Stuart Skinner spent eight seasons in the Edmonton Oilers organization.

He was thrust into the starting role in the 2022-23 season after only playing 14 games as a backup in 2021 and 2022. Heck, he played six playoff games in 2022 with only 14 regular-season games under his belt. He did it in hometown with constant scrutiny and helped the Oilers play in consecutive Stanley Cup Finals in 2024 and 2025.

The notion Skinner cost the Oilers a Cup is entirely true. They might not have played in the Cup Final in 2024, if it wasn’t for his stellar performance against Dallas in the Western Conference Final.

Skinner wasn’t an elite goalie for the Oilers. He could be great, he could struggle and overall, he performed well for someone who was rushed into the starter’s role. We will never know if he could have helped the Oilers win the Cup, because on Friday morning, he was traded to Pittsburgh, along with Brett Kulak and a second-round pick for Tristan Jarry and Samuel Poulin.

It is rare to see two starting goalies traded for one another, but clearly the Oilers and Penguins felt a change was needed. Jarry has a $5.375 million cap hit until June 2028, while Skinner ($2.6 million) and Kulak ($2.75 million) are both pending unrestricted free agents. Kulak was included to make the trade work, and the Oilers made another trade acquiring left-shot defenseman Spencer Stastney from Nashville for a 2027 third-round pick. We’ll get more into that trade later.

There were multiple layers to the Skinner/Kulak for Jarry trade. I think the organization has reservations about Skinner’s top-end game. They feel Jarry’s ceiling is higher, and every goalie analyst I’ve spoken to feels the same. However, they all added that Skinner has shown he can perform well when it matters. He was excellent in the Western Conference Final against Dallas the past two seasons. He was a major reason they advanced to the Cup Final. He could have a tough night, no question, but he also had many good games. Jarry’s mobility was a major factor in the trade.

Jarry has only started eight playoff games, while Skinner has started 50. Jarry also has had more injuries than Skinner. Claims Jarry is injury-prone may be exaggerated. He missed four weeks once and had another three-week stint. Skinner, however, is incredibly durable. Since he became a regular NHLer at the start of the 2022-23 season, Skinner has started the third-most NHL games (regular season and playoffs combined).

1. Jake Oettinger: 249 
2. Sergei Bobrovsky: 248 
3. Stuart Skinner: 228 
4. Connor Hellebuyck: 223 
5. Igor Shesterkin: 222
6. Juuse Saros: 215 
7. Andrei Vasilevskiy: 210
8. Ilya Sorokin: 207 

Those are the eight goalies who started 200+ games. Jarry has started 143, all in the regular season as the Penguins haven’t been in the playoffs the past three seasons. Skinner started 178 regular-season games to Jarry’s 143. Jarry hasn’t missed a lot of time, but he has missed 3+ weeks twice. I don’t think that is enough to claim he’s injury-prone though. 

Ideally, it would have been better for Edmonton to have Skinner and Jarry, but I don’t think Pittsburgh was interested in taking Andrew Mangiapane, as that is the only other contract on the Oilers that they could have moved with Kulak to make the money work. Edmonton is in win-now mode, while the Penguins are in a much different place. Their team is competitive, and they are currently in a wild-card position in the Eastern Conference, led by Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. The Penguins superstars are aging, while the Oilers two superstars, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, are in their prime and their sole focus is trying to hoist the Stanley Cup. 

It is way too early to declare a winner or a loser. Frankly, I’m perplexed why so many want to anoint a winner right away. Sports debates are great, and you can debate which side you feel benefitted most, but the truth is we won’t know how it works out until the games are played. Jarry is entering Edmonton in a tough spot. It is Cup or bust. The only way many will view this trade as a win, is if Edmonton wins the Cup. I’m not one of those people. I don’t believe goaltending lost them the past two Cups. Teams win Cups, and there are different ways to win. Some years a goalie carry a team, but those are rare. Often you have solid goaltending, sound team defense, your top offensive players produce, you have good, or great, special teams, and even then, you need a lucky bounce or two and you MUST remain healthy. 

There are many factors that go into winning, which is why when a team wins the joy is overwhelming. It isn’t fair, but life isn’t always fair, and the Jarry acquisition will be graded heavily by many based on how he and the Oilers do in the playoffs.

STASTNEY SNEAKY GOOD…

The Oilers acquired 25-year-old left shot defenseman Spencer Stastney from Nashville for a 2027 third-round pick. This trade, while technically a separate deal, was tied directly to the Jarry for Skinner/Kulak trade, because the Oilers needed to replace Kulak, especially with Jake Walman on LTIR.

I reached out to some NHL personnel for a scouting report. I got this from former NHLer, and current analyst for the Predators Hal Gill.

“Watch him skate once and you will see why they acquired him. He’s a great skater. Not overly physical but closes gaps super-fast. Moves the puck well. Will always be an option joining the rush. Defensive zone is okay, but he won’t match up against the big dogs. Great kid. Been through a lot but seems to be in a good spot.”

I received this report from a current NHL manager/scout.

“I would say that Stastney is an elite skater. He’s got the effortless stride that gets him up to speed easily without a lot of effort. Similar in style to Paul Coffey if you know what I mean. And to be clear I’m not comparing him to Coffey! Just mean that his mobility is great and he doesn’t look like he’s exerting himself to get moving fast. He’s an outstanding athlete for both speed and power. He’s not tall, but he’s strong. 

“He has underrated offensive skill. He has nine points in 30 games in somewhat limited minutes. Nashville has dressed seven D-men at times so his minutes are around 14 but I expect in Edmonton he will play closer to 16-18. He does not play on their PP so the points are all EV.

“He’s not like Hughes or Makar who are great skaters but also individually can take guys on one-one one with pump fakes, spinoramas, etc. He plays a simpler game with efficiency and speed and is comfortable carrying the puck. He’s shown a proficiency on the penalty kill. He has a similar style as Kulak, but I would expect him to have a little more offense to his game.”

And one from another scout.

“Beautiful skater, has more offence to his game than we’ve seen. Moves pucks well. Very good on retrievals and he has a good stick and gap.”

I haven’t seen Stastney play a lot, which is why I reached out to those who had. I was on Jeff Marek’s show Friday, and he was surprised Nashville traded him for a third. He had a few scouts reach out to him and say they think this could be a sneaky good deal for Edmonton.

Stastney is six years younger and almost $2M cheaper than Kulak. He is an RFA at the end of the season and won’t command a big raise. The one thing he doesn’t have is Kulak’s playoff experience. Kulak has been solid in the playoffs, and that can’t be overlooked. When Ekholm went down last year, Kulak ended up playing the second most 5×5 minutes on the Oilers and performed well.

Like the Jarry acquisition, the risk for Edmonton in this deal is the lack of playoff experience for Stastney. That doesn’t mean he can’t play well, but until he does it will be a question.

Kulak struggled last regular season getting outscored 68-53 at 5×5, but his shot share was better at 731-623. This season, Kulak has been outscored 15-10 at 5×5 and outshot 184-170. Neither Kulak nor Ty Emberson are great at moving the puck. I still feel Kulak is more of a positive asset than negative, but the Oilers wanted a puck-mover in their third pair, and Stastney is better in that regard. The fact he skates as well, if not better, than Kulak increases the odds the move becomes a positive.