THE EDMONTON OILERS HAS AGREED WITH $750 DEAL WITH.
For Edmonton to qualify for the playoffs, an Oilers player needs to continue playing well.
To qualify for the 2024 playoffs, Connor McDavid and one other Oilers player need to continue to be very good.
content of the article
You are aware of that player.
Stuart Skinner.
Skinner saved the Oilers’ season after Jack Campbell’s performance faltered and helped guide the team to the 2023 playoffs.
In October and November of last year, Campbell was incredibly chilly, recording an.867 save percentage in 11 games. However, Skinner came in to save the day during a seven-game run with a 0.932 save percentage while Campbell was struggling. Skinner had another winning run of six games with a save percentage of 0.928 in December.
It was sufficient to give his Oilers the boost in self-assurance they required to improve their performance. It also allowed Campbell some time to compose himself. In December 2022, he also enjoyed his best run of the year, winning seven games in a row while saving.920 of the pen.
In 2023, Campbell’s performance declined once more in February and March. Skinner also had a difficult stretch in March, but he rebounded in April, ending the year with a five-game winning streak and a 0.966 save percentage. However, in 2021–22, while still with the Leafs, he put up a.946 save percentage in 18 games, a two-month run in October and November that essentially earned him his big contract in Edmonton. That was his last stretch of truly consistent and excellent play that lasted more than a month.
This year? During the winter, Campbell and Skinner both had a rough start as Edmonton players, partly because of the team’s terrible habit of giving up ugly 2-on-1 breaks. But Skinner is back on point. He has a 0.916 save percentage and eight victories in his last ten games.
Could he sustain this hot streak? Is he able to play with a save percentage above 0.910 on a regular basis?
That, along with McDavid continuing to be healthy and perform at his best, as he has been these past few weeks, is, as I say, the key to the Oilers’ season.
McDavid is a reliable option to win. For his part, I wouldn’t wager against Skinner. It wasn’t for nothing that Mike Smith left him that cowboy hat.
