In Stuart they trust.

But the Edmonton Oilers are bringing in an insurance policy just in case.

Immediately after pulling the trigger on a goaltending move, acquiring Connor Ingram from the Utah Mammoth for future considerations, Oilers brass went out of their way to say this is in no way a reflection on, or a threat to, embattled starting goalie Stuart Skinner.

The optics of this might suggest otherwise, but general manager Stan Bowman and head coach Kris Knoblauch went to great lengths Wednesday to stomp out any suggestion that the 28-year-old is here to shake up the goaltending scene in Edmonton.

“We have our two guys and we have confidence in them, Stuart and Picks (Calvin Pickard) are our goaltenders right now,” stressed Knoblauch. “It’s important that they hear that. Hopefully they feel this is just insurance and we’re not pushing them out.

“Connor is just the insurance policy and we feel those two are our best options and we’re going to go with that. Stuart Skinner is our starter and Calvin Pickard is our backup.”

The Mammoth are retaining $800,000 of Ingram’s $1.95 million contract and since he didn’t attend Utah’s training camp (he is coming out of the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program), he’s going down to Bakersfield with no immediate plans to bring him up to the Oilers.

For now.

“There’s no set program,” said Bowman. “He could be there for the whole season, we don’t know. The plan is not to just get him up to speed and bring him to Edmonton. The play of our goalies and the play of our team, as well as (Ingram’s) play, will dictate where it goes.”

Indeed, with a potential of another option on the table, the play of the goalies will absolutely dictate where this goes. Right now the Oilers still believe Skinner is a guy who can win them a Stanley Cup, but if things start to go sideways, or somebody gets hurt, they won’t be left scrambling for answers at a position where few exist.

“The way we look at it is this is great depth option for us,” said Bowman. “Whether it’s injuries or the play of our team, it’s nice to know we have somebody in our organization who’s had some recent success in the NHL.

“Goalie is that one position where when you need it, it’s really difficult sometimes to find it. If a guy gets hurt you’re at there whim of who’s available and often times there is no one available. When (Ingram) is playing well and at the top of his game we know he’s a really good goaltender.”

Skinner, in the final year of his contract, remains a polarizing figure in Edmonton. It’s no secret the Oilers have been looking for ways to strengthen their goaltending and this might be a step in that direction, although Ingram had an .882 save percentage last year compared with Skinner at .896, so the difference, if any, might be marginal.

Pickard, meanwhile, remains one of the best bargains in hockey with a $1 million salary as a backup who can step in and win clutch playoff games.

In the meantime, Bowman isn’t ruling out making another move in the crease, should something really tantalizing pop up, in the future.

“Goalies are no different than anyone else,” he said. “If there is a way to upgrade your team and have a sure-fire improvement on your roster, we’d have to look at that.

“But the reality of it is those situations are very rare, not just for goalies but for established players. If that situation (landing a big name goalie) presented itself two months from now I wouldn’t rule it out, but we’re in a much better position today than we were yesterday relative to our goaltending depth.”

Ingram is a veteran of 102 career NHL games over four seasons with the Nashville Predators, Arizona Coyotes, and Utah registering a 39-44-15 record, 3.14 goals against average, .902 save percentage and seven shutouts.

E-mail: rtychkowski@postmedia.com

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