Are the Sabres better off without Skinner?

[TheDawnOfANewTage]

Just curious what y’all think- I’m convinced it was simply a cost cutting move, and somehow a lot of Sabres fans have bought into the scapegoating of Skinner, but whatever- dude’s gone, replaced by Zucker. From what you’ve seen, is he really that bad defensively as to be of negative value? Sabres are 12 mil below the cap with all core pieces signed, so it’s tough to make the money argument- at worst the move coulda been made later, but again, I’m biased.

Tl;dr- are the Sabres better without Skinner?

Click to read more...

 

[Three On Zero]

Too early to tell, the buy out was a bit of a head scratcher considering where the Sabres are though

 

[sr edler]

Getting rid of empty calories players like Skinner and Savoie, when you're already loaded with other offensive prospects, seems like a very reasonable move, yes.

It's clear they've chosen a bit of a different approach this year building that 4th line with Malenstyn, Kubel and Lafferty.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Skinner’s an easy scapegoat for poorly constructed teams needing a reboot. It’s happened to him twice now.

The thing is, everyone has always known exactly what he is and he has delivered on exactly that. No he’s not bad enough defensively to make any real difference, certainly not any more than your typical one-way winger. It’s just an easy narrative to sell on a player who has virtually no defensive responsibility in the first place.

You want to know what went wrong in Carolina and then Buffalo, look at the core players who were supposed to be dominating the middle of the ice, your centers, your top pair D, your goalies. Out of 82 games, how many times did Skinner’s team have the advantage in those areas? The story of those positions gets swept under the rug to scapegoat a guy whose job was to score goals and did that effectively.

 

[Bouboumaster]

Skinner is a good player but his contract was too much

 

[Faceboner]

Are the Sabres better without him? Yes, not because he was bad just that we are giving our younger guys more opportunity if we were lacking a top 6 winger we would br much worse off however a guy like zucker is a better 3rd line fit than skins. Next to drai or McD 35-40 goals and 70 points won't surprise.

 

[Hisch13r]

Skinner is a good player but his contract was too much

His buyout is 1.4 then 4.4, 6.4, and 3 years of 2.4. Skinner had 3 years left at 9 mil. They replaced him this year with Zucker and he’s making 5 mil. So that’s essentially 7.4 this year for Zucker as Skinner’s replacement. Only 1.6 mil in savings and it’s not like they’re hurting for cap space. They still have 8 mil left. Skinner’s contract might not have been ideal but it was certainly better than buying it out this summer.

 

[Uncle Scrooge]

I voted yes, but it's not a simple answer.

Yes because they want to have a certain identity - and Skinner doesn't fit into that. And it's an uncomfortable situation for everyone to have a 9M dollar player sitting in the press box.

But at the same time, if some wingers go down with injuries you wish you still had him.

 

[Hisch13r]

I voted yes, but it's not a simple answer.

Yes because they want to have a certain identity - and Skinner doesn't fit into that. And it's an uncomfortable situation for everyone to have a 9M dollar player sitting in the press box.

But at the same time, if some wingers go down with injuries you wish you still had him.

If Lindy is going to be coaching anything like he did in NJ then Skinner fits the actual identity of the team to a tee.

 

[Uncle Scrooge]

If Lindy is going to be coaching anything like he did in NJ then Skinner fits the actual identity of the team to a tee.

Well if you look at how the team is built and how they played down the stretch, they want to be hard to play against with a physical edge and on strong on battles, mixed with skill but also comfortable in lower scoring games. A playoff type team.

I don't know what exactly with Lindy you're referring to, but for me Jeff doesn't feel like a great fit, especially when they already have Quinn and Benson who want those minutes.

 

[Matt Ress]

Well if you look at how the team is built and how they played down the stretch, they want to be hard to play against with a physical edge and on strong on battles, mixed with skill but also comfortable in lower scoring games. A playoff type team.

I don't know what exactly with Lindy you're referring to, but for me Jeff doesn't feel like a great fit, especially when they already have Quinn and Benson who want those minutes.

This is a pretty good take. Whether right or wrong the general consensus on the Sabre board is that he’s just not very coachable. The same was said by Canes fans at his departure. Lindy seems to be taking a hard nosed approach and with so much youth in the lineup, it doesn’t help to have a rogue vet.

Also, the notion that they’ll be in trouble if wingers get hurt is the opposite of reality. There’s Kulich, Rosen, Krebs and a few others that could comfortably slot in or, worse case scenario, they use that bundle of cap space. Skinner will do well with successful guys around him but that’s really all he knows. He’s not a driver, not a two way guy, not physical, actually poor on the PP and seemingly not very coachable and therefore not much of a team player. Furthermore he’s not the guy you want tutoring your kids. Addition by subtraction.

 

[Panthaz89]

I was expecting us to make a move for Necas or Konecny when we dropped him but seems like the Sabres have a plan to be cheap again when it comes to using cap space.