When the Pittsburgh Penguins and general manager Kyle Dubas decided to trade goaltender Tristan Jarry to the Edmonton Oilers, fans did not expect Stuart Skinner to be apart of the return. But that was the case as the also inconsistent goaltender makes his way to Pittsburgh in a change of scenery.
Fans are seeming to forget that Skinner helped lead the Oilers to back-to-back Stanley Cup FInals appearances in the last two years. He is not as bad as fans lead him on to be, even though he has had a bad track record of inconsistencies in his game as of recent history.
But just because he seems to have the same tendencies as Jarry does of having a good game or two and then following it up with a few bad games, does not mean that he should be waived or booed out of town immediately. Skinner deserves some time to be able to adjust to the Pittsburgh system and see if he can figure his game out again.
He deserves some kind of leash as was previously stated, he led his former team to the Cup Final in back-to-back years. He also is a few years younger than Jarry and just seems to have a bit more talent than fans of both teams like to lead on.
He is going to come to Pittsburgh and see if he can find his form again and see if he can become an all-star again. If not, Dubas should have no problem waiving him or trying to see if someone will take him since he does have an expiring contract.
But if he does do well, he can seemingly be a part of the Penguins future in goal with either Arturs Silovs or Sergei Murashov. There are endless options and this is Skinner's time to prove it. He needs to be able to see if he can play well again and show Dubas he did not make a mistake in acquiring him.