Buffalo Sabres: Jeff Skinner is on pace for career season

Leading the charge of a new and improved Buffalo Sabres team has created an improved Jeff Skinner.

Entering the 2017-18 season, the Buffalo Sabres were expected to be a very different team. The arrival of Rasmus Dahlin on defense and the existence of Jack Eichel were going to define Buffalo. Surprisingly, 26-year-old forward Jeff Skinner has taken the reins early on this season.

Skinner has played with, or rather been stuck on, the Carolina Hurricanes for his entire career. He has gained the reputation of being very unpredictable from season to season. At times, he was the best player on the team. Sometimes, he looked like a low-tier third liner.

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His point pace for his first three seasons in the league when from 63 to 56 and finally to 48. This looks like a player in early decline, right? Well, next season, he was back on a 62 point pace and then his worst ever season where he scored only 31 points in 77 games. Skinner seems to go through an identity crisis every year.

Last season, he recorded 49 points. Maybe, in his mid 20’s, he was finally beginning a downward trend in his career. Perhaps that’s what the Hurricanes thought. In August, he was traded to the Sabres, rather controversially, for Cliff Pu and two draft picks.

This season, he looks better than ever. With 12 goals and seven assists in 17 games, he leads the Sabres in goals and is tied with Eichel for the lead in points. If the Hurricanes made this trade with this in mind, they made a mistake; maybe even one that they could have seen coming.

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Skinner had a fantastic CorsiFor percentage last season. The Hurricanes were the best Corsi team in the NHL, and he had a part in it. At a 55.8 percent, he was fifth on the team, for players playing at least 15 games.

Offensively, he was also pretty good at creating chances; contributing to 73 shots per 60 minutes. He was also great at breaking into the offensive zone, at an 87% success rate. Even defensively, he was good at breaking the puck out, at a 76% success rate. Skinner was good at a whole lot of things.

This season, he has extended his Corsi For percentage even further, with 57.1. He is creating all sorts of opportunities for his team. He does, however, have a shooting percentage of almost 15%. This has led to more goals than he would normally score. Even if you half his shooting percentage, however, he is still on pace for 63 points.

If Skinner somehow manages to continue his current success, he is on pace for a by-far career high 92 points. With this, another question arises.

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Should the Sabres trade Skinner?

The answer here lies completely with the Sabres. If they regress to where most people had them at the beginning of the season, then Skinner could be an extremely valuable chip.

As misguided as it often is, GMs want grit and experience. Skinner has had to deal with a struggling Hurricanes team for the past 8 seasons. The stress factor here is probably equivalent to any playoff run.

But more importantly, Skinner looks like a different player. He’s had successful and less successful seasons, sure, so his stats are still difficult to predict. But this 90 point pace could mark a new point in his career. With a young corps taking over, he could be just what the Sabres need to jump over contention’s wall in a few years time.

Of course, that jump could come as early as this season. Not only has Skinner changed; the Sabres are changing. If Buffalo are in playoff contention, then he could be crucial to hold on to. With his contract expiring at the end of the season, this decision will be one of their most important.

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Conclusion

Well, Jeff Skinner’s off to a great start. Will he maintain it? Will he get injured again? Is he going to get traded? It all depends on the Sabres.

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