Does Stuart Skinner belong on team Canada?

PUBLICATION

Finnegan Frost
September 2, 2024 (12:22)

SHARE THIS STORY

As we look ahead to the 2026 Winter Olympic games in Milano-Cortina, many question marks have emerged concerning Team Canada's goaltending.

Before we get into the Olympic roster conversation, NHL enthusiasts are awaiting the highly anticipated 4 Nations cup in February of 2025. Edmonton Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner has been names to Team Canada's projected roster, along with Aidan Hill of Las Vegas and Jordan Binnington of St. Louis.

Although this comes as great news for Oilers enthusiasts, Paul Campbell of In Goal Media as a very different opinion.

«The good news is that two of these goalies are Stanley Cup champions and the other - Skinner - just took his team to Game 7 of the Cup Final. The not so good news is that there is not a clear No. 1 of this group at this point, and there is not really a dominant goalie in this group either. We had Connor Ingram, who is now with the Utah Hockey Club, in this group in February, but Binnington, a Stanley Cup champion in 2019, made the cut this time.» said Campbell

Campbell suggests that the projected team Canada goaltenders might not be good enough for the international stage. Although he mentions the projected goalies are of Stanley Cup calibre, there isn't a dominant goalie in the above mentioned.

David Staples, a highly respected sports writer for the Edmonton Journal has a different take on Campbell's approach.

First off, as the NHL's Price said, Stuart Skinner helped his Edmonton Oilers to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final this year and Adin Hill won the Cup with Vegas last season. These are major achievements and indicate Canada has solid enough goaltending to win this tournament.

Second, Skinner ranks first for wins, second for games played, sixth for goals against average and fifth for save percentage for all Canadian goalies the last two regular seasons. He deserves to be considered for this tournament. If he plays for Canada, it will be a massive achievement but he will have earned it.

Although the projected Canadian goalies may not be as strong as their American counterparts, Stuart Skinner has been known to catch lightning in a bottle in high pressure situations. With the Canadians having such a dominant top six forward group, the goaltending should be sufficient to keep their head above water.

source: MSN
Edmonton Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner named to projected Team Canada tournament squad but not everyone loving it