BLOG: Skinner digging to improve ahead of big season for club & country

EDMONTON, AB – For goaltender Stuart Skinner, it’s time to get digging.

The 26-year-old Edmonton product believes the experience he’s gained so far in his career has him well-positioned this season to grow even more as a starting netminder in what he expects to be a big 2025-26 campaign for himself – not only with the Oilers, but for Team Canada at the Olympics, too.

“For my goals this year, of course, I want to set the bar high,” Skinner said after Thursday’s informal skate at the Downtown Community Arena. “I want to go to the Olympics. I want to be a goalie for Team Canada. I want to be able to get back to the Stanley Cup Final and finish the job this year.

“And that just goes back to getting another full 82 games and four rounds under our belt to really feel it out even more and really learn from this past year. It's the same for me as an individual and for us as a team. Being able to use it moving forward and having a good start to the season is crucial.

“I think everyone's goal in the NHL, if you ask them, is to win the Stanley Cup. But we definitely want to finish the job here.”

Skinner and the Oilers are coming off back-to-back trips to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2024 and 2025, both ending in defeats to the Florida Panthers, with the netminder having started 218 regular-season and playoff games for the Blue & Orange over parts of his five NHL seasons since 2020 – two of those being spent as Edmonton’s definitive number one goalie.

Skinner was a Calder Trophy finalist in 2022-23 for the League’s top rookie award and was named an NHL All-Star for the first time in his career that season after making 50 starts and assuming starter duties from Jack Campbell to finish 29-14-5 with a .914 SV% and 2.75 GAA.

He made 12 NHL playoff appearances (11 starts) that year, getting his first taste of starting in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and has experienced more highs and lows over 50 more postseason contests since then over the past three seasons, including Edmonton's two consecutive runs to the Final that both ended in heartbreak for the Oilers.

Skinner, who turns 27 years old in November, believes that the improvements he’s made to his mental game in recent seasons will help him further evolve on the technical side this year as an NHL starter, with new Oilers Goaltending Coach Peter Aubry providing him a new perspective and a fresh voice.

"For me, in past years, being able to just really bring myself into the game here, being able to get a couple NHL seasons under my belt has been great for slowing the game down more and more and more as a goalie," Skinner said. "The play's coming fast in this league, so being able to learn that skill has been huge.

"It's been challenging, but I believe I'm at the stage of my career where I can really dig into my game in the way I want to play. Just the type of experience I've been able to have, I know how to go into a game. I know how to be ready. I know how to win games. I know how to win games in challenging situations. I know how to bounce back from really tough situations, so I'm just going to use that to my advantage."

Skinner said he had positive discussions this offseason with Aubry about their philosophies and how they could improve the technical aspects of his game over the summer, during informal skates and eventually at Main Camp, learning to "always keep the core on" for better control of his movements.

Getting the mental reset he needed from another long run to the Final was also high on Skinner's list this offseason, and he feels he's in the right frame of mind entering Oilers Main Camp with a strong mental fortitude that will help refine and retool his game for another shot at the Stanley Cup and the chance to represent Team Canada the 2026 Olympics this coming February.

"There are a lot of things that I worked on. I'd have to go through my notes to go through all of them," he said. "Honestly, it's just getting in better shape and getting my core turned on a little bit more, so those were the type of things that I worked on off the ice. Being mentally clear was the biggest thing for me as the summer progressed, because losing the Cup two years in a row is definitely challenging. So being able to clear my mind and get to a really good, happy, quiet spot has been big, and I've definitely done that."