Henrik Lundqvist ranks Oilers' Stuart Skinner among NHL goalies
Henrik Lukdqvist is one of the most respected names in all of hockey, and heading into the NHL playoffs, he's backing the Oilers sophomore goalie Stuart Skinner.
While ranking goaltenders in the western conference, Lundqvist had Stuart Skinner as the third best goaltender, behind Connor Hellebuyck and Thatcher Demko. This puts Skinner on top of some other very elite starting goalies like Juuse Saros and Jake Oettinger.
It's extremely high praise, and coming from a legendary goaltender like Henrik Lundqvist, it carries a lot of weight. In his second full season with the Oilers, Skinner has really emerged as a steady presence in the net, something the team has needed for over a decade. After a rock start to this season, Skinner was able to recover and post a decent .907 save percentage in an incredible 58 games. The fact that Skinner has been able to withstand the workload of 58 games, among the top 5 in games played for goaltenders, has been instrumental to the Oilers success.
It's not just Henrik Lundqvist praising Skinner either. Legendary Oilers goaltender Grant Fuhr reportedly has spoke highly of Skinner as well, specifically saying his mentality is one that will bring success. Skinner always seems to have a win-first approach, and can really dial in to keep the Oilers in a game, which will be crucial in low-scoring playoff games.
I talked to Grant Fuhr a couple of weeks ago who said he has all the confidence in Stuart Skinner in the world. His mentality is there is what Fuhr told me. I don't think there's anybody that you could trust the word more of in terms of being a clutch goaltender than that of Grant Fuhr.
In plenty of playoffs in past seasons in the McDavid era, the goaltending for Edmonton has often been a question mark. Heading into this year's playoffs, there's no doubt that Stuart Skinner is the starting goalie - and he is able to carry the team through a long playoff run.
| POLL | ||
Do you think Skinner will win a Vezina trophy in his career? | ||
| Yes | 95 | 48.7 % |
| No | 92 | 47.2 % |
| See Results | 8 | 4.1 % |
| List of polls | ||
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