Before the emergence of Stuart Skinner, goaltending was always a hot-button topic among Oilers fans. Depending on who you ask, it might still be. But a blast from the past is always good for perspective.
Devan Dubnyk was selected 14th overall by Edmonton in the 2004 NHL Draft from the Kamloops Blazers in the WHL. He got his first bit of Oilers action playing 19 NHL games in the 2009/2010 season. An .889 SV% was the farthest thing from pretty but expected. He would put up some solid save percentages in the three seasons afterward. .916 through 35 games in 2010/2011, .914 through 47 games in 2011/2012, and .921 through 38 games in the lockout-shortened 2012/2013 season.
Scoring goals on a 6’5” netminder should be one of the hardest things to do. But one big criticism of Dubnyk was stopping harder shots and letting in easier shots. When Oilers alumnus Craig MacTavish took over as the new GM in the 2013 offseason, he attended a question-and-answer period with season ticket holders and was asked about the team’s goaltending going forward. His response was this…
“As for Devan, I think that you’re right, the verdict is out on Devan. I’ve always believed that when you’re assessing goaltenders, if you have to ask the question, you know the answer. The question would be, has Devan established himself as a number one goalie in the National Hockey League? And I still think it’s a valid question. So, I think that Devan, although he’s trending upwards in his numbers and played adequately for us this year, I still think, and I know Devan feels the same way, that there’s another level for him. From our standpoint, we’ll see that he can get to that level.“
For all of the scrutiny that Dubnyk got, he was also hung out to dry on a lot of nights at a time when the franchise was completely allergic to defense. The defensive issues also dug a hole deeper than Rock Bottom under then head coach Dallas Eakins. During the 2013/2014 season, he went from being an inconsistent starter to not stopping anything. He played 32 games for them and posted an .894 SV% before getting traded. How many goalies have had a drop off that staggering? Some Oilers fans feel that the wording of MacT’s comments may’ve damaged his confidence.
In the 2014/2015 season, he split 58 total games between the Arizona Coyotes and Minnesota Wild. His SV% was .929, earning him a Vezina trophy nomination. He also won the Bill Masterton trophy for displaying perseverance in the NHL. I don’t hold anything against the accolade, it’s just kind of funny to me that he essentially won an award for escaping the mess that used to be the Edmonton Oilers. He continued his solid play for Minnesota and placed 5th in Vezina trophy voting after the 2016/2017 season. It still wasn’t enough to propel the Wild to longer Playoff runs.
It’s important for every Hockey fanbase to remember that goalies take the longest to develop and mature out of all positions in the sport. I’m not sitting here telling you that Devan Dubnyk was perfect. But it’s also hard to develop positively in a culture that once accepted last place Hockey as a standard. Some Oilers fans were weary of giving Stuart Skinner the benefit of the doubt before this year’s Playoffs started. I’d say he did just fine as a sophomore. His growing pains are absolutely worth pointing out, but he’s humbled his way through them. With the Oilers now in an era where searching for more Playoff success is the new standard, Skinner is in the proper mental place to keep learning as he gets older. I feel it was important to end this piece with a comparison between the development curves of Stu and Dub. Those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
