Top 100 Oilers: No. 50 — Stuart Skinner

Notable

Skinner, an Edmonton native, was born on November 1st, 1998 in Edmonton. He mainly spent his junior career with the Lethbridge Hurricanes, but was traded during the 2017-18 season to the Swift Current Broncos, where he helped them win the Ed Chynoweth Cup. Skinner was drafted 78th overall in the 2017 draft, and made his professional debut in 2018-19.

After a few unspectacular seasons in the ECHL and American Hockey League, Skinner posted a .914 save percentage and 2.38 goals against average with the Bakersfield Condors, getting a look with the Oilers that season. Skinner got an extended look with the Oilers in 2021-22, playing 13 games where he had a .913 save percentage, on top of strong numbers in the AHL.

Expected to serve as Jack Campbell’s back up in 2022-23, Skinner was thrust into the starter’s role after Campbell struggled, with the Edmonton native finishing with a .914 save percentage and 2.73 goals against average in 50 games, finishing up as the Calder Trophy runner up.

Skinner had a solid 2023-24, finishing the year with a .905 save percentage and 2.62 goals against average after a rough season. He never regained his form that he had in 2022-23, posting an .896 save percentage and 2.81 goals against average in 51 games in 2024-25 and an .891 save percentage and 2.83 goals against average in 23 games in 2025-26.

On December 12th, 2025, the Oilers sent him, Brett Kulak, and a 2029 second-round pick to the Pittsburgh Penguins for Tristan Jarry and prospect Samuel Poulin. Skinner has had a solid start to his Penguins’ career, posting a .906 save percentage and 2.31 goals against average in 11 games.

The story

Skinner’s legacy as an Oiler will be his playoff collapses. In 2022-23, he posted an .883 save percentage in 12 games, then a .901 save percentage in 23 games during the 2024 postseason, and an .889 save percentage in 15 games during the 2025 postseason.

Skinner’s was good enough for the Oilers to win in 2024, as his save percentage was heavily dragged down by the first three games against the Vancouver Canucks. In the seven game series against the Florida Panthers in the 2024 Stanley Cup Finals, Skinner had a .909 save percentage, posting a save percentage of .900 or above in the final four games. In fact, he had better numbers than Sergei Bobrovsky in that series.

The netminder was always plagued by inconsistency as an Oiler. There were stretches where he looked unbeatable, such as in 2022-23 or from Game 3 in the second round to Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals in the 2025 postseason. However, he seemingly figured out how to play at an average level, it was either really good, or really bad.

Skinner’s story as an Oiler may be over, but the 27-year-old still has plenty of hockey left. A free agent at the end of the 2025-26 season, it’ll be interesting to see what team he’ll end up with.

What Brownlee said

Put me down for “I don’t know” on all counts. What I do know is the schedule has been favorable with a long break before the homestand and a day off between each game. Maybe I missed it, but I didn’t hear much about that big-picture perspective when Skinner and the Oilers were rolling before the wheels came off Thursday. I suppose that’s to be expected.

With Jack Campbell in the minors and Pickard the only option as of today, it’s not an ideal situation. At this rate, Skinner will end up playing north of 60 games. He got into a career-high 50 last season then ran out gas during a stretch of 12 post-season games. I figured Skinner was good for 55 games when we discussed the situation in the crease during pre-season, but that was assuming Campbell was the other half of the tandem.

What we know is the Oilers don’t enjoy the luxury of having a blue-chip stopper like Vasilevskiy when the money is on the table and playoff series are at stake. To borrow from Captain Obvious, that would simplify things. Might Skinner – the version who took the starting job from Campbell last season and performed so well during this last winning streak – be enough to get the job done if GM Ken Holland can’t make a deal to add somebody?

That depends on who you ask and when you ask them.

– Dec. 17, 2023

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