality of play recently on the third and fourth lines.
- Ekholm-Bouchard 15:49, 7-6 shots, 1-0 goals, 43X, 2-3 HDSC
- Nurse-Regula 14:43, 16-4 shots, 1-1 goals, 83X, 7-1 HDSC
- Kulak-Emberson 12:40, 2-5 shots, 12X, 0-4 HDSC
- Stuart Skinner 27 of 28 stops, .964
The Nurse-Regula tandem had a night. I like Regula because he’s big and he can move the puck. He isn’t overly physical but you can look past it if he can be a consistent coverage defender. I think he’s coming along. Vital they find a Nurse partner who can be reliable in that role. Stuart Skinner played well in his final game with the team.
On the Lowdown today, we’ll have Rachel Kryshak to talk about the Oilers-Penguins deal, and Steve Lansky to discuss that deal and famous ones he has covered. Noon to 2pm, Sports 1440.
New for The Athletic: Why the Edmonton Oilers made bold moves to address goaltending, defence
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6884755/2025/12/12/edmonton-oilers-trade-tristan-jarry-stuart-skinner-penguins/
There are photos online showing Jarry’s new Oilers gear. Looks pretty good.
*I’m not sure how to link the page.
Pic was on Vaughn Sports – Instagram.
That kit is very sharp indeed! Seems like they must have had a few days heads up to get those ready haha
Seems like an awful coincidence doesn’t it?
That deal must have been in the hopper for a while.
Yep – they’d already made their mind up before the homestand, I suspect. The holdup was getting the Stastney trade done, to offset the loss of Kulak.
Summarizing!
Lafreniere potted his 20th and 21st goals, and added an assist. He had a team-high 5 SOG and went 18 of 32 (56.3%) on the dot. He was named 2nd star for his efforts.
Berry did not garner soup. He shall have to subsist on uncooked rice instead.
Man what a season he is putting together. I liked the pick at the time but admit I was hoping for Cameron Schmidt in that spot because of his goal scoring.
Tommy is outscoring him presently and it’s early days but appears the Oiler scouts may have gotten the last Laf.
Love the verbal from TSN praising Vancouver.
“Considering the situation…” is my favorite. The situation is they took a team talented enough to compete for a Cup for many years and turned it into dust within 2 years, with such a toxic atmosphere created to the point that a generational D talent wanted to be literally anywhere else.
But hey, getting a 60 pt forward and a future top 4 D with a low first rounder to come, that’s effin amazing.
Same verbal around Calgary. Everyone loves to give rebuilding franchises the benefit of the doubt, but there is a reason they are rebuilding. In Vancouver’s case, it wasn’t players aging out, it was ineptitude and pettiness amongst players, coaches and management
I recall just over a decade ago when Vancouver was competitive with two elite goaltenders. They had debate after debate on who to keep and who to trade and within a couple of years both were gone.
Fast forward to 2022 or 2023, Vancouver had an upcoming team that had a really good playoff run. They had two centers and they could only afford one. They had debate after debate on who to keep and who to trade and within a couple of years both were gone.
Vancouver just keeps making the wrong choices.
If you watch the Hockey Guy on YouTube, and if you don’t you should, he was absolutely livid over this trade. They had the beginnings of a really good hockey team not too long ago, and now they’re rebuilding again,
Couldn’t happen to a better fan base. We know how magic beans turn out.
Tochett had an extra shot of his drink of choice last night
In successive years, Rutherford and Alvin have turned Horvat, Miller and Hughes into:
Hronek, Raty, Chytil, D-Pettersson, Mancini, Buium, Ohgren, Rossi and a 2026 late first round pick
2 legit stars and a franchise player into a mishmash of players. And the best that the media can come with, is that they finally appear to be picking a lane and bottoming out.
The thing is they still have enough veteran forward talent – C-Pettersson, Boeser, Garland, Debrusk – and goaltending to be competitive enough to dig themselves out of the basement, (given that there is still 2/3 of the season left) and screw up their chances at McKenna.
Rutherford has always been a blowhard, which is why the media keeps licking his boots, to maintain access.
It appears Bedard may have separated or dislocated his shoulder on a faceoff in the last second of a 3-2 loss to the Blues tonight.
Schenn with a physical draw lifting Bedard’s stick and arm awkwardly.
Did not look good,he was holding his shoulder,maybe no Olympics now.
Just my 2 bits after watching hockey since WHA Oilers.By my eye test,Skinner would play well when it didn’t matter,and let the goals in when it did matter,for instance the Oil could be playing great up 3 to 1,he would let in the soft one making it a game.In the same vain Oilers would be down by 3 crawl back to 3 to 2,and he would let a soft one in,4 to 2,game over.Hope he succeeds in the future,I said to friends, I don’t want to see him in net if we get anywhere near a Stanley again.
The two conference finals against Dallas matched up against Jake Oettinger apparently did not matter.
I was in Europe during the last series against Dallas,but going by the other 90% of games i’ve witnessed .Just as Grant Fuhr would step up for example,Stu did not ,bench deflating moments more often then not,I’m sure the core had enough.
Two Stanley cup finals against Florida matched up against Sergie Bobrovsky…
Yes it’s not on Stu,who can imagine the pressure playing as a young man in your own city for the Stanely cup ,especially young.So he did well, but time to move on.
Just like Mark Messier
There are very few home town heros,so it must be a thing.
And there because Pickard got them through.
Yea doesn’t matter lost two cup finals
And the other series? How many starting goalies do you recall having to be bailed out by their average backup goalie in consecutive playoff runs?
Colorado used two goalies. Vegas used two goalies. Florida used two goalies in their first Cup run.
Even non goalie experts could see Skinner had obvious technical and athletic flaws
Tuscon ties it up in the dying seconds of the 2nd on a 5 on 3 but, early in the 3rd, the Condors kill off the rest of the penalty, Leppanen with a 3-zone long rush, puts a floater on net, the tender with a HORRIBLE rebound out in to the high slot and Marjala buries it for the lead.
Well I was ignoring the team for the most part until a goalie move. Always was a Skinner fan but he was pushed too far too soon by the Campbell disaster. Skinner is also a poor fit stylistically with mediocre lateral movement on a team that gives up 5 alarm and backdoor chances by the bucketful. This is not at all like Dubnyk who was solid behind a bad team for years – then MacT disses him in the off-season – and trades him after 30 sub-par games. Ten years of .913+ SP except for that one season. One of the dumbest trades ever.
Happy to get Jarry – but wanted him and Skinner as a duo – not traded for Skinner. We still need a backup as Pickard is a disaster this season and Ingram is not getting it sorted out in Bako. But that is a far easier issue to fix than starter.
Reality is that there is no way we would re-sign Skinner in the summer unless he was very good this year – but he’s having a mediocre year. PIT might even trade him again at the deadline if he’s any good over there. There are no UFA options next summer. Kulak was kept too long, pending UFA and no loss trading him either. Poor goalie drafting and development continues to haunt the team. Why they never fix this is a mystery.
You need to post more.
Im willing to bet skinner wanted a change of scenery
Yeah, the comparisons to Dubnyk really don’t work. From 2010 to 2013 with Dubnyk in net the team was 46-49-17. Without him they were 30-58-2. With Dubnyk in net they won games they had no business being in, because those teams were godawful.
Skinner could be an effective goaltender for the Oilers, I probably liked him more than most, but he didn’t win a lot of games on his own the way Dubnyk did. Plus, the Oilers I think made an upgrade in goal with the acquisition of Jarry for Skinner, while MacTavish gave Dubnyk away for a good in the room, fourth liner on the ice player in Matt Hendricks.
The whole Dubnyk saga of 2013-14 was an example of the Oilers management at their dumbest, which is saying something considering how many dumb things they’ve done. Up there with the Reinhardt trade, the Campbell signing and losing Holloway and Broberg to offer sheets. I don’t think today’s trades are in that category of dumbness.
Please post more sir.
Would think that there will be another move. Pickard may be liked, but he has to start playing better or they either go to Ingram or someone else.
They will also have to do something about the roster once Philip & Wallman comes off LTIR and Roslovic & Kapanen come off IR. Some guys will go down (Stillman, Clatt and Jones), but not everyone may clear so it’s possible we see a 2 for 1.
I had 2 posts that were taken down yesterday for some reason, but they said exactly this. Actually, you summarized it better. The Dubnyk comparison actually would better have fit with Jarry’s situation last summer, not Skinner’s. Both Jarry and Dubnyk had several consistent seasons before an off season, and then recovered the next season.
Which means 3 things.
One, I wish Skinner well as a human being. But if he somehow finds consistency in his game going forward, it is likely not going to be this year, and I will vehemently reject anyone who says “I told you so,” without providing actual evidence that a resurgence was likely based on his time in Edmonton. If he has some sort of renaissance at age 33, we couldn’t have waited for that to happen.
Two, this is not a lateral move to upgrade a starting goalie.
Three, if Bowman saw Jarry as a Dubnyk like bounceback candidate (and last season he did recover from that awful start), why the heck didn’t he trade for him as a buy low candidate in the off season? He could have likely got them to retain, wouldn’t have had to trade Skinner or Kulak, and Skinner as a backup would be so much better. This is a situation like Colorado where they now need to change both goalies
Trading Hughes to Minny and not demanding Boldy is crazed.
They don’t have the assets if he doesn’t come back the other way.
Quantity don’t work as a return. It isn’t the NFL. We’ve seen this movie.
And reminder – this is ALL on their dedication to Pettersson. Absolutely organization breaking move.
Couldn’t happen to a nicer bunch.
So not the Pens with their cap clearing?
Blue chip out blue chip in is the idea.They failed, as Oiler fans we should be happy
Oh, I am.
And constantly reminded that the most competent people who could be doing those management jobs are making more money in more demanding industries.
Magic beans. I’m curious as to what finally pushes these GMs to make these franchise crippling moves. Medling owners on a bender?
Like Lowetide site I found bootleg Football. Brett Kollman (NFL networks Daniel Jeremiah’s Video & System scouting) & EJ Snyder (Mutlti CHi bears platforms) Have. Become partners in many Draft community: Shrine game, NFL network, Espn’s Draft group, current & Past PFF staff. To a point were they were only non team/network Draft people on combine feild.
GO Oilers!
Darth: 25’ I did the same stacked identifiers for the NFL during bad chemo days. Clear Pff & Production numbers that show Media giving the same false win affect narratives I have pointed out since 07/08.
In stage 4 to 5 Kidney failure so trying to coordinate Careers for kids & Travel pre dialysis to much of Kids 21, 17, 15 choices (Japan, S. America, etc.
If you have seen Ben Afflecks the accountant conference room scene, my process in Power, Petro, Sport analytucs is identify different absolute 100%/0% & mechanics Regression outcomes.
Photographic memory: HD SH area age 4 at 68/69 Flin flon bombers.
Closed SH mid 70 as kids. 05/06 used to generate WOWY in my head before snows WOWY site.
playing sports I could see the expevted play path in Rugby, Football, etc.
So no need 4 a computer. Chemo has taken that memory. So I cannot remember every closed & open SH faced.
I do not know computers so I am pretty much starting over.
All my Play success route trees are no longer completed& Need to be visited.
SonI do not have an answer 4 you.
You have to understand each Dman allows a certain Open shot rate on their def side. Rover theory was about most of d producing at #7 or 8 EV Fwd yet yield a awful OSH/60 on their side.
The goalie is -ve/+ve performance. S each sides baseline.
bad D make goalies look bad!
qual of Comp OSH targeting also dictates an outcome!
If I’m reading that correctly I am sorry to hear that you are so unwell. Blessings on you and your family
Prokop with a block and a great strech pass to Hutson for a clear breakway and…… he buries it.
3-2 Condors.
Check that – Akey with the stretch pass.
Stauffer saying that Jarry was dealing with a private family matter last couple of years. Interesting.
Hope it’s behind him now … but if not, then coming home to Edmonton may be a blessing for his family.
The vet third line strikes against.
Great forecheck, Griffith on the sidewall, back to Milman, wrister, tipped in by Hamblin.
They are going to have to outscore the ECHL level defence (for real, 3 of 6 really are, well, two for sure) and Tomkins being meh tonight.
Some very poor defence from Brown who was WAY over on a 1 on 2 beside his partner on left – a bomb is saved, Condors chase and Tomkins beat a LONG slapper from distance – bad goal on the goalie – bad all around.
Condors tie it up completely against the flow of play.
Some good forecheck pressure, Inamoto with a very nice look to Griffith wide open very high, he walks right in and goes bar down for his 100th as a Condor.
Inamoto now with a huge hit and the scrum it up.
Just need HH to tell us how great a team Van is building …………….
Something like “They just freed up all this cap space and got some great prospects which they could put them in front of line for the Quinn Hughes sweepstakes”
Haha-that guy was a clown, glad he gave it up. I would probably quit reading the blog if we had to deal with both him and this new fibocratchi fool.
I’ve got good news and bad news for you.
He’ll circle back on them at some point, after he’s done rooting for LA…Colorado…the next flavor of the day.
Betcha we’re going to hear a lot about Minnesota and Dallas too… jokes on those teams, cause his endorsements have been the kiss of death.
Nah – Minnesota will now be the goalpost team, Guerin the god, etc.
Leppanen and Akey victimized early. Got lost on the cycle, low to high play, Tomkins looks the wrong way and the first shot is in.
Dinnen could be back next week and Carfagna likely an option tomorrow.
Good news!
The tryout is in case Brown couldn’t go as he continues to play hurt (shoulder) – probably why Stilman was called up over him.
A numbers comparison using Clear Sight by Woodley.
https://ingoalmag.com/2025/12/12/myth-busting/
Its behind a paywall but the one accessable tidbit:
Pitts D zone has been chaotic at times over his time there as well so the new environment won’t be a shock
It felt like just yesterday we were being told the Oilers would lose their star players while Vancouver, perennial stanley cup contenders, were an attractive retirement destination for their star players like Hughes.
Holy Hell that’s a huge haul for Vancouver.
I know Hughes is elite (although injuries are a thing – maybe he won’t need to play 27 minutes in MIN) but Van did very well in the circumstances.
Magic beans. We’ve seen how quantity over quality works out
With Jones out, Petrov back in listed as center on the 4th line.
The defensive group, has Milman, Prokop and Ianamoto in the lineup (in addition to Leppanen, Akey and Brown) – that’s 3 players not in the lineup (one not in the league) to start the season.
Leppanen/Akey listed as top pairing.
Tomkins starts coming off his shutout.
The Central Division is awesone. They probably have the three best (regular season) teams in the West. I envision Dallas trading for Nazem Kadri and / or Rasmus Andersson, and going all in.
Funny thing is, one of Minny, Dallas, or Denver won’t survive the first round, while only one will survive to the Conference Final.
The Oilers still need to defeat Vegas, which is fine because Marner won’t show up, and then they only have to beat one of the powers of the Central.
What an impossible road for the Central clubs.
A 2022 WCF rematch goes exactly the same way unless the Oilers add to the team or the coach tweaks the system properly.
People touting Skinner’s playoff experience. To me it’s the same as the rest of his career to date. Wildly inconsistent and trending down. How many Stanley Cup winning goaltenders play so poorly during the run that they lose the net to their backup for multiple games in multiple playoff years?
100%
You could count on Skinner for good to great play some of the time, but never on sensational play, and often poor play marbled throughout.
He was the teams biggest liability and the entire locker room knew it.
Ricky Bobby of goaltending. Either first or last, little in between.
Some players are just along for the ride and not really helping get to the destination
Totally. These are from Biron and Craig Burton, so not sure what else to say except my opinion of them is even lesser at this point.
I like the Wilds aggressiveness on the trade quite a bit.
but their biggest need by far was a #1 center and center depth is now even a bigger issue
I have no idea if Jarry will be good/better than Skinner/the same/worse (somehow), but the idea that the Oilers gave up a lot for him makes no sense to me.
The Oilers traded away one of the worst starters in the league – who most Oilers fans had been praying for two years he would be fired into the sun and who had received most of the blame for no Stanley Cups – a turning 32 year-old third pairing defenseman who was having a very rough season thus far, and a second round pick four drafts from now.
This is not giving up a lot.
Plus we got another player back who probably amounts to nothing really, but that is what the second round pick will likely amount to… four drafts from now.
If Jarry is bad, the trade will be criticized rightly, but it will be a bad trade because of the wrong target acquired not because of the price paid.
Because the talking heads and Internet scouts have to declare and winner and loser for the clicks. And on the surface, people are like … “you could have had Jarrt for free off waivers last year.” Except they ignore the context to frame their narrative … we didn’t have the cap space to take a gamble on Jarry last season, and Dubas was not retaining salary then or now. The organization was not ready to flush Skinner then and no one knew if Jarry was going to get his game back to where it was before (aka – All Star, Vézina-votes).
Again – we payed essentially the same price for Jarry, that the Avs payed for Blackwood – incumbent starter (Skinner/Gorgiev) and a 2nd rounder.
Because we had to give up Kulak as well. We lost a valuable d-man who had the ability to step up in the playoffs, and gave us cover when Ekholm was hurt and now when Walman was out.
Lately, the Oilers have been running Emberson-Kulak as a 2nd pairing w/Nurse-Regula as a 3rd pairing. Stastney is not ready to step in as a 2nd pairing d-man. So we upgraded in net, but the cost of doing so was losing a valuable utility piece and a thinning out of our depth in a very important position.
To me, that says we gave up a lot in the short term. Long term, we may be better off because Kulak waa UFA and both he and Skinner would need new contracts next year for a lot more than they’re paid now.
Had to improve in G and Jarry is a reasonanle bet on an improvement on Skinner when not considering value for cap commitment. However, Bowman needed to do far better in this transaction when looking at the trade as a whole:
Kulak is better than his showing in the first 30 games this year. Sold at an all time low there.
Jarry is being acquired at close to an all-time high and he’s slightly overpaid. Needed some salary retention to properly reset his value for cap hit and not further sewer the team cap management.
Skinner dumped at possibly an all time low, but he’s so volatile so hard to know
The 2nd round pick should have been the price for salary retention
Only time will tell of course, but this deal largely rests on Jarry outperforming his cap commitment and somehow filling the D depth hole created. Not much certainty in realizing a net gain in this transaction – It’s a big gamble!
Preds fans on Twitter are not liking the Stastney trade. So that’s an up arrow for us.
Looks like a good pickup as a bottom pair defenseman. Not big, but has some skill moving the puck. Lots of positive discussion surrounding him.
Let us celebrate Oiler fans, and tap dance on the graves of our enemies!
Sure, we may have had two heartbreaking Stanley Cup Finals losses in a row, but we also caused our two biggest rivals to go into multi-year, earth-shattering, team-destroying rebuilds after playoff defeats at the hands of Connor and Co.
As some who questions if their hate for the Canucks is more than their love for the Oilers, today is a good day.
The early morning show on Vancouver sports radio is going to be epic.
I said after the last final,”Altough it’s not all his fault,I do not want to see that goalie in net for our next run” glad hes set free.
Hughes did not return a king’s ransom like a few have sworn he would, shocker.
The equivalent of 4 first round picks is pretty Kingy.
Kevin Lowe used the same justification as you just did to gaslight the Oiler’s fanbase when he traded Pronger to the Ducks.
Marco Rossi and Zeev Buium >>>>>>>> Joffrey Lupul and Ladislav Smid.
Maybe – time will tell. The magic beans always seem better in the moment, and less impressive after the benefit of hindsight.
For instance, at the time of the Pronger trade, Lupul, the 7th overall pick in his draft year, was coming off a 28 goal, 53 point season; numbers that are very similar to Rossi (9th overall) at the same age. Smid was a highly touted 9th overall pick by comparison to Buium, who was 12th overall in his year.
With the 22nd overall pick, the Oilers picked Jordan Eberle … how much do you want to bet that the Dys will end up with a better player with their pick?
This deal to me instantly reminded me of the Pronger deal, and trying to sell this to a much more gullible fair weather fanbase that they got the ‘equivalent’ of 4 first round picks for a Norris-calibre D-man in his prime.
I thought the Canucks would’ve done well for themselves if they had gotten:
a) Danielson and Edvinsson from Detroit, or
b) Kent Johnson and Mateychuk from Clb
Rossi and Buium are a better return, but Ohgren is a scratch ticket.
The Canucks literally have no first line or top-pair players, but a bunch of mid-tier NHL’ers who are at least young, in Raty, Chytil, and Rossi.
Buium is their best prospect. He could be an all-star player.
They need to draft top-3 for a few years to acquire top line offensive talent.
Next year McKenna is in the draft, and has connections to BC. It’s the year for them to tank. And even if the Canucks don’t get #1OV, there’s talk that McKenna could fall as far as #4.
I see McKenna going as low as 3OV but he’s the guy for the Canucks.
They owe it to themselves to draft top-3 this year and next.
While generally true it’s a bit more nuanced.
Braeden Cootes who was drafted 15th overall in 2025 and almost made the team out of camp, is trending very well with the Seattle Thunderbirds.
Tom Willander, Jonathan Lekkerimaki and D-Pettersson are all on the NHL squad (all Swedes) so the addition of Buium on D bodes well for the D corp is somewhat promising.
They’re almost guaranteed to grab a top 3 draft pick and Pronman’s last ratings have 4 players in the NHL All Star tier.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6858899/2025/12/10/nhl-draft-2026-top-prospects-gavin-mckenna/
I expect they will add a couple more first round picks in trades before the deadline so may be able to load up reasonably well in the near term.
While technically true. Ohgrens on the train to Bustville. Wild haven’t liked Rossi in a few years despite pretty good point production. A first round pick in the 20s.
So one top notch blue chip prospect. A small center with warts in his game and a late first. Isn’t bad but not what I’d hope for from a nucks stand point
Ohgren is 21…a little early to make that call.
He should feel very comfortable in Vancouver with their plethora of Swedes in the lineup and the Sedans in player development.
He turns 22 next month. Would you like to guess how many points he’s got this year?
Yeah but Dubas cleared up a few million in cap space..!
Not all 1st rounders are close to equal, or even make it. Ohgren is 21, was drafted in 2022 and has played all of 46 NHL games. By contract, Baum, selected in 2024 has played 31 games just this year. Ohgren sounds like spare parts. (I sure hope so)
Corey Pronman’s reaction:
Buium is an extremely intelligent puck-mover who can run a power play. He makes high-end plays routinely and can break shifts open with his puck-handling and passes. Buium is a strong skater who can activate off the blue line and create off the rush. He has good edge work and is proficient at making checkers miss. Buium’s defense is a minor issue. He’s not very physical and big, and fast forwards give him issues. He competes well enough that, in time, he should be an adequate pro defender with tremendous offense. He projects as a major-minutes defenseman who can run a PP1 even though he may frustrate coaches at times.
Rossi is a highly competitive and skilled center. He has legit hands and playmaking abilities on the power play. He’s not that big or fast, but he works very hard, plays both ways and wins more battles than expected for his size. His lack of natural athleticism has always been an issue, but he’s continued to be productive. He’s a legit middle-six center.
Öhgren won’t land on many highlight reels, but he does a lot of things well. He has good skill and speed. He’s very good at creating offense between the circles and projects as a bumper or net-front type on an NHL power play. He also has a great wrist shot and has the touch to score goals from the perimeter. He’s not overly creative with the puck and won’t drive a line offensively, but he competes hard and could be a steady two-way winger that coaches trust, likely on a third line.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6885786/2025/12/12/nhl-trade-grades-quinn-hughes-wild-canucks/
Dom and Shayna no likey….
Not a kings ransom but that is a big haul
Unless the relationship is broken, that is not a good trade
Blue chip out blue chip in. They got a lot of another colour
The Canucks did well for the position they were in. There’s a high chance that Hughes goes to New Jersey in two years, so that clearly depresses Hughes’ value.
They got the young center they wanted, plus a D-man with a ton of offensive upside. And a first-rounder. (I can see why New Jersey wasn’t willing to match that.)
This is one of those trades where the Canucks fanbase is going to feel unhappy, but it’s objectively a good trade for them.
Rossi had 60 points last year and looks headed there again.
I’m really bullish on Zeev Buium.
Think about the return they got on JT Miller, another guy they basically had to trade. This is miles better than that.
Update: On The Athletic’s article about it, Minnesota fans are not exactly, uh, wild about the trade.
The Canucks have been chasing Rossi for a long time.
And Buium has a very high upside.
Hughes is the second best defenseman on the planet so the return is justifiably much higher than for Miller.
The other side is that the Wild were very sour on Rossi and had zero long term plans to keep him. The Dys weren’t chasing him so much as they have an extreme need. I’m not sure he’s anything more than a replacement for Chytil.
Hughes might be the best defensemen on the planet with a stronger supporting cast. I guess we’ll all find out. I’m glad that he’s in Central, it’s going to be an absolute bloodbath.
Last sentence maybe for you. Not for me
Condors called up Inamoto and now they’ve signed Dru Kebs to a PTO (playing with FT Wayne like Inamoto).
That’s two D – I hope they haven’t lost anyone in addition to Stilman but this can’t be a good sign for the Dineen and Carfagna injuries.
Dom and Shayna no likey….
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6884732/2025/12/12/nhl-trade-grades-oilers-penguins-skinner-jarry/
It could be worse – like in Vancouver, where they just traded their franchise player, and are bottoming out in a weak draft year.
Just listening to Elliotte on the radio…he’s raving about the return the Canucks got.
He would … boot licking is how he maintains his access.
But any honest Dys fan knows that the Rutherford management group has now traded Horvat, Miller and Hughes in subsequent seasons. What was once a team built strong up the middle, now lies in shambles.
And Pettersson and Demko might be next!
They got a huge haul.
Tommy like wingy…
Darren Dreger
@DarrenDreger
Confirming. Vancouver Canucks Trade Quinn Hughes to Minnesota Wild for Minnesota Wild’s 1st round pick in the 2026 NHL draft, Marco Rossi, Liam Öhgren and Zeev Buium.
6:38 PM · Dec 12, 2025
That’s a haul.
Essentially 4 first round picks.
All the named players were selected in the first round.
😂. Be real, dude. 2 good players. One with 0 pts in first 18 games and a low 1st round this year. They’d have to hit a real home run on that 26-32 pick for this to equal anything close to Hughes’ value
I’m rooting for Buium, have followed him closely. But he’s no Hughes…
It’s a decent return, you’re never going to win a trade when you’re giving up a franchise player.
But Minnisota just transformed themselves into a legit Cup contender while Canuck fans get to look forward to the start of another rebuild and a few more missed playoffs.
Amazing that only one of Minnisota, Colorado and Dallas are going to make it out of the second round.
The Wild are a paper tiger. Hughes will juice up their offense but like the Oilers defense is the problem
Wow – Minnesota just became a monster. Ballsy trade by Guerin … everyone has assumed that he was going to sign with his bros in NJ. That’s a lot to give up, without certainty that Hughes is going to re-up beyond his current contract.
Lol – the Dys just traded a franchise player and Norris defenseman for magic beans and an undersized centre.
They were always losing that trade. Buium and Rossi are tracking up as 1st round picks. But that third first rounder this year is going to be low down, less likely to have as much impact, so a clear loss.
As a Pacific team fan, damn the Central will be an absolute bloodbath 🙂
Keep in mind this raises Vancouvers chances at #1 overall
Frank Seravalli
@frank_seravalli
Trade details:
To Wild
D Quinn Hughes
To Canucks
2026 1st Round Pick
C Marco Rossi
D Zeev Buium
F Liam Ohgren
Quinn Hughes to the Wild
Why were my comments removed twice?
What time does the vigil start around here tonight?
I’m excited. I was pulling for Stu but it was clear goaltending was not clearly established, a killer for teams with a chance, ask the Canes or Leafs. I haven’t seen improvement in his technique and it needs to be better
So Bowman did something that was reasonable, and perhaps now they can have better tending. Waiting to the deadline would have cost more, and wouldn’t give the team much time to stabilize
He also fixed a problem on D with a good choice for little cost. Kulak or he and his partner were sewering results. Doing more of the same wasn’t going to change the dynamic, and while they are playing better they aren’t challenging the Avs or other top teams as it was
He’ll probably do more unless there is a big improvement
People think this window is going to be open for 10 more years. We need a Goalie to not lose us games and steal the odd one. Bowman has always valued the Goaltending position that’s why it was so surprising it didn’t happen in the Summer.
According to media he has been on it from June on. There are 600+ skaters and 64 NHL goalies. Much harder and they aren’t in position to gamble much
Anyone else questioning the Stan plan?
everyone knew the Oilers Achilles heel was their goalering and there was a high likelihood that would need an intervention this year. So he wanted to give Stu and Pickard another go, ok fine. But why in the world did sign Mangi and not keep any cap space in our back pocket for when we had to get a goaler.
Yeah. That and the Trent contract. So many other things to have done with that cap space.
Just listened to Gregor’s guest Woodley basically say that Jarry is an upgrade on Skinner (but Skinner has played really well of late). I believe that aside from the bad year, Jarry is much better than Skinner. I hope Stu ends up in a positive spot for him.
Don’t disagree with that. But why paint yourself into a corner in the offseason
What corner, they will have Jarry who is value for his cap hit via his career norms.
They need a 1B or elite back-up and should be cost controlled at the position.
Apparently Mangipane and Roslovic were both hard targets for Stan.
And he got Roslovic for $1.5M. That’s incredible work.
Frederic was the killer. Mangiapane, as many thought at the time, was reasonable. I still think there is chance they can find a use for him. 4 million for eternity for Trent, though? A fireable offense
Replacing soon to be 32 yo Kulak with a 25 yo Kulak is what a good team would do. Now whether we got a 25 yo Kulak remains to be seen, but the org and myself were a little hesitant to pay Kulak the 5 mil per retirement contract he is likely looking for
Kulak stepped up in playoffs, but I have never thought he was as good as many do. He’s like Foegele to me, looks like more of a player than he is. Not sure about his hockey sense, and never liked that he has trouble around the net and gets beat off the walls
He’s’ good enough when he’s on like Foegele, but for me the wrong fit. Because he’s not physical or hard to play against, not big, and not good enough to hold down top 4 or he would have by now. Give me more puck skill, gapping, stick and retrievals, or give me a competent physical hard to play against 3rd pair guy
From reports Stastney is the former
He was also a very meh PKer.
I liked Kulak – but he’s a luxury that a team with Nurse, Frederic, Mangiapane, Henrique and a non-existent Jack Campbell cannot afford.
Imagine what about $20M could buy for upgrades with only one problematic roster spot to fill.
People are saying that this was a lateral move that we lost ..Im not so sure .Jarry moves side to side a lot better and has a better glove hand then Skinner .He seems to be much more of a fighter in the next. These could be improvements with this team and their defensive style .. We have Jarry locked for 3 1/2 years With the new cap in 2026 even Skinner ( UFA ) who is flawed will get around 5 m per over 6 -8 years and he may have just walked from the oil . In which case we would have gotten nothing in return ..In three years we will have a couple of young goalies matriculating in the system or we can find someone on the trade market ..Goalie problem stable for a couple of years .
Poulin ? if he can play in the NHL can you imagine him, Clatterburg and Frederick ( assuming he gets back and running ) flying around out there .He is 6′ 2 and 220 lbs .That is a huge line And oh he is cheap
The new defence-man Stastney is apparently very quick and is playing well on a bad team .He is also much younger and cheaper and as a RFA will cost a whole lot less than a Kulak renewal . That of course is if Kulak stays because we may not be able to afford him ,.I think Stastney will be a good 3D
Overall we get younger and cheaper and potentially with more upside. A lot of this was highlighted by SB in his presser .
Im cautiously optimistic
Me as well, and if Poulin can make it he knows what the net looks like, potential to score if he gets a chance. How novel. He plays the walls well and drives the net, being described as a power forward, which is a good trait to have if you are a bottom 6
Hopefully Pat Maroon.
Any version of Maroon in his 20s would be fantastic.
It occurs to me that the price paid for Jarry was essentially what the Avs paid for Blackwood – their incumbent starter (Skinner/Gorgiev) and a 2nd round pick.
Kulak has been terrible this season – his game fell off a cliff this season. I think his contract was negative value. I’m liking everything I’ve read about Stastney so far.
Jarry is a legit top 10-15 goalie talent; his confidence was wrecked last year by a putrid Pens team and a coach on his last legs. Skinner is a Gorgiev level talent made to look better than he was by a good team in front of him.
Poulin is a contract throw in but clearly has some talent in the AHL – if anything he’ll make the Condors better.
What do you think of Jarry’s lack of playoff experience & poor results?
Those are team related measures – the Pens have stunk these past few seasons; I’d attribute the lack of playoff opportunity to the lousy team that he’s been playing behind. Skinner had his moments, but looking at the aggregate of his playoff career, that body work is pretty bad as well.
Again: Sure hope so.
He played in a bad spot, one good, just as easily ask about Skinner choking in the cup final despite having the best players in the world at their peak.
Despite his struggles he had a big part in getting the team to both Cup finals.
He played well enough to win in the Finals, the forwards couldn’t score, when scoring was needed. More clutch moments by Panthers players, injuries to Ekholm & Hyman in 2nd run biggest factor, not goaltending.
First Cup run, game 7 was a lack of finish, not goaltending.
Did skinner get the OIl to the final or did the team get Skinner to the final ????
Both, see Skinner vs Oetinger in both cup runs.
8 games for the Pens 2019-22? That was not a cup caliber D.
What do you think about Skinner’s poor results over 3 runs?
I attribute it to a youngish goalie, still finding his way.
Jarry has played 7 seasons of 25 or more games and over .900 in six of those seasons. He’s been on some goo Pens teams and some not good. He looks pretty consistent. Fingers crossed.
Hard to believe no retention on Jarry’s salary. Apparently Pens will have over $50 mil in cap space next year. Stan got bent over. Gregor had a guy on from Pittsburg who said Jarry a very talented goalie and when he is on he is very good. The downside being Jarry has not been good in the playoffs and that Dubas did not want to go into another playoff with Jarry as his track record wasn’t good. Not what we need!
Stan was already bent over. He didn’t make any big off-season changes, but what out there would have been an upgrade? John Gibson? Ha!
Perhaps he hoped for Carter Hart – a possibly reasonable hope. Likely he hoped that Connor Ingram would rebound – a very reasonable hope. Neither worked out.
He bet on a new goalie coach and Skinner playing at a different weight. A decent hope. Didn’t work out.
What should he have done differently? Aimed for Juuse Saros and his contract? The status quo wasn’t working, and he got us a better goalie. The cost was a little high, but still, we’re talking about small potatoes here. Goaltending can sink a team, and I think Stan did his best here to patch the hole with a good bet.
8 games playoffs to judge. One series, really. Not a wise decision to make on that short of a period
One playoff series, one.
This narrative about Jarry not being good in the playoffs is so very exaggerated.
He’s had one playoff series.
Statement makes sense given Dubas doesn’t know anything about being good in the playoffs.
For the people who wanted something different, we have something different. High probability it is just a lateral move with no significant difference. The left tail is a bit fatter than the right tail because of Jarry’s contract. I am hoping for the best, but expect that it will turn out as always.
I do like that Bowman is willing to swim in the tweener oceans of Europe and the AHL. Holland (and Jackson in his short stint) would sell puts (30 somethings in the NHL Guide and Record book). Bowman is buying calls (on unproven early to mid 20 something tweeners).
Bowman can buy more calls because they are cheaper than the puts that Holland was selling.
Bowman will have to add a D at the deadline, and another goaltender if Ingram continues to flounder.
Jarry’s contract is a good one for a starter with his career stats, augmented by that he got them on a pretty mediocre team. Skinner’s play was on one of the league’s best teams. Making a trade or signing always has risk. Lyons the other guy they were looking at is 33 so riskier and not as proven
30 is not old for a starter I don’t get this Skinner was only 27 so we are going backwards age wise this makes no sense unless you planned on resigning Skinner multi years. 30 years-old is a perfect age to win a Cup in today’s NHL
I feel that Bowman is looking to make several bets on goaltending. Pickard is done as soon as another bet opens up.
Career number and numbers this season suggest a high probability that the Oilers have upgraded at goaltender.
Woodley:
Aging curves.
LOL, Jarry is 30 – not even close to regression age for goalies.
Also, Hyman getting hurt for the SCF was a key component.
It was for sure.
And Nuge and Eklund .
Zero doubt they win with #18 in. Likely in 5.
I think the first four games go 3-1 Oilers with Zach in the lineup. He was having a helluva postseason.
I dunno. Florida’s system just had us beat. They were forechecking like demons. Tkachuk had a torn adductor off the bone and a sports hernia, and was only about 40% of his regular self. Injuries go both ways.
I think that’s why McDavid was so despondent. I think the 2025 loss deflated the team more than the oh-so-close 2024 loss.
We needed goaltending in game 2 when we had Bob and the Panthers on the ropes. I knew once we lost on a ugly goal in OT it was over for the momentum and the series.
If the hockey gords let us have a healthy Hyman and instead injured Marchand or Bennett the series would have been very different.
The hockey gords are cruel
Nuge as well, both in this regular season and last year’s SCF.
Lets not forget, Nuge was the best player in the Dallas series, driving 2C.
Stupid broken hand.
30 years playoffs 67% winning teams give up 6G (1.50) to 3G .75 gaa in 4 wins.
Elite PK, 5X5 Penetration & OSH redux Fwd, Dmen & goalies with High hit % by size/tracking + Top 10 OSH save% wins.
Consuder 2.00 5×5 Evga/60 Aprox 85% viable ident rate.
Reg Ssn viable pairs:
22/23-23/24:Ekholm/Nurse 1.18, Kulak/Desh, Nurse/Desh
24/25 kulak/Stetcher 1.15, Nurse/Stetcher
25/26 Nurse/Stetcher .93, Kulak/Emberson, Nurse/Regula
Playoffs
21/22 Kulak/Barrie, Ceci/Kulak
22/23 Kulak/Desh
23/24 Ceci/Broberg, Kulak/Bsroberg, Nurse/Broberg, Ekholm/Bouchard
25/25 nurse/Stetcher, Kulak/Emberson, Kulak/Bouchard, Kulak/Klingberg, Klingberg/Wallman.
Urge/Stetcher only Viable paint not punted by Bowman.
Go to HF boards Apr 17-21 2017 were I posted My original Final 4 roster theory as Oilerbear. As teams learn the standard has increased defensively. After an imagined look at pre draft list roster I guessed (Rarely do) they would be GA cup final team!
RICKI! You’re back! Sorry if I’ve missed other recent posts of yours, I’ve also been in and out this season with commenting, but this is the first time I’ve seen you here.
How’s Jarry look with the old open chance versus closed chance situations?
Trades are always exciting, I remember how excited I watched when we traded Mironov, McAmmond (loved both of those flawed players at times) for Ethan Moreau, Chad Kilger, Dan Cleary and Christian Laflamme. Some trades stay with you, and I think this one will (for me).
Skinner was “adequate” at best. Scarcely (if ever, I cannot recall) had an excellent game (won us the game). UFA after this year, same with Kulak. I love hometown players, and I remain a big Kulak fan (grew up in same hometown of Stony Plain). To me, this was astute CAP management and planning. It would be difficult for Jarry to be worse than Skinner has been, but I guess we will see. I remain hopeful about the impact of these trades, and I agree that something needed to be changed. Will see how the team responds on the big HNIC stage tomorrow night.
Essentially exchanging Kulak for Stasny was a great bet. Younger, cheaper, cost controlled. win, win win. Better? not at this time, but Kulak was trending down and Stastny seems to be trending up. Who knows (none of us). Three D (Stastny, Regula, Emberson) competing for 1 roster spot (once Wallman is back). It’s good to have that internal competition. I hope this is a turning point, and that Jarry can help stabilize this “box of chocolates” team. Go Oilers!
you’d like to see a lesser cost in picks and at least some retention but yeah.
Yeah, that’s another part of it. I know I’ll miss Kulak in the 2026 playoffs. But long term, this is a reasonable bet for the future at that position.
Stuart Skinner’s Numbers by Playoff series the last two years:
2024
vs LAK 4-1, .910, 1 SO (Game 4 1-0 Shut-Out while being outshot 33-13)
vs VAN 3-2, .833
vs DAL 4-2, .922 (Game 1 Double-OT win, Game 6 the Oilers won 2-1 while being outshot 34-10)
vs FLA 3-4, .909 (In the Oilers 4 losses they scored 0, 1, 3 and 1 goals, Bobrovsky was 4-3, .899, 1 SO)
2025
vs LAK 0-2, .810
vs VGK 2-1, .944, 2 SO (Game 4 3-0 Shut-Out and Game 5 1-0 OT Shut-Out, Pickard was 2-0, .878)
vs DAL 4-1, .924, 1 SO (Oettinger/DeSmith combined for 1-4, .853)
vs FLA 1-3, .861 (Pickard was 1-1 .878, Bobrovsky 4-2 .919, In the Oilers 4 losses they scored 4 (Double-OT loss), 1, 2 and 1 goals)
Skinner wasn’t the second coming of Patrick Roy but he definitely was the reason the Oilers won some nights. He was value for 2.6M a year just like Pickard has been for 1M per but they should have been the #2 and #3 options behind a better starter. Pickard remaining with the team is going to remain a problem if they can’t find a better #2.
I don’t like the trade if we can’t replace Pickard because a Jarry/Skinner tandem would provide at least average goaltending. If Jarry gets hurt we have Pickard, Ingram and Tompkins as replacements. All three haven’t played to Skinner’s level so far this season.
In a world where the Oilers a set on acquiring Jarry, I think the big missed opportunity is not getting Silovs with him to upgrade on Pickard. $850,000 cap hit and Pitt has two great AHL goalies to replace Silovs so seems like quite the plausible deal
They’re going to play Silovs.
I guess you could extrapolate this to one of the three goalies good, young, cheap goalies they have
While still an overpay, this deal is as much for the next few years as this year.
Jarry’s career norms is full value for his cap hit (every year but last year) and he’s signed for 2 more year. They’ve locked in at least the 1B part of their tending for the next few years.
Kulak needed to go for cap purposes and he was going to walk in the off-season – they already had the 3LD signed and Kulak will get $5MM for term.
They replaced Kulak with a very similar player (from accounts) that is younger, under team control and cheaper – with Kulaks’ struggles this season, the replacement may be just as good today with upside.
The 2nd rounder was an overpay without retention.
For me, this deal didn’t make sense because they still didn’t solve the Pickard problem. Skinner had a higher start percentage than last year because we can’t trust Pickard.
The numbers suggest Pickard is cooked, but he’s good in the room.
Jarry really isn’t a guy who want to run into the ground like Cam Talbot, not with his $4.3 m buyout cap.
The Oilers fixed the wrong problem, spent assets to get older, and take all the cap risk.
I hope Jarry works out, but I would have had two or three younger and cheaper goalies lined up to try first.
True but Pick is easier to replace, and I think that Bowman wanted a different starter
It’s far more easy for Stan to now gamble on backups if he feels he has a better starter.
You may spend the entire thread today trying to bury Jarry and proclaim everything is doom and gloom but it’s just not the case.
Edmonton ranks 24th in slot shots against per game; Jarry sits 11th in slot shot SV% among goalies with 10 or more games played. The Oilers are 19th in inner-slot shots against; Jarry’s sixth in inner-slot SV%.
great comment
The Oilers upgraded at 1A adding cost-certainty for the two following year and Jarry, near his established norms (which he is back to this season) is value for that cap hit.
This does not preclude them from upgrading on Pickard at any moment and that may very well be Ingram, we don’t know.
In the process, the Kulak for Stastney may not even be a downgrade given Kulak’s level of play this season and all the intel on the new add – it also re-sets the 3rd pairing cap commitment appropriately and the team gets younger and more cost controlled – Kulak was gone this off-season with the 3 big guys signed and, even in a bad year, probably getting $5MM for term.
Pickard wouldn’t have been the problem if we had a better starter. Much like Skinner wouldn’t have been the problem if Campbell was a competent starter.
After reading all the comments, I’m not sure it was an overpay. In fact to me the opposite, because Jarry is in at least the upper half of the league and an established starter with solid career numbers. All Stan gave up was a goalie with a track of inconsistent play and declining numbers over 3 seasons, a struggling 31 YO 3rd pairing D, and a 2nd round pick way down the road (he can recoup that at some point)
Jarry is widely seen as a better goalie, so the Oilers got the best player in the trade. He also got another player drafted first round that with a new start might fill a role on the team at some point, and fills a need for a bigger player that has a rounded game. This fits in with other acquisitions Bowman has made, a project but there are no obvious things keeping him from making it, even as one of the many first rounders that ended up as quality bottom 6 players – he has a solid two way game I’ve read
Elite prospects about his game:
‘A creative offensive player with high-end offensive upside. He can put the puck in the back of the net and distribute it to his teammates’
‘He plays a smart game, is strong on the puck along the wall and doesn’t mind going to the net with it.’
‘He is very good at handling the puck with speed and is a complete power forward’
I’ll take a player like that in the bottom 6 to juice it up and he has the size for it, if he can still progress, which he might being he’s 24 not 28. Sounds like he has good edges and power, but could improve acceleration and top speed
I agree and think if we take off our Oilers coloured glasses, it’s a clear win. Kulak is having a down year. Real bad actually. He may recover somewhat but overall, with his age, is going to get worse, not better. Would I have rather traded Nurse? Sure, but that wasn’t going to happen. And I’m not sure how anyone can objectively say that Jarry isn’t an upgrade on Skinner. Skinner has went from slightly above average, to bottom of the league in the past 3 years. Just not good enough for a position as important as goaltending
kulaks speed/mobility which was a core part of his game has fallen off a cliff as it so often does with players his age.
his 38% goal share 5v5 is earned by my eye.
stastney should provide similar if not better results for 2 million less. that is a win. and he is under team control next yr too.
Yeah, Kulak was getting to the age where he’s a risk.
At the same time, in both of the last two years, he really stepped up his game in the playoffs. He’s a gamer, and he’s one more gamer that we’ve lost since last year (Perry, Kane, Brown). I like the trade, but I sure hate to see him go.
Well this is the best thread of the day in my view. I see Bowman taking a shot at a young high-potential backup when it shows itself. Also, the business case seems to suggest the fans would revolt if they loose with Skinner again, hard to sell tickets then .
I don’t disagree on the Jarry/Skinner upgrade but this is contingent on Jarry re-establishing his peak form – he’s on his way with a great recovery year but is he there “value wise”?
He was on waivers on this contract last year. He’s recovered but not to peak value. I don’t think his perceived value around the league is of a top half starter – it was in the past but not after last year, right?
I truly believe last season was a one-off but we are putting all our baskets in that hope.
Or do we put all our eggs in a basket that has been mediocre for every playoff run and has been variably gone between hot and cold the last 3 seasons?
I’m a little worried about Jarry’s pattern of starting seasons strongly and then falling back over the last 2 months of the season.
We may need to upgrade on Pickard sooner rather than later because it may mean Jarry needs to be rested more than a typical #1 to stop the fade.
I wanted to see retention, but if it’s not available, it’s not.
My hope for this deal was 50% retention and keeping Skinnner.
I like the upgrade on Skinner, its real and it matters, but it wasn’t a great deal in my opinion – I don’t think Jarry had recovered his value from prior to last season (even though he does look back to this point this season).
Although this is a risky trade, there was tremendous uncertainty signing Skinner as a UFA next year. They would either have to dump him – and chase someone in free agency – or sign him for real money. It’s not the ideal solution IMO, but it at least gives them a manageable cap hit for a few more years. It would be hard for Jarry to post worse numbers as a starter than Skinner. Never say never I guess, but the bar is pretty low.
I just looked at UFA’s available next summer and the best UFA available appears to be some chap named Stuart Skinner.
I haven’t watched Jarry play enough to compare him to Skinner skill-wise.
What I do know is the Oilers just traded away 50 games of recent NHL playoff experience (2.88, .893) for 8 games of NHL playoff experience 4 years ago (3.00, .891). They also just got older and more injury prone in net. Skinner was on pace to play 60 regular season games with the Oilers this season, in part because he has been playing well and also because Picks has been struggling. So, I hope Jarry can hold up to a higher pace and more pressure than what he has been used to in the past few seasons, without seeing his numbers fall off.
I hope it works out for both goalies and their new teams. Time will tell if this was a good move for the Oilers. I will miss Skinner and will continue to support him and follow his career, just like I did when Roli left.
Binnington won as rookie. Many goalies have with little to no playoff experience. I’m not sure NHL playoff experience is a good thing when that experience is that of below average performance