Buffalo Sabres: Top 3 defining moves of Jason Botterill’s tenure as GM

2. Trading And Signing Skinner

Remember when I said general managers make both good moves and bad moves? Well, sometimes they’re directly tied to each other! The duality of an NHL general manager was shown when Botterill traded for Jeff Skinner and then signed him to an ill-advised long-term deal.

The trade for Skinner was a very good trade. Botterill gave up virtually nothing of consequence for him – only a second-round pick in 2019 (which the Hurricanes used to draft goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov, prospect Cliff Pu, a 2020 third-round pick, and a 2020 sixth-round pick.

Skinner proceeded to have one of the most productive seasons of his NHL career. He formed immediate chemistry with center Jack Eichel and Skinner went on to tie his career-high in points with 63 and set a new career-high with 40 goals.

After the 2018-19 season, Skinner was set to become an unrestricted free agent. Not wanting to lose him for nothing, Botterill signed him to an eight-year deal worth $9 million annually. This made him one of the highest-paid forwards in the league.

Though the deal still has seven years left on it, Skinner certainly didn’t live up to it during the 2019-20 season. He had 23 points in 59 games. By comparison, Skinner had 23 assists during the 2018-19 season.

Botterill sort of had his hands tied with Skinner. Had he lost him for nothing after a career season, Botterill would have been seen as weak. One has to wonder why Skinner didn’t play with Eichel much during the 2019-20 season when so much of his success in 2018-19 came while playing with him. Maybe the relationship between Botterill and head coach Ralph Kreuger is another reason why the Sabres let him go.