Old North Banter
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Jeff Skinner is a bad investment for the Sabres

By Christian Candeloro

NEWARK, NEW JERSEY - FEBRUARY 17: Jeff Skinner #53 of the Buffalo Sabres skates against the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center on February 17, 2019 in Newark, New Jersey. The Devils defeated the Sabres 4-1. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
NEWARK, NEW JERSEY - FEBRUARY 17: Jeff Skinner #53 of the Buffalo Sabres skates against the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center on February 17, 2019 in Newark, New Jersey. The Devils defeated the Sabres 4-1. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /
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The winger received an eight year deal after a career year in Buffalo

Whoof, Buffalo. What were you thinking? On Saturday, the Sabres gave the Jeff Skinner an eight-year, $72-million contract after he posted a career year of 40-goals and 23 assists. The 63 points matched his career high, a mark he hit in his Calder-trophy winning rookie season and again in 2016-17 with the Hurricanes.

It’s a massive overpay for a medium-impact player that the Sabres will ultimately end up regretting. However, when a franchise hasn’t made the playoffs since 2011, it will sometimes do dumb things in an attempt to contend.

First, the pros for signing Skinner. Manning the same line as uber-talented youngster Jack Eichel, Skinner propelled Eichel to career highs in points and goals. The Sabres jumped from a Eastern Conference-worst 62 points to 76 points and climbed out of the Atlantic Division basement for the first time since 2015-16.

In addition, Skinner was likely to be one of the top sought-after forwards on the free-agent market, only likely eclipsed by Matt Duchene and Artemi Panarin. So it’s likely that Skinner would’ve been paid by someone on the market. The Sabres had the cap-space to do it and pulled the trigger, not wanting to take a step back.

It wasn’t however, the correct move.

UNIONDALE, NEW YORK – MARCH 30: Jeff Skinner #53 of the Buffalo Sabres skates against the New York islanders at NYCB Live’s Nassau Coliseum on March 30, 2019 in Uniondale, New York. The Islanders defeated the Sabres 5-1. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
UNIONDALE, NEW YORK – MARCH 30: Jeff Skinner #53 of the Buffalo Sabres skates against the New York islanders at NYCB Live’s Nassau Coliseum on March 30, 2019 in Uniondale, New York. The Islanders defeated the Sabres 5-1. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

There are a lot of guys in hockey worth $72 million dollars. Skinner is now tied for the 17th-highest average annual salary in the NHL. It’s easy to see why guys ahead of him get paid. There are two left-wingers getting paid more than Skinner, Alexander Ovechkin and Jamie Benn. Maybe you’ve heard of them?

Both Ovechkin and Benn have displayed something Skinner never has: the ability to lead a team to the playoffs. Skinner has never appeared in a playoff game and in his three career years, his teams have averaged 84 points. As we talked about earlier this week, the Hurricanes improved drastically when it removed Skinner from its roster.

Now, he will make more money Sidney Crosby, Steven Stamkos, Johnny Gaudreau, Brad Marchand, and Claude Giroux, all of whom outscored Skinner in 2018-19. In no way does this contract make sense.

It’s also fair to wonder who benefited more from their line-pairing, Eichel or Skinner. Did Skinner really have a massive influence on Eichel’s development? Eichel’s goal total stayed roughly the same (28 from 24 in 2017-18) but he also played in 10 additional games. His main jump was in assists, as Skinner benefitted from played with a more-talented line-mate.

At the end of the day, does this contract really bring Buffalo closer to a Stanley Cup Championship? Probably not, as overpaying for Skinner will have ramifications down the road, especially if he his career continues to follow its up-and-down trajectory.

And if Skinner reverts and has a year where he scores 31 points in 82 games like 2014-15, then this contract will look even worse.

At the end of the day, it’s a desperate move by a desperate team. These are the moves that keep bad teams at the bottom of the standings. Skinner may stuff the stat sheet, but paying him to be the man is not a good investment if playoff wins are your goal.

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