Confirmed Signing with Link: [EDM] F Jeff Skinner signs with the Oilers (1 year, $3M)

[Nikolajs Sillers]

He's not a third liner or fourth liner. He's useless if he doesn't score goals, and he doesn't score goals unless he has an elite center as a top6 player.

He doesn't play a lick of defense (literally) so he's not a fit on the bottom lines.

He's a wasted roster spot if he's not in the top6. Have Oilers fans realized this yet?

Put him on the 1st line/2nd line, he scores 25-35 goals+ easily.
Anywhere else might as well invite me to suit up for the Oil.
I'm 31 but I still got it baby.

Yeah, but avatar states different thing

 

[Dirty Dog]

Sabres are about as close to a dysfunctional franchise as you get. This off-season, their moves were all about players who hustle and give effort. Responsible players on the ice.

Ditching skinner just to get him off the team was step 1 in that as he represented everything the team wanted to move away from.

Not saying the Sabres should be given any deference in their decisions, but this one was pretty telling.

Oilers should have kept a player like McLeod. Their complaints were he didn’t do great in the playoffs and wasn’t physical….the player was 24 and only had three seasons to develop, you gotta be patient for those attributes to develop, and he’s playing a very solid two way game this year and has taken the next step. And for all the complaints they had about McLeod…skinner has the issues times ten…and he isn’t developing any change to his game

 

[TFHockey]

Sabres are about as close to a dysfunctional franchise as you get. This off-season, their moves were all about players who hustle and give effort. Responsible players on the ice.

Ditching skinner just to get him off the team was step 1 in that as he represented everything the team wanted to move away from.

Not saying the Sabres should be given any deference in their decisions, but this one was pretty telling.

Oilers should have kept a player like McLeod. Their complaints were he didn’t do great in the playoffs and wasn’t physical….the player was 24 and only had three seasons to develop, you gotta be patient for those attributes to develop, and he’s playing a very solid two way game this year and has taken the next step. And for all the complaints they had about McLeod…skinner has the issues times ten…and he isn’t developing any change to his game

Truth. This poster, unfortunately for the Oilers, writes the truth.

 

[Chainshot]

Decision to healthy scratch Oilers' Jeff Skinner a long time coming

As inevitable as Christmas or New Year's Day, Jeff Skinner's seat in the Anaheim press box on Sunday had been waiting for him for weeks now. Mark Spector looks at what's next for the Oilers after healthy scratching Skinner.

www.sportsnet.ca

But they don’t, and he isn’t. And as this $3 million pick-up fails in Edmonton — while collecting his buy-out after failing in Buffalo — we can only hypothesize what it was that team president Jeff Jackson thought he was getting on July 1 (three weeks before Stan Bowman was hired as general manager), when everyone in Buffalo told us that Skinner was a spent player.

Feel bad for Jeff since he seems like a funny, personable guy but this was coming from a long way off.

It was supposed to everyone else’s fault that Jeff Skinner has never played in an NHL playoff game.
Here in Edmonton, we’re finding out the error of that narrative.

 

[GirardSpinorama]

Not super surprised that Holloway turned out to be more valuable this year than Skinner.

 

[banks]

I've liked Skinner since his days as a Hurricane. And I really wanted Toronto to land him last off season. And when he signed with Edmonton I figured he'd be a lock for 30+ goals.

But we're fast approaching the half-way point in the season, and he's at 6 goals, his minutes are shrinking, and he's now a healthy scratch. I think the bell is tolling for him now. If he's not willing to play decent hockey with McDavid and Drai, then he doesn't belong in the NHL. He'll be lucky if he has a dead-cat-bounce left before he's totally done his career.

 

[backhandsauce]

He hasn't had a sniff in the top 6 really....

 

[DingDongCharlie]

Not super surprised that Holloway turned out to be more valuable this year than Skinner.

It’s still lost on many that if Skinner wasn’t signed we’d likely have had Holloway and Broberg signed and completely avoided the off sheet situation. That surprise of $3m on the books to Skinner really shot us in the foot.

 

[Frolov 6'3]

Would be hilarious when he is sitting in the pressbox during the playoffs.

 

[VeteranPresence]

If he's not willing to play decent hockey with McDavid and Drai, then he doesn't belong in the NHL. He'll be lucky if he has a dead-cat-bounce left before he's totally done his career.

The problem is we have an extremely block headed coach who won't give Skinner any worthwhile minutes with those two, and is now inexplicably using him as a scapegoat for other players who are committing far more egregious mistakes on a nightly basis.

Seriously, look at this usage:

20%- Skinner/Henrique/Janmark
12%- Skinner/Henrique/Brown
9.7%- Skinner/RNH/Hyman
7.6%- Skinner/Draisaitl/Arvidsson
6.7%- Skinner/McDavid/Hyman
6.5%- Skinner/Henrique/Perry
4.3%- Skinner/Ryan/Perry

That's 38% of his ice time with Adam Henrique (10 points this year) and more time with 40 year old Corey Perry than McDavid or Draisaitl.

It's going to be Knoblauch's fault when future FAs avoid us on one-year deals, because this is seriously hurting Skinner's future career prospects. Meanwhile players like Bouchard, RNH and Nurse get a free pass to turn pucks over and take stupid penalties without recourse. It's maddening.

 

[Kimota]

I had no idea he was still a free agent.

 

[banks]

The problem is we have an extremely block headed coach who won't give Skinner any worthwhile minutes with those two, and is now inexplicably using him as a scapegoat for other players who are committing far more egregious mistakes on a nightly basis.

Seriously, look at this usage:

20%- Skinner/Henrique/Janmark
12%- Skinner/Henrique/Brown
9.7%- Skinner/RNH/Hyman
7.6%- Skinner/Draisaitl/Arvidsson
6.7%- Skinner/McDavid/Hyman
6.5%- Skinner/Henrique/Perry
4.3%- Skinner/Ryan/Perry

That's 38% of his ice time with Adam Henrique (10 points this year) and more time with 40 year old Corey Perry than McDavid or Draisaitl.

It's going to be Knoblauch's fault when future FAs avoid us on one-year deals, because this is seriously hurting Skinner's future career prospects. Meanwhile players like Bouchard, RNH and Nurse get a free pass to turn pucks over and take stupid penalties without recourse. It's maddening.

Well that's a better breakdown of his season than anything else I've seen.

It's not the first time Skinner has ended up in a coach's doghouse. But I'm wondering if this is because the coach is a block head, or if Skinner just isn't playing well enough to get that ice time. My impression is the latter.

I'd like to see him succeed in Edmonton. So I hope something changes. As an Oilers fan, @VeteranPresence, does your eye test tell you Skinner can still contribute if he did get the chance with McDavid or Drai? Is the effort/talent there on the ice, or is he giving up?

 

[Cup or Bust]

I don't think Knoblauch was a fan of Jeff Skinner as a player from the start. His leash has been extremely short since day 1. He has not been a good fit for the Oilers. I don't think his effort is the problem. He is just limited in what he can do and unfortunately he has not been able to excel at all in the things he does do well. Part of that is usage but part of that is his responsibility to make things happen and earn more opportunity. He has not been able to do that.

 

[NVious]

Crazy how much the Skinner bros have struggled this year, I heard Stu used to make fun of Jeff's figure skating when they were growing up and there's always been tension, Edmonton should've known this.

 

[spaghtti]

Crazy how much the Skinner bros have struggled this year, I heard Stu used to make fun of Jeff's figure skating when they were growing up and there's always been tension, Edmonton should've known this.

Making shit up! Stuart and Jeff Skinner are NOT related!

 

[villacco]

Trade him back to Buffalo to keep his playoff streak alive, even though they don't need him for that

 

[HockeyVirus]

Oilers worst run team ever who managed to luck into the GOAT who covered all their incompetence. Thankfully they will never win anything with that management team

 

[Bond]

Who could have seen this coming

 

[NVious]

Making shit up! Stuart and Jeff Skinner are NOT related!

Then why would they have the same last name?

 

[TheNumber4]

The problem is we have an extremely block headed coach who won't give Skinner any worthwhile minutes with those two, and is now inexplicably using him as a scapegoat for other players who are committing far more egregious mistakes on a nightly basis.

Seriously, look at this usage:

20%- Skinner/Henrique/Janmark
12%- Skinner/Henrique/Brown
9.7%- Skinner/RNH/Hyman
7.6%- Skinner/Draisaitl/Arvidsson
6.7%- Skinner/McDavid/Hyman
6.5%- Skinner/Henrique/Perry
4.3%- Skinner/Ryan/Perry

That's 38% of his ice time with Adam Henrique (10 points this year) and more time with 40 year old Corey Perry than McDavid or Draisaitl.

It's going to be Knoblauch's fault when future FAs avoid us on one-year deals, because this is seriously hurting Skinner's future career prospects. Meanwhile players like Bouchard, RNH and Nurse get a free pass to turn pucks over and take stupid penalties without recourse. It's maddening.

If Skinner failed out of Edmonton playing his un-Oilers style of play, I wouldn’t be surprised at this point.

But the truth is, as you’ve alluded to in your post, is that he’s been barely given a chance to succeed here.

You get a top 6 player for his top 6 skills, then you saddle him in the bottom 6? How the hell else could this have turned out.

 

[TheNumber4]

Oilers worst run team ever who managed to luck into the GOAT who covered all their incompetence. Thankfully they will never win anything with that management team

We paid the GOAT to be GOAT. We paid GOAT#2 below GOAT pay. I’d take that over playing a bunch of frauds like Matthews, Marner, Tavares as GOAT tier players any day. Actually I’d take Hollands management of the team over anything the Leaf’s have had in 60+ years

 

[DingDongCharlie]

The problem is we have an extremely block headed coach who won't give Skinner any worthwhile minutes with those two, and is now inexplicably using him as a scapegoat for other players who are committing far more egregious mistakes on a nightly basis.

Seriously, look at this usage:

20%- Skinner/Henrique/Janmark
12%- Skinner/Henrique/Brown
9.7%- Skinner/RNH/Hyman
7.6%- Skinner/Draisaitl/Arvidsson
6.7%- Skinner/McDavid/Hyman
6.5%- Skinner/Henrique/Perry
4.3%- Skinner/Ryan/Perry

That's 38% of his ice time with Adam Henrique (10 points this year) and more time with 40 year old Corey Perry than McDavid or Draisaitl.

It's going to be Knoblauch's fault when future FAs avoid us on one-year deals, because this is seriously hurting Skinner's future career prospects. Meanwhile players like Bouchard, RNH and Nurse get a free pass to turn pucks over and take stupid penalties without recourse. It's maddening.

As a group, Oilers will sink or swim with Bouchard/Nurse. Everyone knows this. Bouchard especially, he plays soo many minutes, with an offensive minded D playing 25 mins a night there will be times when it burns you. That has to be acceptable, as it's predictable. It's the risk vs reward that comes from a D like Bouchard. He wins you more than he losses. My point is Bouchard's game isn't meant to be safe and conservative. You literally want him to shake it off and get back out on the ice.

The teams reportedly already looking for another PMD. Now perhaps if and when another is in the fold the coach could actually address that situation, as he'd have another suitable horse to run the race so to speak. I just personally think you can't compare a wingers usage vs the D core usage.

As for RNH, are you really surprised the longest tenured current Oiler, who signed a long term value contract to stay a career Oiler gets more runway then a guy 30 games into a one year show me deal? Everyone keeps saying Skinner production is going to cost him on his next deal. Well he wasn't going to sign a big money deal here in the off season, regardless of the outcome. Oilers don't have the cap space for it. We all know this too, correct? He's a hired gun.

Should they try harder to figure out a better role than the 4th line for Jeff Skinner, absolutely. Beyond that it's going to be a crowded forward group when Kane's healthy. Clocks ticking. I never liked this signing, precisely as I didn't see him as a need. Skinner seemed a luxury signing the day it happened. Jackson messed up on that one. 3m cap towards a RD upgrade would have been a better use of the cap space.

 

[MOGlLNY]

The problem is we have an extremely block headed coach who won't give Skinner any worthwhile minutes with those two, and is now inexplicably using him as a scapegoat for other players who are committing far more egregious mistakes on a nightly basis.

Seriously, look at this usage:

20%- Skinner/Henrique/Janmark
12%- Skinner/Henrique/Brown
9.7%- Skinner/RNH/Hyman
7.6%- Skinner/Draisaitl/Arvidsson
6.7%- Skinner/McDavid/Hyman
6.5%- Skinner/Henrique/Perry
4.3%- Skinner/Ryan/Perry

That's 38% of his ice time with Adam Henrique (10 points this year) and more time with 40 year old Corey Perry than McDavid or Draisaitl.

It's going to be Knoblauch's fault when future FAs avoid us on one-year deals, because this is seriously hurting Skinner's future career prospects. Meanwhile players like Bouchard, RNH and Nurse get a free pass to turn pucks over and take stupid penalties without recourse. It's maddening.

Skinner got every chance and more last year with Tage Thompson and Tuch. He’s just not a good offensive player anymore.

His skating is cooked, he commits far too many turnovers and is abysmal defensively which you can’t have with 29 and 97.

 

[spaghtti]

Then why would they have the same last name?

Right! All Smith's are must be brothers too.
All Johnson too

Let me guess the Elias Pettersson's on Vancouver are the same person just playing different positions

 

[NVious]

Right! All Smith's are must be brothers too.
All Johnson too

Dude they have the same name, play the same sport and play on the same team, OBVIOUSLY they are related. You gotta do better research.