Friday Four: Can Oilers win it all with Stuart Skinner?

The Friday Four is a collection of thoughts and information on some intriguing player storylines from around the NHL. On deck this week is:

• Should the Oilers upgrade on Skinner?
• Hofer may stumble into No. 1 job
• Ersson quietly making a name for himself
• LaBate’s long journey back to the NHL

Stuart Skinner, Edmonton Oilers

It’s Stanley Cup or bust this season for the Oilers.

That’s what happens when you lose Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final by a goal and have Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl back for another run. Anything less than a championship will be viewed as a disappointment in Edmonton, and the pressure is on everyone to get it done.

If you were ranking the Oilers who are under the most pressure to perform this post-season, McDavid and Draisaitl would be at the top of the list, but Stuart Skinner wouldn’t be far behind. Goalies always face pressure in the playoffs, and that only ramps up when the expectations are through the roof. Right now, confidence in Skinner is waning. He had an .866 save percentage in February, and the Oilers have lost five straight by a combined score of 26-14. Even with talents as great as McDavid and Draisaitl, bad goaltending can still derail the best-laid plans.

The Oilers have often won in spite of Skinner this season, not because of him. He owns a 20-15-4 record but only an .898 save percentage, which is the worst mark of his career. Skinner’s numbers have steadily declined over the past three years. In 2022-23, he had an impressive .914 save percentage, but that slipped to .905 last year and is now below .900 in 2024-25. What’s worse? Skinner ranks 71st league-wide when it comes to goals saved above expected, with a mark of minus-3.

This should signal major concerns for Edmonton, who already had to turn to other options in the previous two post-seasons when Skinner faltered. Calvin Pickard came in during Game 3 of Edmonton’s second-round series last year against the Vancouver Canucks and subsequently started games four and five while Skinner reset. Jack Campbell also appeared in four games during the 2022-23 postseason as Skinner struggled.

To his credit, though, Skinner has made a habit of rebounding and playing his best hockey in the biggest games. Against Dallas last year in the Western Conference Final, Skinner had a .947 save percentage over Games 4, 5 and 6 as the Oilers closed out the Stars. Then, in the Cup Final, Skinner posted a mark of .935 in Games 4, 5, 6 and 7, nearly helping Edmonton to an improbable comeback. There’s no denying Skinner can get his game to the level needed to win a championship, but his erratic play can’t be filling the Oilers with confidence as they head into the stretch run.

That brings up the question of should Edmonton trade for a goalie? John Gibson is the most obvious name out there, and there’s even been some chatter that the Oilers would be one of his preferred destinations. The challenge with Gibson is two-fold, with the first issue being his cap hit. He makes $6.4 million for another two years after this one, and the Oilers aren’t exactly swimming in cap space. Secondly, sometimes the best ability is availability, and Gibson has struggled to stay healthy. The Oilers could trade a bunch of assets for a guy with little assurance that he’ll even be able to help them heading into the playoffs.

Gibson’s numbers also haven’t been great for several years until this season, though he’s been wallowing on a bad team. Given how well he’s performed in 2024-25 and that the Oilers are a much stronger squad than Anaheim, you’d have to think Edmonton could get a pretty good version of Gibson if he can stay healthy. But that’s a big if.

Could Edmonton try to pry Jordan Binnington away from St. Louis? Binnington’s cap hit isn’t much better than Gibson’s, and he’s probably just as inconsistent as Skinner, though he’s certainly proven he can win the big one. Binnington just added a 4 Nations Face-Off victory to a resume that already includes a Stanley Cup. Say what you want about his play over the course of this season, but you can’t deny that Binnington has been clutch in some incredibly pressure-packed moments.

Edmonton could go off the board and target someone like Karel Vejmelka. He’s a pending UFA and won’t cost as much as the other two aforementioned trade options, not to mention his cap hit is less than half of Binnington and Gibson’s. Vejmelka has played well, given the circumstances on a mostly mediocre team in Utah, but he’s never appeared in a playoff game. Having him take the reins on a team that has Stanley Cup aspirations would be a big ask.

The Oilers will also have to ask themselves if goaltending is their biggest need. Edmonton’s defence leaves a lot to be desired, as Darnell Nurse struggled in last year’s post-season, and they may be leaning on players like Ty Emberson and John Klingberg a little too much. Another veteran presence to round out the defense corps could really benefit the Oilers on a post-season run.

Adding a forward could also be a need. Off-season acquisitions like Viktor Arvidsson and Jeff Skinner haven’t panned out, and while the Oilers may not be as top-heavy as in years past, they could definitely use another option for secondary scoring. With minimal cap space and not a ton of trade chips to give up, Edmonton is going to have to spend wisely.

With all that said, the one major thing Skinner has going for him is that even with all his flaws, he comes cheap. He’s making $2.6 million for this year and next, so the Oilers are getting by with one of the cheapest starting goalies in the NHL. They currently have around $5.1 million in cap space available, with Evander Kane’s cap hit essentially being that exact amount. They could probably leave Kane on LTIR until the playoffs, but if the Oilers trade for a goalie, it’s likely going to swallow up the majority of the cap space they have available. Edmonton would have a tough time adding any other truly impactful skater without some major cap gymnastics.

There’s so much on the line for the Oilers this spring, and right now, Skinner isn’t instilling a lot of belief that he can be the guy who’s going to lead them where they need to go. Edmonton has the unenviable task of deciding whether to upgrade a position that’s volatile and hard to forecast at the best of times, or roll the dice on Skinner, the goalie they know best.

Getting this decision right may ultimately be the difference in the Oilers winning a Stanley Cup or suffering another painful playoff exit.

Joel Hofer, St. Louis Blues

We may end up finding out just how good Joel Hofer really is.

If Binnington gets dealt, whether that’s to the Oilers or someone else, Hofer will be in line for a major increase in playing time. The 24-year-old has shown a lot of promise so far in his brief career, posting an impressive .914 save percentage last season in his first campaign as Binnington’s backup.

Similar to most young goalies, Hofer’s game is going to go through some ups and downs, and this year, things haven’t gone as swimmingly for the St. Louis Blues netminder. Hofer’s numbers have regressed to a .902 this season, and his goals saved above expected is sitting at minus-8.4. What’s interesting about Hofer’s game in 2024-25 is that the Blues are actually better defensively in some areas than they were last year, thanks to Jim Montgomery taking over with his solid defensive structure.

For example, last season, the Blues ranked 30th in high-danger chances allowed. Only Chicago and San Jose were worse. This year, St. Louis has really improved in that area, giving up the eighth fewest high danger chances in the league. The concerning part for the Blues is that Hofer’s numbers got worse even though their defence was stingier.

If Binnington were to move before next Friday and the Blues sell off major pieces, things are going to get more challenging for Hofer. There are several Blues on Nick Kypreos’ most recent trade board, including Binnington, Pavel Buchnevich, Brayden Schenn and Colton Parayko. Now, it’s unlikely all of them move, but those are all key pieces for a St. Louis squad that isn’t exactly loaded with talent up and down the roster. If even a couple of them get traded, the Blues will likely be worse down the stretch, making it tougher for Hofer to put up respectable numbers.

It’s possible the Blues could bring in a veteran goaltender if Binnington were to leave to partner with Hofer, whether this season in another trade or later this summer in free agency, but there’s still a decent chance Hofer’s role will be expanding going forward.

Samuel Ersson, Philadelphia Flyers

There was a lot of hype surrounding Ivan Fedotov prior to him joining the Philadelphia Flyers, and understandably so. Fedotov is six-foot-seven, he posted stellar numbers in the KHL for years, and the Flyers have been desperately searching for a standout netminder for some time. Things haven’t gone smoothly for Fedotov, though, and it’s allowed Samuel Ersson to quietly solidify the net for the Flyers.

The 25-year-old doesn’t have spectacular numbers for the season, but he’s really come on since the calendar turned to 2025. Ersson is 11-5-1 in his past 16 outings and has posted a save percentage of .929 or better in four of his past six starts. He’s been making a habit of finding ways to win games on an unspectacular Flyers squad for a while now. Again, in 2023-24, Ersson’s numbers weren’t special outside of posting an 18-10-3 record on a Philly team that missed the playoffs and had a minus-26 goal differential.

Ersson also somewhat improbably was able to introduce himself on the world stage at the Four Nations Face-Off. He wasn’t even originally supposed to be on Team Sweden until he was named as an injury replacement for Jacob Markstrom. Ersson was the number three goalie behind Linus Ullmark and Filip Gustavsson and seemed unlikely to get into a game, but circumstances quickly changed. A flu bug ran through the Swedish locker room, and Linus Ullmark was under the weather heading into Sweden’s final game against the Americans. Ersson was thrust into action and promptly stopped 32 of 33 shots to propel Sweden to its only victory of the tournament.

Flyers head coach John Tortorella has also praised Ersson’s play of late, and if you know anything about Tortorella, he doesn’t exactly dish out compliments with regularity.

It’s probably going to be at least a few years before the Flyers complete their rebuild and start to work themselves back into contention once again, so in these situations, you want a goalie who won’t get rattled and gives your team a chance every night. Ersson has already proven he’s up to the challenge, and he could end up being a critical piece of the Flyers’ future.

Joseph LaBate, Columbus Blue Jackets

Joseph LaBate wasn’t about to tippy-toe into his first NHL game in nearly eight years.

That’s right, the Columbus Blue Jackets forward last played for the Vancouver Canucks during the 2016-17 campaign before he received a callup from the Cleveland Monsters on Saturday night. LaBate fought Nick Foligno and delivered three hits, while finishing as a plus-1. He made the most of his seven-plus minutes against the Chicago Blackhawks.

Can you blame him? Since LaBate last played an NHL game, he skated in 332 AHL contests and appeared in 49 KHL games while putting a jersey on for six different teams. The next goal for LaBate was capturing his first NHL point, which he did Thursday after picking up an assist. Scoring his first NHL goal is next on LaBate’s to-do list. Hopefully, he sticks around with the Blue Jackets long enough to get the chance, as finding the back of the net at the highest level would be a nice exclamation point for this comeback story.

For a player like LaBate, every NHL game could be your last. The 31-year-old probably thought his NHL dream was over, but you never know when opportunity might knock on your door, and LaBate was ready to answer it.

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