When Jack Campbell signed his 5-year, $25M deal with the Edmonton Oilers this summer, he was viewed as the solution to all of their problems in goal. However, with his play this season so far, he has been more of a problem than a solution.
Campbell's start to the season has been so bad in Edmonton that backup Stuart Skinner has taken over as the team's starting goaltender. A hometown kid that the Oilers drafted in the third round of the 2017 draft, Skinner made his debut during the 2020/21 season where he played in one game. Last season behind Mike Smith and Mikko Koskinen, Skinner managed to get into 12 games for the Oilers. In those 12 games he went 6-6-0 with a .913 save percentage and 2.62 goals against average.
It was enough to convince management and the coaching staff that he would be the full-time backup to Campbell this season. Lucky for them, he has been more than a backup so far, starting in 18 games going 9-8-1 with a .915 save percentage and a 2.83 GAA.
While Skinner has been quietly good, the Oilers have needed much better from Campbell, who has a .875 save percentage and ridiculous 4.04 GAA this season. Skinner has been the superior goaltender and now he is getting the lion's share of the starts. Now, Ken Holland has signed him to a 3-year extension today, worth $2.6M per season.
The Campbell experiment in Edmonton has been a costly one and may cost them more than a combined $12M over the next 8 years if they choose to buy him out, which will account for more than $13M against the cap over the course of the buyout, ranging from $1.4M-$2.6M each season in dead cap space over the same span.
