Jack Campbell inked a five-year, $25 million contract with the Edmonton Oilers this summer and he has a .874 save percentage through his first eight starts with his new team. Mike McKenna took a look at why Campbell has been struggling in The Blue Paint segment of Monday’s episode of Daily Faceoff Live.
Seravalli: “Let’s talk about a guy who’s really struggling in Edmonton. Jack Campbell has been pretty critical of his play. He has a goals-against average above four to this point in the season, a .874 save percentage, and he publicly criticized himself, saying that his game to this point has been “pathetic.”
Mike, what are you seeing out of Jack Campbell’s game to this point in the season?”
McKenna: “Jack keeps beating himself up. At this point, that’s just who he is, and I wish he’d stop. But I think part of it is that the Oilers have played a bit better in front of Stuart Skinner than they have Jack Campbell.
There’s more to that. When I watch Campbell, I see a goalie whose rebound control hasn’t been great this year, there have been several goals scored off of clean rebounds, and he’s been attacking shots rather than just getting to the middle of his net. I’ve seen him also have trouble with his alignment and he’s having trouble down the wing getting his right foot in front of his left foot and it’s making life difficult as the play moves toward him to get square.
You can see when he gets set here, his right foot is in front of his left, the pass goes across and the whole net is open. He isn’t rotating on time, he isn’t getting his upper body there, and he isn’t getting square to the shot. If you aren’t going to get square early, you have a really difficult time with the first shot.
His tracking is just off right now. It isn’t just these shots that go across the crease. The other night against Dallas, he allows a clean one-timer from Colin Miller off the glove and in from the blueline. I think it’s a little bit of everything. It’s rebound control, it’s tracking, and it’s just getting square on time that’s keeping Campbell from being himself right now.
On Tuesday, he’s going up against the Lightning because Stuart Skinner is going against Washington. Tuesday is going to be a big test for Campbell.”
Seravalli: “You mention the mechanics, but I wonder what’s going on between the ears. How much of this is mental when you hear a goalie criticize himself publicly, probably also doing so behind the scenes? I’ve always wondered about Campbell because it always seems like he’s on a bit of an emotional rollercoaster than some other goalies in the league. Do you think that plays a role?”
McKenna: “I think so. And I think that’s where the puck tracking really comes in. If your mechanics and alignment aren’t good to start, you try to start to make up for it, and that’s where chasing rebounds and overthinking comes from. I think we might be seeing a little bit of that from Campbell right now.”
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