Beloved former Oiler emerges as target for Western Conference rival
The Blues are staring at a goaltending decision this offseason, and social media is already doing Doug Armstrong's homework for him.
A post from @TheMugNHL on Tuesday evening floated the idea of Stuart Skinner landing in St. Louis if the Blues move on from Jordan Binnington.
The tweet argued a Hofer-Skinner tandem at around $4 million AAV would give Joel Hofer the runway to develop into a full-time starter.
It's not a crazy idea. But the numbers behind it are more complicated than the pitch suggests.
Binnington finished the season at a .875 save percentage over 40 starts, with 12 wins. That's a bad number for a goaltender making $6 million against the cap.
Hofer, by contrast, was one of the better goaltending stories in the Central this year. He went 21-13 with a .909 SV% and 6 shutouts in 46 games.
That gap between the two Blues goalies is not small.
Skinner's Pittsburgh stint raised more questions than answers
Skinner spent the season with Pittsburgh at a $2.6 million cap hit. He went 17-18 over 50 starts with a .888 save percentage and 2 shutouts.
In his 3 games specifically as a Penguin, he went 0-0-3 with a .871 SV%.
That small sample tells you something, or at least it gives Jim Montgomery pause if he's thinking about this.
The ex-Oiler carries a clear appeal as a low-cost insurance option. But there's a difference between a reclamation project and a legitimate backup, and right now it's unclear which category Skinner belongs to.
Armstrong built a Blues roster that went 37-33-12 this year, finishing with 86 points and a -27 goal differential. That's a team that needs better goaltending, not a cheaper version of the same problem.
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What it doesn't address is whether Skinner's year in Pittsburgh actually reset his value, or just confirmed that his Edmonton peak was tied to a specific system around one of the deepest rosters in the league.
Hofer is a legitimate starting-caliber goalie at 25. Building around him is the right call.
Whether Skinner is the right co-pilot is a much harder sell.
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YESTERDAY
JUNE 2, 2026
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| G | A | PTS | ||
| Shea Theodore | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Brayden McNabb | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Nikolaj Ehlers | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Brett Howden | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jalen Chatfield | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Ivan Barbashev | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Shayne Gostisbehere | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Tomas Hertl | 1 | - | 1 | |
| William Karlsson | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jordan Staal | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jack Eichel | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Mitch Marner | - | 1 | 1 | |
| K'Andre Miller | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Colton Sissons | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Jaccob Slavin | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Cole Smith | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Sebastian Aho | - | - | - | |
| Frederik Andersen | - | - | - | |
| Rasmus Andersson | - | - | - | |
| Jackson Blake | - | - | - | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||