Stuart Skinner Is An All-Star

 Long time no time.  How's it been?

If you're just joining us, it's been a solid thirteen years since I've used the Blogger platform to post most anything about the Oilers.  Time is a flat circle.  We're back, but it's been a wild ride in the interim.  After getting a gig with Fansided back in 2010 (and later SB Nation in 2013), we're back to Blogger for now. 

Thanks for following along.  Let's talk about Stuart Skinner.

I'm in love with the Stuart Skinner-All Star situation right now.  Yes, we know Connor McDavid is going to score 150+ points this season, and we're quite certain that Leon Draisaitl will easily eclipse the century mark.  Both of these players are deserved All-Stars.  The one we didn't see coming?  Skinner.

Though Jack Campbell has come alive over his last five games (he's 5-0-0 in his last five after a terrible start), Skinner has been a beacon for the Oiler goal for most of the season.  

Skinner's numbers might not be MVP calibre, but they're light years ahead of prized offseason free agent signing Jack Campbell.  Among goalies who have played 20 or more games, Skinner ranks 7th in the league with 10.6 GSAE, and 6th in 5 on 5 SV% with a .932.  (By comparison, Campbell ranks 28th in the league with a -11.5 GSAE and 28th in SV% at .895).  To put it bluntly, Skinner has been there for most of the season when Campbell has not.  Good for the Oilers (and good for Campbell) for his late resurgence, but this is probably a 13 win team if Skinner isn't good.  

It's wild that Skinner will be wearing these retro inspired kits in Miami.  It's even wilder that Skinner had merely fourteen NHL games to his resume prior to this season starting.  I'm not a Ken Holland booster, but getting Skinner for three more years after this one was a tidy bit of business.  

Good for Stuart Skinner.  

Good for us.