Evaluating the Edmonton Oilers’ potential options for a new goalie coach

The Oilers could also go the in-house route, and promote Goalie Coach Kelly Guard from Bakersfield. Guard, a former AHL netminder who won the 2004 Memorial Cup with the Kelowna Rockets, spent over a decade as the goaltending coach for the WHL’s Prince Albert Raiders before joining Bakersfield last offseason. In his time with Prince Albert, he also assisted Hockey Canada in various tournaments, including being goalie coach for the 2023 World Juniors. He hasn’t been with the Oilers organization that long, but the experience is still plentiful, and he still makes sense as a potential hire.

One other in-house option is current Oilers scout Jeff Salajko. Salajko was a goalie coach in the Detroit Red Wings organization from 2013 to 2022, spending his first three seasons with their AHL affiliate in Grand Rapids before being promoted to the NHL club. He was brought over to Edmonton by his former GM Ken Holland in 2022, and has scouted goaltending for the team since. Oilers insider Jason Gregor recently suggested a full department should be built in the Oilers organization for goaltending. If the team takes that route, and brings in a bunch of smaller names for the other roles, Salajko can at least slide up into the Goalie Coach’s chair given his experience.

The big names in goalie coaching

If the Oilers choose to go in a more established direction, there’s many names they could go with, even if they have to pry one away from another team. Unfortunately, the Detroit Red Wings took one of the potential goalie-coach names off the board at the exact same time that the Schwartz exit was being revealed.

Even so, two names that stand out are Ian Clark and Sean Burke. Clark was an NHL goaltending coach from 2001 to 2023, spending the vast majority of it with the Vancouver Canucks (two separate stints) and the Columbus Blue Jackets. In that span, Clark has mentored such names as Roberto Luongo, Steve Mason, two-time-defending Stanley Cup Champion Sergei Bobrovsky (yep, still hurts), and Thatcher Demko. The Canucks promoted Clark to Director of Goaltending in 2023, where Clark still remains. Should he have the itch to get back to working with the goalies directly, Edmonton would be a sensible landing place, in terms of both geography and opportunity, for Clark.

Burke, one of the better goaltenders in Hartford Whalers franchise history during his playing career, is also a renowned name in the field. Burke was the goalie coach with the Coyotes during Smith’s first few years with the team, and also the goalie coach in Montreal in 2020–21, the season where they went to the Stanley Cup Final. He too is currently a director of goaltending, holding that title with Vegas since 2022 (winning a Cup in the process). Like Clark, if Burke wanted to be back on the ice working with the goalies, Edmonton would present a prime opportunity for Burke to leave his mark on another NHL organization.

Manny Legace would be one other big name to target, and provide the Edmonton fanbase with jokes rivalling those produced when the Oilers signed Patrik Stefan’s son. Following his playing career, infamous playoff series and all, Legace was a goalie coach in the Columbus Blue Jackets organization from 2015 to 2023, starting off in the AHL and then succeeding Clark when he moved on from Columbus. This past season, Legace was a development coach for the New Jersey Devils.

Some off-the-board choices available

If the Oilers wanted to cater to Skinner specifically, they could go for his goalie coach from junior, Darcy Wakaluk. Wakaluk, a seventh-round pick of the Buffalo Sabres in 1984, played in the NHL until 1997; interestingly enough, he was also once a Coyotes goalie. Wakaluk coached with the Hurricanes from 2016 to 2019, and might help Skinner rediscover what made him such a hot prospect in his pre-NHL days.

Speaking of WHL coaches, Kurtis Mucha is a young option right down the hallway. The current Oil Kings’ goalie coach and former Oilers emergency backup netminder has been with that franchise in various roles for a decade now, specifically being the goalie coach since 2021 (winning a WHL championship in the process). He has also worked with U Sports’ MacEwan University as their goalie coach in this span. With that especially in mind, he could still connect with someone as young as Skinner, and offer some extra development on the fly.

A more appealing off-the-board name to try going after is MacKenzie Skapski. Skapski joined the Calgary Wranglers upon their arrival in Cowtown in 2022, and has been their goaltending coach since. Most notably, he is a huge factor in current Flames goalie Dustin Wolf’s rise to the big leagues. Skapski may inevitably be hired to be an NHL goalie coach at some point, so why not be the first in line for his services, if you’re Edmonton?

One other name that serves as more of a deep cut is Frédéric Chabot. Chabot is currently the goalie coach for the Minnesota Wild, and has helped Filip Gustavsson rise to starter status in the NHL in his stint there. The deep cut is that he is the direct predecessor to Schwartz, having been the Oilers’ goalie coach from 2009 to 2014. Maybe he can be forgiven for his previous stint, during which he did oversee the development of Devan Dubnyk and was hindered by bad GM’ing giving him sub-optimal talent to work with. It certainly wouldn’t be unanimously praised, given the overall direct history with this franchise.

Which candidate is the most appealing?

Burke and Clark stand out as the two premium candidates for the job, but the tricky part would be counting on Vegas or Vancouver being willing to help out their division rival. As far as easier-to-sign candidates go, Legace would be the best experienced option, while Smith would be a very cool first-time hire.

One thing is clear though: If the Oilers are keen on running it back, or at least continuing to roll with Skinner as the starter, this is a very critical hire to get right. The franchise has been kind of lucky that Skinner was given the keys to the starter’s crease just as he turned 24. He’s been thrust into the fire to mixed results, but now he has three seasons and two Stanley Cup Finals under his belt, and will have a different voice providing a new perspective next season. It’s imperative the Oilers find the voice that will get the most out of their still-young netminder.