CALGARY — Stuart Skinner came so close to reaching the rarest of heights. It’s one thing to be a Stanley Cup champion goaltender, and quite another to accomplish it in one’s hometown.
The Edmonton native was on the doorstep twice, only to fall painfully short. He is very well aware that a significant chunk of his hometown’s fan base blames him.
Does Skinner believe he was ultimately treated unfairly by his hometown’s fans?
The always affable 27-year-old paused for just a moment before answering the question. Then he turned serious.
“To give you my honest answer,” he said, “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 and the Pittsburgh Penguins roll into Edmonton on Thursday for their annual visit to Rogers Place. The Oilers and Penguins orchestrated a rare, in-season goalie trade in December. Skinner, Brett Kulak and a second-round draft pick were sent to Pittsburgh in return for Tristan Jarry and 2019 first-round pick Samuel Poulin. While the Oilers were eager to add a goaltender deemed by some to be more physically gifted than Skinner, the Penguins were equally as delighted to have another franchise pay the erratic Jarry’s considerable salary.
A loud percentage of Oilers fans celebrated with glee on social media that Skinner had been dealt. Skinner struggled during the 2025 Stanley Cup Final against the Florida Panthers, losing the deciding Game 6 and getting yanked in an eventual Edmonton win in Game 4. Of course, one year earlier, he nearly led the Oilers to a comeback from down 3-0 in the first installment of Edmonton vs. Florida in the Cup Final. He allowed only seven goals in the final four games of that series, but ultimately took the 2-1 loss in Game 7.
Connor McDavid, brilliant in that postseason, was held without a point in each of the final two games, but still skated away with the Conn Smythe Trophy. Skinner skated away absorbing much of the blame.
“I just tried to give my team a chance to win every night I was there,” said Skinner, as he continued to reflect on his time in Edmonton, how his emotions will handle the evening and whether or not the fan base in Edmonton treated him well. “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.”
Skinner acknowledged he’s had this road trip circled since being traded to Pittsburgh. Yes, he’s already played against his old team; McDavid and the Oilers got the best of him in a 6-4 win days after the trade.
Stuart Skinner’s first game in a Penguins jersey came against his former team. (Justin Berl / Getty Images)
That game, though, was in Pittsburgh. This one will be different.
“It’ll be nice in a lot of ways,” Skinner said. “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. 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.”
Skinner seems to have found a comfort zone with the Penguins and in Pittsburgh, a city he says has exceeded his expectations.
After a rough start to his time with the Penguins, he has played a significant role in backstopping their playoff push. His new teammates are aware of what life was like for Skinner while playing in Edmonton.
“When you play in a Canadian market, people are hard on you,” Ryan Shea said. “But he brought his team to the Stanley Cup Final in two straight years. There’s something to be said for that. My expectations for him were high when we got him, to be honest with you. Jars (Jarry) was playing great when we traded him, but he’s come to this team and been great in his own right. Look at how he’s playing right now. He’s really good, a big-game player.”
The Penguins’ defensive game has been better in recent weeks, but it will probably never be their most identifiable trademark. Being their goaltender isn’t always easy.
“There have been games when we haven’t been great, we’ve been hemmed into our own zone for long periods of time,” Shea said. “Some games, for whatever reason, you just don’t have your legs. And in those games, he’s stood tall. This guy has been incredible for us. He’s been one of our best players ever since we got him.”
No one knows what the past couple of years have been like for Skinner better than Kulak. Like Skinner, he is an Edmonton native who played for the Oilers when the NHL’s highest-scoring juggernaut came painfully close to delivering the franchise its sixth championship.
Kulak thinks Skinner will handle the return to Edmonton well. He is also impressed with the goaltender’s recent play.
“He’s so confident right now,” Kulak explained. “He’s so in control. The last however many games, he’s been really good. It’s going to be a big part of this team’s success moving forward, the way he plays. And the thing about him is, he puts in the work every single day. He really does. When you see someone work that hard, it’s cool to see them play well, to see them get really locked in. That’s what he’s doing for us.”
Skinner and Kulak both had troubles in the immediate aftermath of the trade. The Penguins weren’t playing well in December, and their new players took a while to adjust.
“You can’t explain to someone what kind of change you deal with when you get traded,” Kulak said. “It’s a lot.”
Suffice to say, Skinner has found his game and his place with the Penguins.
“I think I probably needed that break over Christmas,” he said.
Maybe he’s just what the Penguins needed, even if the Oilers and Edmonton no longer wanted him.
“He’s been great,” Shea said. “And what a guy. You make a good play in the D-zone, and you can hear him yelling at you that you did great. He’s the kind of guy that makes you feel good, that you want on your team.”