Think the Edmonton Oilers have it bad right now? Try being in Stuart Skinner’s skates.
Sure, as a team, they’re stumbling and bumbling into the final third of the schedule on a season-high five-game losing skid in which they have been outscored 26-14.
They went into the break for 4 Nations Face-Off tied for first in the Pacific Division — a place they haven’t finished since 1987 — but are now looking four points up at the Vegas Golden Knights.
They haven’t won in regulation since Jan. 27.
And they haven’t been able to find any traction despite having the NHL’s top goal-scorer, Leon Draisaitl, on a career-high seven-game goal streak with eight tallies — and counting — in this impressive span.
To top it off, the Oilers were back at the scene of the crime for the first time since that 2-1 loss to the Florida Panthers in Game 7 of last year’s Stanley Cup final, returning to Amerant Bank Arena only to suffer another one-goal defeat, 4-3, on Thursday.
It was a black eye, to say the least, on their season-long mission to return to the championship final and right that wrong from last year.
And it has to feel even worse taking that knockdown blow while sliding into March on a slump, which is uncharted territory for the Oilers, who are typically well on an upward trajectory heading down the playoff stretch.
So, yeah. You could say things are feeling a bit bleak for the Oilers right now. But it’s got to be even worse for Stuart Skinner.
Especially right now.
You can never blame the entirety of a team’s woes on its goaltender, but Skinner would be the first to tell you he deserves his fair share of the blame for the team hitting the ditch.
And, chances are, every Oilers fan in the city are in agreement.
There might not be one who doesn’t have Skinner on the chopping … er, make that, trade block this week.
With the NHL trade deadline coming up Friday, it would have to be hard to look at their team in a tailspin and not wonder how someone like Jordan Binnington — fresh off a win with Team Canada in the 4 Nations Face-Off — would look in an orange and blue sweater.
Oilers general manager Stan Bowman already has stated emphatically the team is not looking to make a move in net at the trade deadline and will stick with Skinner and backup Calvin Pickard the rest of the way.
But that doesn’t necessarily mean they don’t want to make a move between the pipes. They just can’t really afford to right now.
And even if they aren’t the ones doing the initiating, there are no guarantees the Oilers wouldn’t jump at a chance to upgrade their goaltending duo if the opportunity arose. Even if it meant keeping Skinner in the mix in more of a backup capacity.
Kris Knoblauch pointed out — on two different occasions in February — goals that Skinner would like to have back, which is about as close as it gets to calling a player out for the always-level-headed Oilers head coach.
And even Skinner’s biggest supporter and top force on the Oilers blueline, Mattias Ekholm, has started to bring up the odd goal against, which is saying something.
But words only go so far. It’s the numbers that have been speaking loudest of all this year.
After a stellar rookie season where he was named an all-star, Skinner took over the starting role early in his sophomore season, backing the Oilers through a mid-stream coaching change and all the way to Game 7 of the final.
But this season, the numbers tell a bit of a different tale — one that turns Skinner’s meteoric rise into a more pedestrian trek.
Out of the 20 goalies with 20 wins so far, Skinner’s .898 save percentage is third-lowest and not quite up to par with his career benchmark of .907.
And his 2.87 goals-against average is well above his career mark of 2.74.
The fact he has 20 wins could just as easily be attributed to having two of the NHL’s top-five points leaders on the team.
At the same time, the argument could also be made the other way that Skinner still has his team in the race for top spot in the Pacific despite a steep dropoff in performance by an Oilers defence that has turned over 50% of its starters. That also has adversely affected the penalty kill, which was at the top of its game in last year’s playoff run, only to fall to the bottom third of the league this season.
Then again, fans don’t want to hear any of that nonsense. This is trade deadline week, after all.
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On Twitter: @GerryModdejonge