Stuart Skinner’s early career trajectory has been nothing short of meteoric.
In both previous NHL seasons, he began as the Edmonton Oilers backup, only to end it off in the starting role. As a rookie, all he did was manage to outshine veteran $25-million acquisition Jack Campbell on the way to playing 50 games with a 29-14-5 record with a .914 save percentage on the way to being named to the all-star game and ending up as a finalist for Calder Memorial trophy voting for NHL rookie of the year.
He followed that up last season by once again replacing Campbell in net on the way to helping the Oilers turn their fortunes around with a run all the way to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final.
And after going through his first training camp as the hands-down incumbent, there is no doubt as to who will man the crease for the Oilers in Wednesday’s season opener against the visiting Winnipeg Jets (8 p.m., Sportsnet).
The only question is whether Skinner’s flight path will continue to blaze a trail across the Edmonton sky and brighten the horizon of the future, or if his astronomical development ends up crashing back to Earth in a much more pedestrian manner.
Skinner knows which one he would choose, obviously. But how exactly does he plan on outdoing himself yet again, with a list of goals he wants to achieve this time?
“Um, that’s a good question,” said the Edmonton product, who turns 26 on Nov. 1. “For me, I think I was more focused on things in the summer and as we get going here, it’s kind of just getting better at the game.
“It’s little things now. Where you look at little details you can probably improve on. Just like anyone, you can always get better at anything. And for me right now, it’s just the little details of the game.”
Bigger. Faster. Stronger. More.
Sure, it’s the same thing on the menu of every hungry athlete. But the added focus heading into training camp was made more streamlined by the fact he was finally coming into a year where he and everyone else in the organization, the city and across the league knew he was going to be the No. 1 guy here.
No more looking over his shoulder. No more wondering if and when he was going to get in. And no more chasing someone who was ahead of him.
“It was a good feeling,” Skinner said on Monday. “At the same time, I’ve been in that position before in other leagues and everyone’s trying to go for your job. You’re never safe in the NHL, there’s some incredible players, incredible goalies.
“So for me, it’s having this job, yes. But now it’s my job to keep it for as long as I possibly can.”
Around his hometown, Skinner understands full well how badly fans have been searching for the next Grant Fuhr. But he’s also smart enough to realize that kind of lofty — if even attainable at all — goal is out of reach without all the necessary smaller steps along the way. And that level of pressure does no good for anyone.
So instead, Skinner takes the one-save-at-a-time approach to his development heading into what is, almost unbelievably, just his third full season in the league.
And after ending up on the wrong side of a one-goal difference between winning and losing the Stanley Cup barely three months ago, every single save he makes this year is going to matter.
In three exhibition games, Skinner ended up 1-2-0 with a 3.29 goals-against average and .880 save percentage in stopping 66 of 75 shots.
Hardly numbers to write home about, perhaps. But the Oilers knew they were never going to earn a Stanley Cup do-over in the pre-season.
“I only played a few (exhibition) games, so to be able to get a game against Winnipeg and get a couple more games under my feet, it’s just kind of feeling that flow and rolling with it.”
Last year, Skinner rolled to 11 consecutive wins while the Oilers were on a streak of 16 straight. That’s more than any other goaltender in franchise history, including the aforementioned Fuhr.
Whether there are more historic measuring sticks in his path, he only gets a shot at them with the help of the team in front of him.
“That was kind of the point for pre-season, just to kind of get moving again, get into the rhythm of how the game’s played and I think we’ve got a pretty good handle on that,” Skinner said. “And now we just get to practice the things that maybe we didn’t do a great job of in pre-season and just get better and get ready for Game 1.”