OILERS MAILBAG: Stuart Skinner is gone, but is it really what the fans wanted?

Each week, we check in with our readers on social media and e-mail to see what’s on the top of their minds, explore the hot topics of conversation and answer hard-hitting questions about the Edmonton Oilers. Here are some of the hot topics from the past week:

Why do I feel kind of sorry for Stu?

— Every guilt-ridden Oilers fan who’s blamed goaltending for all the team’s ills over the past three seasons.

Seeing Stuart Skinner still in his Oilers mask, shovelling away snow built up at the side of his net after making his Pittsburgh Penguins debut, with his former teammates on his hometown team celebrating a 6-4 victory, was polarizing.

You either loved it or you hated it.

Or you hated that you didn’t love it as much as you might have expected.

He wasn’t the one who put all the organization’s eggs in his rookie basket, handing him the starting reins in just his second season following an all-star nod the year prior. He wasn’t the one who failed to pair him with a capable veteran backup in the form of a former No. 1 who was now riding out the rest of a successful NHL career.

Instead, he got a couple of busts, who ended up costing the Oilers to pay-for-no-play, before landing on a career journeyman who spent a decade bouncing up and down (mainly down) from the minors.

That was never going to be the formula for long-term success. And it got to the point where change, even if it’s simply for the sake of change, was needed.

Skinner is a young, developing talent who will find his foothold in this league. It just wasn’t going to be in time for the Oilers’ ever-closing Stanley Cup window.

The guy who needs a change in scenery is Bowman. He doesn’t know whether he is on foot or horseback. Terrible GM!!!

— Ken Banner

You might be right, Ken. But Stan Bowman put himself in a no-lose situation.

Think about it, he swaps one struggling goaltender for another — one who was just waived through the league and sent down to the minors only a season ago, at that — hoping a change of scenery does wonders.

It didn’t cost too much (though you have to ask if tossing in Brett Kulak was necessary, when Pittsburgh could just as easily have been asked to recoup some of Jarry’s salary). And if at the end of the season, Jarry’s numbers turn out no better than Skinner’s, at least the Oilers GM can shrug and say he tried addressing the team’s goaltending concerns.

And if Jarry finishes ahead of Skinner — which could feasibly be the case, given his arrival in Edmonton coincides with the Oilers finding themselves on an upward trajectory in the standings, finally — then Bowman can pat himself on the back and tell everyone it was a job well done.

In the meantime, we’re left questioning if that’s the best Bowman can do? And questioning how much of his fingerprints are actually on all those Stanley Cups in Chicago.

You said it

Dear Gerry:

Great article re: Should Team Canada simply concede Olympic gold now in women’s hockey?

As I am a senior who played recreational hockey in my youth and coached up to AAA midget, I have some thoughts that may have some validity.

The picking process is flawed, as I see too much individualism on our Canadian teams.

That difference comes when you pick players who believe they should be there, as opposed to players who want to be there.

Saying that, everyone “wants” to be there, but when you don’t have to prove you should be there, you have too much individualism on the ice and forget there is no “I” in the word team.

All other countries, it is obvious from watching, they play as a team. If I had someone else’s email (involved with this level of hockey), I would send it there. — Brian Larmer

It’s not an Oilers topic, but a month from now it will be at the top of every sports fan’s mind in this country as the NHL prepares to break for the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026.

You raise an interesting point, Brian. Entitlement is something that can affect even the elite of the elite in any sport. And that could be a factor.

But is that really what’s going on here? Blaming it on this alone suggests the only thing that can beat the greatest hockey nation in the world is ourselves.

I would offer another theory: We might no longer be deserving of that title. Sure, we go into the women’s side as reigning Olympic gold-medalists, but what if other teams are catching up?

And by other teams, I mean the U.S. There really isn’t other competition out there. Yet. Although Sweden, Czechia and Finland are no doubt taking their own measurable strides, they’re still the bottom one per cent, and every other country has been left in the dust.

Make no mistake, that American squad is good. Double-digits good. And they’re going to put 10 more points on the scoreboard — on the global stage, this time — if Canada decides they don’t have to show up in Italy.

For a chance to appear in an upcoming edition, send your questions, concerns and comments on all things Edmonton Oilers related to:

E-mail: gmoddejonge@postmedia.com

On Twitter: @StarkRavinMod

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