NHL analyst Zach Laing of Oilers Nation believes Stan Bowman could soon lock up Edmonton goalie Stuart Skinner to a massive five-year deal near $35 million. Edmonton Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner is entering the final year of his existing deal, and <a href='https://oilersnation.com/news/stuart-skinner-contract-extension-projection-edmonton-oilers?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter' class='lien_marqueur' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>Oilers Nation's analyst Zach Laing provided a projection</a> for his possible new contract. Stuart Skinner was questioned quite a bit after Edmonton's second consecutive Stanley Cup Final defeat to the Florida Panthers. <h3>Skinner's Stats Were Worse This Postseason Than Last Year's</h3> His statistics fell in the playoffs during this past postseason to a 2.99 goals-against average and .889 save percentage in 15 starts, which was down from 2.45 and .901 in the spring before. In the Final, Panthers ace Sergei Bobrovsky outdueled Edmonton's tandem that consisted of Skinner and Calvin Pickard, as they captured the Stanley Cup in six games. The 26-year-old Skinner still has a year left on his three-year, $7.8 million contract and will hit free agency in July 2026 if he is not signed. Laing suggests the Oilers can sign him long term, maybe keeping him in Edmonton for the rest of his career. His projected contract is a massive five-year deal for $6.817 million annually, a situation Evolving Hockey's model estimates at a 22% probability. So what would a realistic contract extension look like for Skinner? According to Evolving Hockey, there's a wide range of outcomes, Laing wrote. The predicted, or most likely deal is a five-year extension carrying a $6.817-million cap hit - something Evolving Hockey projects to have a 22 percent chance of happening. <div align='center' class='pl20 pr20'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/OilersNation/status/1954304475189121285'><div style='border:1px solid #CCCCCC;border-radius:10px;padding:20px;width:300px;'>Loading from Twitter ...</div></a></blockquote></div> Even through playoff collapse and statistical decline, <a href='https://www.hockeylatest.com/nhl-team/edmonton-oilers/stan-bowman-reveals-the-key-reason-the-oilers-decided-to-keep-stuart-skinner-and-calvin-pickard' class='lien_marqueur' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>GM Stan Bowman came to the public defense of his goalies</a> during his end-of-year press conference. Just this playoff run is a perfect example, Bowman said. In three of the four rounds, we had better goaltending than our opponent. You look at (Los Angeles Kings' Darcy) Kuemper, (Vegas Golden Knights goalie) Adin Hill, and (Dallas Stars' Jake) Oettinger, our goalies were better than theirs in each of those series. I think that's the reason we went to the final. Head coach Kris Knoblauch also said that he trusted Skinner by playing him in the do-or-die Game 6, and will continue to do so. Fans hope this possible contract extension won't be a bust.