Stuart Skinner is not making life easy on the Edmonton Oilers front office.

The Oilers, who enter every season in the Connor McDavid-Leon Draisaitl era with a Stanley Cup-or-bust approach, have some critical decisions to make as the NHL’s March 7 trade deadline inches closer.

Chief among them: Can Skinner be trusted to carry this team in the postseason, especially considering his mediocre-at-best 2024-25 campaign?

Goaltender performance is highly volatile and there’s no doubt the Oilers are dealing with some uncertainty right now.

In the past two years, Skinner looked the part of a quality regular-season goaltender, the player Edmonton dreamed they could develop him into after selecting him 78th overall back in 2017. And the beauty of having insurance policies named McDavid and Draisaitl is that it ensures the Oilers don’t need elite goaltending to win a title.

But like any other team, the Oilers can’t afford to have the goaltending department cost them games, and Skinner’s downturn this season has undoubtedly forced some wandering eyes from GM Stan Bowman.

Unfortunately for Bowman, the goaltender trade market is a seller’s dream, with only two credible puck stoppers (neither of whom is a surefire bet) believed to be available, and plenty of teams........

© TSN