It feels like Stuart Skinner is about to begin the next phase of his career and his life.
Fresh off a trip to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final, Skinner enters an NHL season as the starting goaltender for the first time. You might have forgotten he was Jack Campbell’s backup when the puck dropped on the last two campaigns.
Now Skinner is the backbone of the 2024-25 Stanley Cup-contending Edmonton Oilers. Full stop.
Off the ice, he and his wife, Chloe, are expecting their second son in February. Their first boy, Beau, is 20 months old.
So these are heady times for Skinner, who turns 26 next month.
Ahead of Wednesday’s season opener against Winnipeg, Skinner sat down with The Athletic to discuss his offseason reset, his growing family, changes to the Oilers, a larger role and perhaps wearing a different jersey in a few months.
Note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
You had a short summer. What was either your approach or the one thing you tried to focus on?
To be completely honest, my approach was just the fact that I’ve never done it before. I’ve never gone through that short of a summer like that. It was more so the approach of how I should go about it in the sense of my recovery time, how much time I should take off, when I should get back into the gym, when I should go back on the ice. It was a little bit more of a tricky situation of just trying to figure out what the summer actually looks like — just to prepare myself the best way that I can for the season.
What did you learn? What was that answer?
I learned to maybe take a little bit more of a break. When you go that far and you come close and you don’t actually end up winning, there’s a lot of fire underneath you that you want to get back from the gym right away and get back to work. But I think trying to resolve that, and just trying to take some time off mentally right away, that’s a process.
It’s human nature to be thinking of what you could have done differently. I think that’s a process that everyone needs to go through. Whenever I get the chance to do it again, I know now how to go about it.
It sounds like there was a mental reset where you were trying to fine-tune and figure things out. How do you do that?
For me, you just look back on the moments of the season and in playoffs that happened that made you better, and some things that you maybe found in your game, mentally or physically, that you could work on to improve. It’s looking back on those experiences and using them for the better.
I journalled a bit. Sometimes just thinking about it. Sometimes talking to somebody about it. There’s a lot of different ways where you can actually approach getting that out there and doing something about it.
What about from a physical standpoint? We’re going back a few years now, but you won a WHL championship with Swift Current (in 2018). I know that finished at the end of May (because of the Memorial Cup) rather than the end of June, but are there similarities? Can you draw from that?
Honestly, yeah. I think that helped a lot, actually — just because I’ve been in a similar situation. It’s a little bit different because it’s shorter amount of time (the offseason). But in junior, it’s the same thing. You had to process everything and go through that whole process of going through everything — mentally and physically.
Going through that experience and then coming back to here is different just because it’s the NHL and you’re a little bit older, too. When I was younger, I probably had a ton of energy after playing 100-and-something games. But it definitely helps. I try to bring all those experiences into whatever comes my way in the future.
Sounds like maturity, right, getting older and figuring it out? Do you see it that way?
Oh yeah. For sure. That’s the whole point, right? You go through all these different things, and you can either let them go, or you can use them in the future whenever you get to go through it again or if something else different happens. You take those experiences, and you keep them in the back of your mind in case you ever need to use it again.
We’re talking about maturity and energy – and maybe lack thereof. You’ve got one son, and you’ve got No. 2 on the way in February. What’s that like for a goaltender, someone who’s got to be so mentally and physically invested in things and be sharp, when you’ve got a young family at home?
It’s amazing. It’s only helped me, to be honest, just because it gives you a lot of perspective on the game and just life in general. What’s actually important in life? Having my kids — well, soon to be kids …
You’re using the plural already.
Yeah. (Laughs.) Having my kid and my wife and another one on the way, there’s a lot of things for me to care about. When I come home, my kids don’t care how I play. They just care that I’m their dad. That’s always nice when you come home and it’s just family time.
Are you goalie at home, too?
I am a goalie at home right now. Beau’s telling me to go in net and play goalie. Sometimes he wants to go in net, too. So I don’t know if I’ve got a goalie on my hands yet. We’ll see. (Laughs.)
You were asked about the bear paws on one of your helmets last week and you mentioned how they represent your wife, your son and the baby on the way. But why the paws themselves? What’s the significance?
It’s just bear paws. I think I saw it on somebody else’s helmet. There were bear paws as well. I didn’t really know what else to do. That’s the first thing that came to mind was just bear paws, so I just went with that.
🐾👨🏻💙🧡 https://t.co/ti3wa1bt9n pic.twitter.com/DIRb6uEK7J
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) October 1, 2024
Right on. The last two years, as you entered the season, you weren’t the starter on opening night. It sure seems like you’re now the clear-cut No. 1 guy. Does it change your approach? How do you see maybe having a bit bigger workload going into the season?
It’s a little bit of a difference just because I know that I’m for sure preparing to play Wednesday. That’s a great feeling, and I’m very fortunate to be in the position that I’m in. But at the same time, I’ve got a lot of work to do.
The main thing that changes is just that I’m not so much practicing for a game down the week. I’m practicing for game in a couple days. Right now, I’m just preparing for the home opener.
Your defence, it’s quite changed. There are lot of new faces. How does that affect a goaltender?
It’s a difficult question to answer just because nothing really changes. Whatever D corps is in front of me, whatever forwards are in front of me, the lineup’s always changing due to injuries and different situations and all that stuff.
It’s really important for me to just keep things simple and just understand that I’ve got my job to do. But every time the team changes, in a matter of a season, it’s going to happen a ton, right? It’s not so much of how it’s going to change the game. It’s just how it is.
The main part of your job doesn’t change, right?
Yeah. (Laughs.) I’ve got one job to do no matter who’s in front of me.
I want to ask you about Vinny (Desharnais). Everyone knows how close you were (as teammates). Is it weird not having him around?
At the beginning, yeah, for sure. When we were on the road, we’d go for coffee in the morning, too. It’s definitely different. He’s one of my best friends. It was interesting seeing him in a Vancouver jersey. But I love the guy to death.
It was a little weird at the beginning. The hardest part about the business is that you end up losing a lot of your closest friends. Honestly, it’s a matter of time when you see one of your best friends go. The league’s always changing and (that goes for) where people are.
It’s not like you’ll be searching for a different confidant. I’m sure you’re close to other guys on the team. But does it leave a little bit of a void for you personally?
Yeah, it’s a little different. At the same time with the team that I’ve got, I’m really close with a lot of guys on the team. It’s just a matter of you lose one of your best buddies. But we’ll still talk throughout the year and make sure that we’re keeping each other in check.
But it doesn’t change much. I’ve got my job to do. I’m still a teammate to a lot of players and friends to a lot of the guys in the locker room. I’ve been able to be around these guys for years and years, right?
It’s going to be a fun year. I’m excited to play with a group of guys that we’ve got. We’ve already had a couple playing rides, and it’s been a lot of fun.
Will you have a new high-five partner (for postgame wins)?
(Laughs.) As of right now, no. We’ll see. (Laughs.)
We’ve talked about the Oilers a lot, but there’s something in February, and that’s the 4 Nations tournament. Your name’s come up a lot. As a guy who’s never played in the world juniors and never played in the world championship, what do you think about that?
I don’t really think too much of it just because it’s pretty far down the line. I’ve got a full season to play up until then. It’s nice hearing your name, but it doesn’t solidify anything. Nothing’s written in stone. There’s a lot of games for me to play — and to play well. Ultimately, it’s not so much to play in the 4 Nations. It’s more so trying to make the playoffs and trying to make a run for the Cup.
I’m not too worried about that. It’s more so if it happens, it’d be an absolute honour and privilege. I’m just looking to play at my best.
There are lot of guys on this team that could be there (Team Canada). Obviously, there’s one guy (Connor McDavid) who’s already on the team – naturally.
Yeah. (Smiles.)
How neat would that be to have a few Oilers on a high-powered team like that?
Yeah, we’ve got a pretty good team to say the least. We’ve got some incredible players that know how to score, know how to make plays, have some great vision. Again, nothing’s set in stone. Anyone can make it. It’s just a matter of who plays the best.
(Top photo: Leila Devlin / Getty Images)
