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Oilers goalie opens up about the impact of heavily scrutinized coach Dustin Schwartz

Originally posted on Oilers Daily | By Liam McCormick | Last updated Mar 13, 2025 12:59 PM ET

The Edmonton Oilers goaltending coach Dustin Schwartz has taken heat from fans for years, and now backup goalie Calvin Pickard is going to bat for him in a new interview.

Schwartz has been the Oilers goaltending coach for the last 10 seasons, and in that time the position has never been a strong suit for the team - causing fans to boo Schwartz specifically at times.

Oilers goalie Calvin Pickard defends embattled goalie coach Dustin Schwartz

In a new radio interview this morning, Oilers goalie Calvin Pickard spoke to the impact Schwartz has with Edmonton's goalies.

Dustin Schwartz here, we're both kind of cut from the same cloth. We really see eye-to-eye.
At this point in my career, a minor tweak here or there, we'll watch a bunch of video, and see what we'd like to do or change. You know my last game out I let 4 goals in on 0 shots against Anaheim. It's not like I'm waking up the next day and I'm completely changing my game.

- Calvin Pickard

For a 32 year old career backup goalie like Pickard, completely changing the style of play realistically isn't possible - but keeping a clear head, confidence high, and slight tweaks are the proven methods to get more out of a goalie.

Goalie coach Dustin Schwartz still deserves legit criticism

However, some more real criticism could be levied towards Schwartz's development of Stuart Skinner and other younger goalies that came through the Oilers - including Devan Dubnyk or even Anthony Stolarz.

Stuart Skinner's much younger at 26 years old, and has spent his whole career under the study of Schwartz. In the last three years his save percentage has declined each year, a real concerning sign for a young goalie that had a .914 save percentage just two years ago.

Skinner's lateral movement has been ranked as the slowest in the entire NHL, and that should be an attribute a goalie coach can identify and assist with. The fact the NHL figured out Skinner's weakness before Schwartz could fix it, is a reflection of the job by the goalie coach.

For the sake of making a change to the voice of the goalie coach after 10 years, the Oilers need to just move on from Schwartz. Maybe this offseason will be the time the Oilers finally make a change.

This article first appeared on Oilers Daily and was syndicated with permission.

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