| McDavid Contract Talks [message #847432] |
Tue, 02 September 2025 11:06  |
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 Adam
Messages: 7513
Registered: August 2005
Location: Edmonton, AB
6 Cups
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Some concern starting to show around the lack of a new deal for 97. Hopefully it gets done fairly quickly.
He was pretty clear that he wanted to see how management was ensuring that we remain in the hunt for a Cup. The Oilers seem set to start the season with the exact same defective goalie tandem that wasn't good enough the last two years.
You'll have Edmonton media guys try to tell us that hey - we were only one win away last year, and two this year so how bad can the goaltending be, but the reality is that Skinner has been atrocious in the post-season and the team has won in spite of him. Pickard is a journeyman back-up late in his career. The fact he started games while our "starter" was still healthy in the Stanley Cup Finals is a huge red flag.
Skinner's .893 Sv% in 50 games played is the WORST of any goalie with over 30 appearances in the playoffs since 2000. The only one with worse results with 20+ games played is Dan Cloutier who was a staggering .872 in 25 starts. And while if you asked people, most would say Pickard has been notably better, his save percentage is actually worse (.892).
If there's a plan to improve this tandem as the season goes on, then they better be communicating that to McDavid. Right now, this is looking like the definition of insanity - and I do wonder if it's not the biggest reason we don't have even a short extension done.
Maybe they'll surprise us all, and the real reason is that they're working on finding a way to get him signed long-term - but I feel this is probably the more likely explanation.
"Thinking that a bad team's best players are the reason the team is bad is the "Tambellini re-signing Lennart Petrell" of sports opinions." @Woodguy55
#FireBobbyNicks
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