The Pittsburgh Penguins are gearing up to play the third game of their current four-game road trip. This one on Thursday night will be in Edmonton, the former home of Stuart Skinner. Earlier this season, the Penguins and Edmonton Oilers swapped goalies in a trade that sent Skinner to Pittsburgh.
Now, the former Oilers' goaltender is speaking out about returning to where he started his NHL career.
“It’ll be nice in a lot of ways. Just going home, seeing old teammates, going back to the building, being in that atmosphere. I haven’t thought a ton about the emotional side of things,” Skinner told Josh Yohe of The Athletic.
“The main thing is, it will be a great opportunity for me to see the guys. That’s the biggest thing for me — giving some hugs to the guys after the game, say hi to some people. I hope everything is going well for those guys. Maybe I will get emotional. If it happens, it happens.”
The former Edmonton netminder was the 78th overall selection of the 2017 NHL draft by the Oilers. He played his first NHL game for the club in 2020-21, but became a mainstay in 2022-23. Skinner played 197 games for the team, going 109-62-18 with a 2.74 goals-against average and a .904 save percentage. He was also part of two consecutive Stanley Cup Finals teams.
His struggles in the playoffs drew the ire of fans, and ultimately, may have played a part in his trade to Pittsburgh.
“To give you my honest answer, it doesn’t really matter if I was treated fairly or not. I don’t even care if I was treated fairly or not,” Skinner said.
“I just tried to give my team a chance to win every night I was there,” he added. “At the end of the day, you have your job and your home life. That was my job. I was a goaltender in Edmonton and I absolutely did my best every day I was there. Whether the fans were fair to me or not, or whatever that entails, it doesn’t really matter to me. That’s my perspective on that.”
While there will be some joy for Skinner returning, he also has to work through the fact that he was discarded by the organization. He will likely be doing that from the bench.
Skinner was between the pipes for a 4-1 victory over the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night — making 18 saves on 19 shots — and is not expected to start on back-to-back days on Thursday.
Regardless, he has been part of the success Pittsburgh has had this year. The Penguins are now 24-14-11 on the year, good for second in the Metropolitan Division. Puck drop against the Oilers is set for 9:00 p.m. ET from Rogers Place on Thursday.
