BLOG: Skinner excited for Camp, prepared for heavy workload

EDMONTON, AB – Despite the short summer, goaltender Stuart Skinner is chomping at the bit to get back between the pipes for the Blue & Orange and put some of the lessons learned from last season’s storied run to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final to good use.

“I feel great. It's actually kind of nice having the short summer because I'm just so excited to get back into a game," Skinner said from Rogers Place on Wednesday following the opening day of Training Camp. "It doesn't feel too long ago since I played. I feel conditioned, strong and game-ready, so I’m excited to get going here."

The 25-year-old shot-stopper used his team’s defeat to the Florida Panthers in the final game of the playoffs on June 27 as a catalyst to drive his off-season improvements, hoping the experience of playing in that type of pressure environment can help him improve on what was an incredible year in the Oilers crease for the Edmonton product.

“It did feel a little bit different just in the sense that I really wanted to prepare myself the best I could to play a solid amount of games," he said. "I'm really excited to get some games in. Hopefully, I get a few in the preseason here to get things ramped up, so it should be good.”

For the former Calder Trophy finalist in 2023, everything that’s led him to this moment of being the starting goalie for his hometown Oilers is being channelled into fulfilling his role of making every save possible to help guide them back to where they went last year –and this time, with the benefit of experience, completing the job that went unfinished.

“You’ve got to get a lot of things done in a short period of time, where normally you have a little bit more time to see friends, family, be a dad and all that fun stuff. So I learned a couple of lessons about how to manage that time.

"If we're lucky enough to do that again this year, then I have a better understanding of how to go about it.”

Skinner didn't begin the season as the Oilers' out-and-out starter until he was thrust into the role in early November following Jack Campbell's assignment to the AHL's Bakersfield Condors, and to say it was a successful season for the South Side Athletic Club U15 AAA Lions' crease-guard would be an understatement.

The former third-round pick by the Oilers at the 2019 NHL Draft played 51 of the final 69 regular-season games for the Blue & Orange and finished the campaign tied for third in wins (36) with a .905 save percentage and 2.62 goals-against average. He ultimately led the Oilers into the playoffs, where he earned 14 of Edmonton's 15 post-season victories during an unforgettable run that ended one game short of winning the Stanley Cup.

Skinner made 19 saves on 21 shots in Game 7 against Florida and knows that the process of getting back to the Stanley Cup Final begins anew in '24-25 starting with a solid Training Camp and getting his legs under him during the preseason before the club's season opener on Oct. 9 versus Winnipeg.

"We got to experience a very tough loss, a loss that we've been thinking about for the whole summer," Skinner said. "Just being able to experience that – going through Game 7 with all that energy, all that noise and just the whole deal of it – it's pretty amazing because now if we ever get to experience that again, we're hoping to experience that again this year and if we do, we already know how it feels.

"Taking a nap before Game 7, you may not be as wound up as you were this past year. So honestly, just being able to go through it is so important because now you know how to deal with it when it comes to you again... You better understand how to deal with those types of things when they come – those nerves and the stresses of the game."

Despite being wholly confident in their abilities to get back to the Final, Skinner and the Oilers know they're not competing for last year's Stanley Cup—there's a brand new regular season to navigate before they even start thinking about the playoffs.

"You can't really look back at last year and just expect that to happen again," he said. "We have expectations of how we want to perform, but that was last year. This year is a completely different year. We have a different team. Every team in the NHL is a different team, so it will be a completely different year. So obviously, we want to do a little bit better than we did last year, but it is a new year, and we have to look forward to that.

"Preparing for this upcoming season, it's going to be really tough and you've got to go through that whole process again leading up to the Final and the playoffs. It's a long year, so there will be lots of ups and downs and how we handle that will be key for us."

Skinner picked out his edge work as a major off-season focus of his as the League gets faster and East-West plays become even more frequent, requiring goalies to learn how to play faster to deal with the high calibre of players in the game today. A faster collective start to the campaign is also on the mind of the netminder after he and the Oilers struggled out of the gate with a 2-9-1 record, leading to the appointment of Kris Knoblauch behind the bench and their incredible rise up the standings to finish with 104 points and a 49-27-6 record.

Additionally, the netminder is excited to renew his relationship with Calvin Pickard, who's quickly become one of Skinner's favourite teammates and mentors since they became a tandem last November. The two goalies were out on the golf course last week, where Skinner joked he received some lessons there about 'resiliency', but so far, they've been able to get on the ice together plenty in the days leading up to Training Camp.

"He's been amazing. He's such an incredible guy," Skinner said of Pickard. "Everyone you talk to, if you ever ask about Calvin, has the same answer. He's one of the best teammates you'll ever have, and he's been such a good support system for me honestly. He's a big brother to me. He takes care of me and how we talk, the way that he calls me out at times that are needed, it's exactly what you want out of a partner. So I'm very fortunate and very lucky to have him."