Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch's reaction to question about goaltending causes concern

For the past few years, the Edmonton Oilers have been so close, yet so far away from hoisting the Stanley Cup, with the Florida Panthers being just a little better in back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals.

Perhaps the biggest issue holding this team back is their goaltending, with incumbent starter Stuart Skinner potentially on the trade block after a very rough start to the 2025/26 campaign, with many fans shocked that the team didn't make a move over the summer.

In 12 games this season, Skinner has posted a 2.91 GAA alongside an .884 save percentage, and while there's much worse goaltenders out there, for a team chasing the Stanley Cup, this is simply unacceptable.

After another poor performance, Head Coach Kris Knoblauch was asked if the Oilers had lost belief in their goaltending, and while he didn't agree to that, his reaction to the question told all.

This was something that was brought up on the recent SDPN podcast, with all three hosts including Steve Dangle clearly reading between the lines on Knoblauch's reaction, which tells the story of a team that has lost belief in Stuart Skinner in net.

Only time will tell whether or not General Manager Stan Bowman can swing a trade for a goaltender before the trade deadline this season, but if he can't and the Oilers run it back with this duo in net, it could be one of the biggest mistakes in franchise history.