Oilers’ fatal flaw that must be fixed in 2024-25 season

The Edmonton Oilers entered the 2024-25 season as the defending Western Conference champions, but their campaign began far from ideal.

On Wednesday at Rogers Place, the visiting Winnipeg Jets overwhelmed the Oilers from start to finish, chasing goaltender Stuart Skinner after scoring five goals on 13 shots in a 6-0 blowout. The lopsided loss immediately reignited concerns about the stability of Edmonton’s goaltending, an issue has plagued them for years.

As Skinner would admit afterward, he simply needs to get back to work in order to ensure another sloppy performance doesn’t repeat itself, via TSN.

“It is very frustrating to start like this. It is just not ideal, I don’t feel great, but I can’t do much about what happened tonight so I’m going to go back to a couple sheets and draw up some new stuff for me to work on and just get better from this,” Skinner said postgame, per NHL.com. “I have been pulled before, I have let in five goals in a game before, obviously you just don’t want to do it the first game.

“You don’t want to do it ever. I’ll just get better from this and move on.”

However, the Oilers can’t expect to be regular contenders for the Stanley Cup with their goaltending in its current state.

The Oilers tandem of Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard don’t intimidate opponents

Stuart Skinner has yet to prove himself as a big-name goaltender capable of stealing a playoff series, and many view him as benefiting from the star-studded roster in front of him. Meanwhile, Calvin Pickard, re-signed by Oilers management over the summer, briefly replaced Skinner during the playoffs, but he isn’t seen as a reliable option for a team with title aspirations over the course of a full season and postseason.

Pickard was grateful for the opportunity to make his first career playoff start, given by Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch, where he made 19 saves in a crucial win against the Vancouver Canucks, via Yahoo Sports.

“It means a lot, obviously,” Pickard said. “(Knoblauch) obviously had the confidence to play me a ton, and that meant a lot to me. Obviously, getting that start in the playoffs was a huge confidence boost for me. Going into this season, it’s nice to be a part of the tandem, but you know we definitely have some work to do.”

As far as his relationship with Skinner goes, Pickard indicated that it’s nothing but positive.

“No one sees the game like me and ‘Stu’ do, so we’re kind of on our own with our goalie coach, and we have a really good relationship,” Pickard said. “We’re always bouncing things off each other, and we both have a good positive attitude and we’re both trying to learn every day.”

Can Edmonton avoid another early season skid like last year?

The Oilers stumbled out of the gate last season with a 3-9-1 record, prompting the decision to fire head coach Jay Woodcroft and replace him with Kris Knoblauch. Under Knoblauch, Edmonton clawed their way back up the standings to secure a postseason spot.

While their goaltending was serviceable enough to help them reach their first Stanley Cup Final since 2006, the chances of a repeat performance seem less promising, especially without the addition of a proven starting goaltender over the summer. They may pile up the points in the standings, but goaltending won’t be the main factor of any success they enjoy.

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