Stuart Skinner (born November 1, 1998) is a Canadian professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

goaltender In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as the goalie) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays in or near t ...

for the

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

(NHL). He was a third round selection, 78th overall, in the

2017 NHL Entry Draft The 2017 NHL Entry Draft was the 55th NHL Entry Draft. The draft was held on June 23–24, 2017, at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. The first three selections were Nico Hischier going to the New Jersey Devils, Nolan Patrick going to the ...

by the Oilers.

Playing career

Junior

Skinner played major junior hockey in the

Western Hockey League The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a major junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitutes the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) as the highest level of junior h ...

with the

Lethbridge Hurricanes The Lethbridge Hurricanes are a Canadian major junior ice hockey team currently members of the Eastern Conference (Central Division) of the Western Hockey League (WHL). The team is based in Lethbridge, Alberta, and play their home games at the E ...

and

Swift Current Broncos The Swift Current Broncos are a junior ice hockey team in the Western Hockey League. Founded during 1967 in Swift Current, Saskatchewan, the Broncos played seven seasons before relocating to Lethbridge from 1974 to 1986 as the Lethbridge Broncos ...

. On March 18, 2016, Skinner scored an empty net goal with the Lethbridge Hurricanes against the

Medicine Hat Tigers The Medicine Hat Tigers are a junior ice hockey team in the Western Hockey League (WHL) who play in Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada. Established in 1970, the team has won two national Memorial Cups, five WHL League Championships and seven Divis ...

, making him the only goaltender in franchise history and the seventh in WHL history to do so.

Edmonton Oilers

After his selection in the

, Skinner was later signed to a three-year, entry-level contract with the Edmonton Oilers on May 14, 2018. Entering the final year of his entry-level contract, Skinner remained on the Oilers roster to start the pandemic delayed

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

season. With an injury to veteran Mike Smith, Skinner served as the Oilers backup to

Mikko Koskinen Mikko Koskinen (born 18 July 1988) is a Finnish professional ice hockey goaltender for HC Lugano of the National League (NL). Koskinen was drafted in the second round, 31st overall, in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft by the New York Islanders. Playin ...

through the first 9 games. He made his NHL debut and first career start on January 31, 2021 against the

Ottawa Senators The Ottawa Senators (french: Sénateurs d'Ottawa), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a membe ...

, collecting his first win in an 8–5 victory. Skinner would spend the remainder of the season with the

Bakersfield Condors The Bakersfield Condors are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) based in Bakersfield, California. The team is owned by and affiliated with the National Hockey League's Edmonton Oilers. The Condors play their home g ...

of the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...

(AHL). He would lead all goaltenders in wins with 20, and helped backstop Bakersfield to the Pacific Division Championship. Skinner would split the 2021–22 season between the AHL and the NHL. On February 14, 2022, Skinner recorded his first NHL

shutout In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

against the

San Jose Sharks The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference, and are owned by San Jose Sports & Entertainm ...

, making 20 saves to win the game 3–0. During the

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

season, with the departure of

and injury to Mike Smith, Skinner was initially expected to be the backup to newly signed goaltender Jack Campbell. Skinner's strong play along with Campbell's struggling performance led Skinner to take over the starter position. On January 19, 2023, the NHL announced Skinner as one of three final players of the Pacific Division voted in the

2023 NHL All-Star Game The 2023 National Hockey League All-Star Game was held on February 4, 2023 at FLA Live Arena in Sunrise, Florida, the home of the Florida Panthers. For the seventh consecutive All-Star Game, a three-on-three format was used, with teams representi ...

, along with teammate

Leon Draisaitl Leon Tim Draisaitl (; born 27 October 1995) is a German professional ice hockey centre and alternate captain for the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League (NHL). Draisaitl grew up playing hockey in Germany until he was selected second ove ...

. Skinner ultimately appeared in 50 games in the regular season, recording a 29–14–5 record with a .914 save percentage. He was voted a finalist for the

Calder Memorial Trophy The Calder Memorial Trophy is an annual award given "to the player selected as the most proficient in his first year of competition in the National Hockey League (NHL)." It is named after Frank Calder, the first president of the NHL. Serving as ...

, the NHL's Rookie of the Year award.

Personal life

Skinner is the youngest of nine siblings, all of which have first names that begin with the letter "S". He met his wife Chloe after a WHL game he played in

Lethbridge Lethbridge ( ) is a city in the province of Alberta, Canada. With a population of 101,482 in its 2019 Alberta municipal censuses, 2019 municipal census, Lethbridge became the fourth Alberta city to surpass 100,000 people. The nearby Canadian ...

; they married in June 2020. Skinner's first-born son Beau was born January 14, 2023.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and honours

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Skinner, Stuart 1998 births Living people Bakersfield Condors players Edmonton Oilers draft picks Edmonton Oilers players Lethbridge Hurricanes players Ice hockey people from Edmonton Swift Current Broncos players Wichita Thunder players