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Stuart Skinner Should Win The Calder Trophy |
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After years of drafting either first overall or high in the first round, could it be that a 3rd round pick from 2017 might be the first ever Oilers winner of the Calder Trophy?
As the title states. Stuart Skinner should win the Calder Trophy this season. Skinner has had a phenomenal season with the Edmonton Oilers and people outside of the Oilers fanbase are sleeping a bit on this guy. For most of the season Jack Campbell has been less than good and cost Edmonton a number of games. I bring that up not to heap on Campbell but to discredit the idea that "any goalie in front of this team is going to look good."
Skinner was an NHL All Star this season and has been arguably the best goalie in the Pacific Division this season. The next closest player ironically would be another rookie in Logan Thompson and the Golden Knights. Thompson technically has a higher total SV% with a 0.915SV% compared to Skinner's 0.911SV% but Skinner has a higher EV SV% (0.925% compared to 0.922%).
More importantly, Skinner has played far more games than Thompson 47 vs 37. Thompson has been injured and whether that is his fault or not that has hurt a players chance of winning this trophy.
Normally goalies don't get much love for the Calder. The last time a goalie won the Calder was Steve Mason back in 08/09. Mason posted a 0.916SV% in 61 games for the Blue Jackets. No other rookie posted above 57 points that season. Bobby Ryan had 57 points in 64 games (was in the AHL for the start). Kris Versteeg had 53 points and Steven Stamkos had 46.
While it's difficult to directly compare 08/09 to 22/23 there are some similarities. No rookie has hit the 60 point mark this season and honestly there really hasn't been much hype or talk around the Calder this season.
Last year it was Seider, Zegras, Raymond, and Bunting leading the charge. The year prior was Kaprizov and Robertson and before that was Hughes, Makar, Fox, and Kubalik.
This year? It's probably going to be Matty Beniers with 54 points in 75 games. Without looking, who is second in rookie scoring? Would anyone outside of Arizona know it's Matias Macceli with 45 points in 60 games? Mason McTavish is third with 42 points in 77 games.
There really hasn't been any buzz on the trophy... no forward or defenseman who has really broken out, particularly in a year when offense and goal scoring is as high as it's ever been. There isn't really a runaway favorite right now, so why not recognize a goaltender who is having a heck of a rookie season?
Giving it to Beniers is the easy and boring thing to do. Awarding it to Stuart Skinner is the right thing.
Thanks for reading!
Edmonton Oilers Blogger • 
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