Oilers Ranking Near Last in the NHL With the Weakness Fans Have Known About Forever

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Liam McCormick
October 21, 2024 (8:44 PM)

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The Edmonton Oilers may be off to another slow start this season, and the prime problem may be what the fans have always known - goaltending.

According to JFresh Statistics on X, the Oilers rank 31st in the NHL in Goals Saved Above Expected. Both Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard rank in the bottom 5 goaltenders in the league so far this year.

It may not be the case that Skinner and Pickard remain in the bottom oool of goaltenders for the entire year - Skinner in particular has had a rough start to the year that hopefully he will be able to bounce back from. However, some fans are starting to have real concerns about Skinner. After the Oilers last loss to the Dallas Stars, plenty of fans were extremely concerned.

Skinner's save percentage dropped 9 points last season from the year before, and at 25 years old with only 127 games played, he's still relatively unproven as a starter despite his playoff success. Oilers fans have seen a trend of goalies weakening in their time with coach Dustin Schwartz, and recently, one goalie analyst revealed that Skinner is the worst goalie in the NHL at lateral movement.

Many Oilers fans have been vocal for a long time that the team's goaltending isn't strong enough to be considered a true playoff contender. If Skinner can't find his game his game again soon and give the Oilers management faith in another long playoff run, perhaps they really need to look at potential goalie options.

The Oilers stars haven't truly arrived yet this year either, but the spotlight will be directly on the crease in Edmonton over the next few months. Hopefully the hometown starter Skinner can turn it around quickly, and the Oilers can find their groove from last year.