Top Candidates to Serve as Stuart Skinner's Backup in Winnipeg

The Winnipeg Jets entered the offseason expecting Stuart Skinner to serve as Connor Hellebuyck's backup. With Hellebuyck now absent from training camp, as he holds out in hopes of a trade, those roles have suddenly shifted.

Skinner becomes Winnipeg's No. 1 option for the time being, creating an unexpected opportunity behind him. Rather than immediately looking outside the organization, the Jets have four other goaltenders in camp who could receive a look: Thomas Milic, Domenic DiVincentiis, Isaac Poulter and Alex Worthington. 

Here are the internal candidates to watch:

Milic may have the inside track, if only because he's already received a taste of NHL action.

The 23-year-old appeared in three games for Winnipeg last season, while spending the bulk of the year with the Manitoba Moose. Milic went 20-13-6 with a .905 save percentage and a 2.64 goals-against average across 41 AHL appearances. 

His junior resume also suggests he's no stranger to high-pressure situations. Milic was named WHL Goaltender of the Year and playoff MVP in 2022-23, backstopping the Seattle Thunderbirds to a WHL championship. During that postseason, he went 16-3 with a .933 save percentage and 1.95 GAA. 

Interestingly, Milic opens camp alongside Skinner and Hellebuyck in Winnipeg's Team A training camp group, while the other three candidates are together on Team B. 

DiVincentiis could provide Milic with his stiffest competition.

The 22-year-old went 13-16-2 with a .896 save percentage and 3.03 GAA over 34 regular-season games with Manitoba last season, but his best hockey came when the stakes increased.

DiVincentiis was excellent during the Moose's postseason run last spring, going 3-2 with a sparkling .955 save percentage and 1.43 GAA in five playoff appearances. 

Like Milic, DiVincentiis is an accomplished CHL goaltender. With the North Bay Battalion, he was named OHL Goaltender of the Year in 2022-23 after leading the league with 36 wins, a 2.33 GAA and .919 save percentage. He was also an OHL First-Team All-Star and CHL Second-Team All-Star. 

If that late-season momentum carries into training camp, DiVincentiis could make this a legitimate two-man race.

Poulter enters camp as more of a dark horse.

The homegrown Winnipeg product spent most of last season with the ECHL's Norfolk Admirals, where he went 25-17-1 with a .905 save percentage and 2.76 GAA in 43 appearances. He also made three appearances for Manitoba. 

At 25, Poulter is older than both Milic and DiVincentiis, but would have more ground to make up after spending most of last season one level below them.

Worthington is the longest shot of the four.

The 21-year-old appeared in 24 games with Norfolk last season, going 3-14-3 with an .864 save percentage and 3.99 GAA. 

For Worthington, training camp represents an opportunity to gain experience against NHL competition and establish himself within Winnipeg's organizational depth chart.

The Jets don't necessarily need to make their decision immediately.

As training camps progress and teams begin trimming their rosters, additional goaltenders could become available on waivers. That could give Winnipeg an opportunity to add a more experienced option without surrendering assets in a trade.

For now, however, the opportunity belongs to the goaltenders already in the organization - and Milic and DiVincentiis have the strongest cases to turn an unexpected opening into an NHL job.

Stay tuned over the next two weeks to observe how this situation sorts itself out.