Buffalo Sabres: Re-signing Jeff Skinner is crucial to franchise future
Jeff Skinner has been a significant reason for the Buffalo Sabres success this season as they’ve gone from the worst team in the NHL to the best. They must find a way to keep him around.
The Buffalo Sabres have been this season’s biggest surprise. They’ve transformed into a legitimate Stanley Cup contender. The Sabres went from being the worst team in the NHL to the best team in the league with a 17-6-2 record through 25 games. There have been numerous factors involved, but none of them have been as significant as Jeff Skinner.
Buffalo traded for the disgruntled Carolina Hurricanes forward back in August, giving up prospect Cliff Pu, a 2019 second-round pick, a 2020 third-round pick, and a 2020 sixth-round pick. They did so despite knowing Skinner had just a year left on his deal. The former seventh overall pick of the 2010 NHL Draft will hit free agency at the end of the 2018-19 season.
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When the Sabres acquired him, trading him at the trade deadline for a larger haul was a possibility. Given Buffalo’s surprising success, that’s no longer an option. Because unless the Sabres do extremely poorly from here on out, they’re going to be contenders at the trade deadline.
Trading Skinner at that point would send the wrong message to a fan base starving for wins. The Sabres haven’t made the postseason since the 2010-11 season.
Their fan base has endured the team tanking in hopes of getting top talent in 2013-14 and 2014-15. The Sabres fans deserve a winning team. Skinner’s helping them be a winning team.
If the Sabres are serious about being done with being the “same old Sabres”, keeping Skinner around is a must. He came into Buffalo needing to rebuild his reputation. Skinner has done much more than that. The usually inconsistent scorer has been a force to be reckoned with.
Skinner’s 19 goals give him a share of the NHL lead. By comparison, he had just 24 goals all of last season. Skinner is on pace to have his fourth season with at least 30 goals. 40 goals, which would be the first time he has reached that milestone in his career, is not out of the question.
Most importantly, he has helped Jack Eichel take his game to the next level. The Sabres made the bold decision to make Eichel their captain. Buffalo owes it to him to re-sign the best wing he has played with the NHL.
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The Cost
It will take quite a chunk of change to keep Skinner around, especially if he continues to have success. But then again, keep in mind he struggled in Carolina. Skinner seems to be extremely happy in Buffalo. Maybe this persuades him to take a little discount. But even then, it’s hard to see Skinner cost less than $7.5 million per season.
While there are some unsustainable numbers that are helping his success (most notably a 23.5 shooting percentage, a 13.8 on-ice shooting percentage, and a 92.5 on-ice save percentage), it’s undeniable he makes the Sabres a better team. Though Buffalo will have several spots to fill on their roster after this season, none of them are even close to being as big as the hole left if Skinner doesn’t get re-signed.
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The Sabres stated this summer they wanted to change the direction and culture of the franchise. Thus far, they’ve backed up those lofty words by making the painful, but necessary trade which sent Ryan O’Reilly to the St. Louis Blues and by winning. The “same old Sabres” wouldn’t re-sign Skinner. If general manager Jason Botterill wants to further prove things have changed, re-signing Skinner must be his top priority.