Oilers sign goaltender Stuart Skinner to two year deal.

Oilers bring back Skinner for two more years.

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HockeyFeed
Published 2 years ago
Oilers sign goaltender Stuart Skinner to two year deal.
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The Edmonton Oilers have signed a goalie, although it is not the number one goaltender some fans were hoping to see the Oilers acquire at some point in this offseason.

On Sunday the Oilers announced that they had signed 22 year old goaltender Stuart Skinner to a two year, two way, contract although at the time the Oilers did not disclose the financial terms of the deal. It has since been reported that Skinner will earn $750,000 at the NHL level in both years of his deal, but it does remain unclear what kind of role the Oilers envision for him moving forward.

Skinner, who was selected in the third round (78th overall) of the 2017 NHL Entry Draft by the Oilers, is coming off a decent season with the Bakersfield Condors in which he recorded a 2.38 goals against average and a .914 save percentage over 31 regular season games. Unfortunately last season also featured his lone appearance in the NHL, a poor outing in which he recording a 5.03 goals against average and an .868 save percentage. Those numbers won't inspire much confidence when it comes to him playing at the NHL level anytime soon.

It's worth noting here that the Oilers already have Mikko Koskinen, Mike Smith and Alex Stalock, all under contract so I suspect that Skinner is unlikely to get much playing time in the NHL this season. That being said he will provide a valuable depth option if Koskinen has himself another poor season, or if Stalock fails to deliver in a backup role this season. This will be especially true if both of these come to pass for the Oilers.

Skinner did not appear ready for the NHL in his lone appearance last season, although judging him on a 1 game sample size is not very fair to the young man, but he has been improving year on year whole playing in the American Hockey League and could prove valuable to the Oilers if he continues to do so, especially given the shaky nature of their goaltending position as of late. He will have an even better chance of doing so should the Oilers find a way out from under Koskinen's questionable contract.

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