{"id":664286,"date":"2026-05-12T10:58:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T10:58:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/664286\/"},"modified":"2026-05-12T10:58:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T10:58:12","slug":"former-oilers-goalie-tandem-skinner-pickard-set-to-hit-nhl-free-agency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/664286\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Oilers goalie tandem Skinner, Pickard set to hit NHL free agency"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the top free-agent goaltenders in this 2026 unrestricted class is former Edmonton Oilers<\/a> goaltender Stuart Skinner.\u00a0After he departed from the team in the Tristan Jarry trade<\/a> with the Pittsburgh Penguins on Dec. 12, Skinner played through ups and downs, but did help the Pens earn a playoff berth.\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, after losing three straight starts in the first-round against the Philadelphia Flyers, Skinner lost the net to Arturs Silovs, which extended the series to six games before an eventual loss.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ottawa Senators reporter Bruce Garrioch believes Skinner is a candidate to sign in the nation\u2019s capital.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He wrote in the Ottawa Citizen<\/a> about the familiarity that general manager Steve Staios, who was a part of the Oilers front office from 2022 to 2023, would have with Skinner.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe expectation is he won\u2019t be back with the Penguins next season, and the belief is he will be among Ottawa\u2019s top targets in free agency,\u201d he wrote on Friday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSkinner made $2.6 million last season, and the Senators could be a nice fit because he\u2019d have a chance to help them win without the No. 1 pressure\u2026By all accounts, Skinner is a quality individual who would fit in well here.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Along with Connor Ingram, Sergei Bobrovsky, and Frederik Andersen, Skinner is one of the biggest free-agent <\/a>goalie names.<\/p>\n

In the 23 starts with the Oilers, Skinner posted an 11-8-4 record with a 2.83 goals-against average and a .891 save percentage.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In comparison, Skinner started 27 contests with the Pens, finishing with a 12-9-5 record, a 2.99 goals-against average and a .885 save percentage. During the playoffs, he was 0-3, with a 3.08 GAA and a .873 save percentage.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tristan Jarry is the lone NHL goaltender with a contract on the Oilers heading into the future.<\/p>\n

Pickard\u2019s heartfelt goodbyeOne of the most beloved Edmonton Oilers, by his teammates and fans alike, is Calvin Pickard<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He posted to his Instagram last week a series of pictures from his tenure with the caption: \u201cThank you Edmonton.\u201d<\/p>\n

Originally signed by the Oilers to be an AHL fixture in 2022-23, Pickard seized the opportunity when Jack Campbell was sent down, and became Skinner\u2019s backup.<\/p>\n

He became a big piece of the two trips to the Stanley Cup Finals, including winning six straight games in 2025 after the Oilers went down 2-0 to the Los Angeles Kings in the first-round. Pickard went 7-1 during that playoff run.<\/p>\n

This season didn\u2019t bear the same success, and Pickard was eventually sent down to the minors, much to the chagrin of his teammates. Where the 34-year-old\u2019s future lies is unclear.<\/p>\n

Michael Menzies is an Oilersnation columnist and co-host of PreGaming and Oilersnation After Dark. He\u2019s also been the play-by-play voice of the Bonnyville Pontiacs in the AJHL since 2019. With seven years of news experience as the Editor-at-Large of Lakeland Connect in Bonnyville, Menzies collects vinyl, books, and stomach issues. Follow him on X at Menzies_4.\u00a0<\/p>\n

ARTICLE PRESENTED BY bet365<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One of the top free-agent goaltenders in this 2026 unrestricted class is former Edmonton Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner.\u00a0After…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":664287,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[433],"tags":[49,48,448,82],"class_list":["post-664286","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/664286","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=664286"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/664286\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/664287"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=664286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=664286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=664286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}