Edmonton Oilers netminder Stuart Skinner has drawn an interesting comparison to a former Colorado Avalanche Stanley Cup-winning goalie.
In a piece in The Athletic published on May 25, insider Pierre LeBrun discussed how the Edmonton Oilers’ current playoff run has hinged on the success of their goalie. Skinner’s role in the Oilers’ success prompted LeBrun to compare Skinner’s influence to that of Darcy Kuemper back in 2022 during the Avalanche’s Cup run.
LeBrun drew this comparison between Skinner and Kuemper:
"It reminds me a bit of Darcy Kuemper with the 2022 Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche. No one was expecting him to be the single biggest reason that the Avs reached the promised land; he just needed to be steady enough not to drop a grenade on their journey."
LeBrun is right.
Until this season, Darcy Kuemper was never regarded as a high-end goaltender who could carry a team to victory much like Sergei Bobrovsky has done the last three seasons for the Florida Panthers.
Kuemper has finally received the credit he deserves by getting a Vezina Trophy nomination this season. Regardless of whether he wins or not, Kuemper has gotten the validation he deserves.
All told, The Oilers resemble that 2022 Colorado Avalanche team in many ways. They have star power, solid depth, and a goalie that, as long as he doesn’t get in the way, is capable of holding the fort long enough for the stars to take over.
Edmonton Oilers taking a page from the Colorado Avalanche’s 2022 book
As I mentioned earlier, the key to the Edmonton Oilers’ success this season has been tremendous depth. Throughout the postseason, the Oilers have been able to tap into their bottom six to carry them at times.
That was something that characterized the 2022 Avalanche squad. Depth players stepped up at various points throughout the postseason, carrying the team when the opposition was able to shut down Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen.
It’s also worth pointing out that Evan Bouchard resembles the 2022 version of Cale Makar. Bouchard still hasn’t established himself as a bona fide number-one blue liner. But if the Oilers take home the Cup this season, there will be very few arguments against Bouchard’s role as a top defenseman.
That situation sounds very similar to Makar’s path. His role in the Avalanche’s 2022 Cup run cemented his claim to being one of the best blue liners in the league. Since then, Makar’s body of work and hardware have landed him atop the list of NHL defensemen.
There’s one other comparison I’d like to make between this year’s Oilers and the 2022 Avalanche squad.
The Avs ran into a Tampa Bay Lightning team that had been to the Stanley Cup Final three years in a row. The number of flight hours on the Lightning eventually caught up to them. I recall that Game 6 in the 2022 Cup Final, the Lightning just seemed completely gassed. It was like they were running purely on willpower.
Colorado, recognizing that situation, took advantage of it and moved in for the kill. The Oilers look to do the same. With the Panthers up 3-0 on the Carolina Hurricanes, and the Oilers leading the Dallas Stars 2-1, the table looks to be set for a rematch from last year’s final.
The Oilers will be facing a Panthers team ready to make its third-straight Stanley Cup Final appearance. And like the 2022 Avalanche, the Oilers could move in for the death blow once they sense the Panthers running out of gas.
I suppose you could say that this year’s Oilers squad saw the parallels between them and the 2022 Avs, and figured they could pull off the same feat.