Stuart Skinner's future with Edmonton Oilers in question after Coach Knoblauch's comments
Photo credit: USA Today Sports
The Edmonton Oilers are continuing to ride with Calvin Pickard as their playoff starting goalie for the third straight game, which may spell bad news for the future of Stuart Skinner.
The Oilers have already confirmed Pickard will get the start tonight in Game 5, and seem to be committed to keeping him in net at least until he loses.
Coach Knoblauch's praise of Calvin Pickard spells bad news for Stuart Skinner
When asked about the decision to start Pickard again today, Coach Knoblauch stressed that the veteran backup has remained incredibly calm and collected in the most important moments, not allowing anything to get to him.
LA had some chances to put the game away, and Picks made some big saves to give us the opportunity to come from behind and ultimately get those wins. I like that nothing's fazed him. I think he's given us solid goaltending and he's making really important saves at key times.
- Coach Knoblauch
- Coach Knoblauch
While Knoblauch has praised Pickard for his clutch ability before, he also added the element that nothing fazes him.
That could be a direct point against Stuart Skinner, who clearly allowed the crowd in Los Angeles to get to him in Game 2. Kings fans relentlessly jeered Skinner who began laughing and responding to the crowd while down 5-2 in a playoff game - an awful look for Skinner.
After his display in Los Angeles last time and the strong play of Pickard since, there's no reason to turn to Skinner or even trust that he could get the job done.
Now that the Oilers are fully committing to their 33 year old backup goalie on a $1M contract as their playoff starter, it looks like Skinner has no future in the Oilers organization.
If they don't trust him in playoff games, there's no reason to re-sign him to a raise this offseason. By playing up to the crowd and allowing outside noise to get to him, Skinner may have sealed his fate in Game 2.
| POLL | ||
AVRIL 29 | 918 ANSWERS Stuart Skinner's future with Edmonton Oilers in question after Coach Knoblauch's comments Do you think Stuart Skinner will return to the Oilers next season? | ||
| Yes | 191 | 20.8 % |
| No | 727 | 79.2 % |
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