Friedman: Jeff Skinner Buyout is a possibility.

[Leon Lucius Black]

Did you guys know he used to be a figure skater?

Here is one of his better goals he scored when he was younger:

 

[HogtownSabresfan]

With 23.5M in cap space already with no one significant besides Luukkonen to re-sign, the Sabres won't be able to use the 7.55M in space opened up by buying out Skinner, which makes it dumb to buy him out now.

They definitely don't need cap space now, but certainly will in 3 years when their current young NHLers (Quinn, Peterka, Byram, Benson) have gotten big long-term deals and the young guns in their pipeline (Savoie, Kulich, Ostlund) are off their ELCs, and that's when they'll be stuck with a 2.44M buyout cap hit for 3 years.

And of course this is ignoring that Skinner is incredibly inconsistent and can go from looking like garbage to a top line winger from one year to another. While he wasn't great this year, they might as well kept him hoping for a rebound in 24/25.

Reminds me of the Preds buying out Duchene last summer and then proceeding to sit on a ton of cap space for no reason. Idiotic.

You nailed. The main benefit will be 2024/25. It's so illogical, so of course we will do it.

 

[tsujimoto74]

With 23.5M in cap space already with no one significant besides Luukkonen to re-sign, the Sabres won't be able to use the 7.55M in space opened up by buying out Skinner, which makes it dumb to buy him out now.

They definitely don't need cap space now, but certainly will in 3 years when their current young NHLers (Quinn, Peterka, Byram, Benson) have gotten big long-term deals and the young guns in their pipeline (Savoie, Kulich, Ostlund) are off their ELCs, and that's when they'll be stuck with a 2.44M buyout cap hit for 3 years.

And of course this is ignoring that Skinner is incredibly inconsistent and can go from looking like garbage to a top line winger from one year to another. While he wasn't great this year, they might as well kept him hoping for a rebound in 24/25.

Reminds me of the Preds buying out Duchene last summer and then proceeding to sit on a ton of cap space for no reason. Idiotic.

It’s not about the cap space, it’s about the player and team construction.

 

[Samsonite23]

With 23.5M in cap space already with no one significant besides Luukkonen to re-sign, the Sabres won't be able to use the 7.55M in space opened up by buying out Skinner, which makes it dumb to buy him out now.

They definitely don't need cap space now, but certainly will in 3 years when their current young NHLers (Quinn, Peterka, Byram, Benson) have gotten big long-term deals and the young guns in their pipeline (Savoie, Kulich, Ostlund) are off their ELCs, and that's when they'll be stuck with a 2.44M buyout cap hit for 3 years.

And of course this is ignoring that Skinner is incredibly inconsistent and can go from looking like garbage to a top line winger from one year to another. While he wasn't great this year, they might as well kept him hoping for a rebound in 24/25.

Reminds me of the Preds buying out Duchene last summer and then proceeding to sit on a ton of cap space for no reason. Idiotic.

When would you suggest buying him out then? Doing it next year only saves them an extra 1 year of annual payment and it’d be at $2M instead of $2.44M? Not exactly a huge difference.

Sticking with him throughout the contract is a big no-no for me. There are so many players that could fill his spot at a way lower price…Players that actually contribute to winning and play defense.

 

[Hale The Villain]

It’s not about the cap space, it’s about the player and team construction.

Skinner should be considered a sunk cost at this point.

If you can retain 50% and dump him at minimal cost or trade him for a similar length bad contract belonging to a player that fits better, those are solutions that actually make sense.

 

[Dr Pepper]

It's 48 league hours, so if I am heading this correctly, it will be 1 pm EST today (Weds 26th)

Then I guess there's just no buyouts yet, because it's 3:30 now.

 

[Hale The Villain]

When would you suggest buying him out then? Doing it next year only saves them an extra 1 year of annual payment and it’d be at $2M instead of $2.44M. Not exactly a huge difference.

Sticking with him throughout the contract is a big no-no for me. There are so many players that could fill his spot at a way lower price…Players that actually contribute to winning and play defense.

Don't buy him out at all until you need the cap space. If that's next off-season, great. You've not only cut down on the cap penalty but it's now only over 2 seasons, not 3.

The smarter move would be to hope he rebounds in 24/25 and then try to trade him (probably with some retention) after the season. That way no money would be on the books after 26/27 when his contract is set to expire.

 

[Samsonite23]

Don't buy him out at all until you need the cap space. If that's next off-season, great. You've not only cut down on the cap penalty but it's now only over 2 seasons, not 3.

The smarter move would be to hope he rebounds in 24/25 and then try to trade him (probably with some retention) after the season. That way no money would be on the books after 26/27 when his contract is set to expire.

So hope and pray the somebody wants to trade for him next year? Nah, we’re good. Get him off the team now, so we don’t have to hope a GM gets a concussion and trades for Jeff Skinner making $9M a year. Also, we’re trying to win this year. And have a coach that will have absolutely no tolerance for the way he plays.

 

[toddkaz]

20+ goal scorer who is only going to cost $$ to get. The interest from various fanbases is understandable.

He's awful who doesn't listen, doesn't play defense.

 

[Hale The Villain]

So hope and pray the somebody wants to trade for him next year? Nah, we’re good. Get him off the team now, so we don’t have to hope a GM gets a concussion and trades for Jeff Skinner making $9M a year. Also, we’re trying to win this year. And have a coach that will have absolutely no tolerance for the way he plays.

You seem to have completely missed the second part of my post talking about buying him out next year if he doesn't rebound, which will lessen the cap penalty and shorten it.

The Sabres have way too much cap space to do anything with this year but are going to have the terrible "problem" of having too much talent to afford in the relatively near future (about 2-3 years).

Why the team would choose to sacrifice future cap space when they will need it for current cap space now that they don't need is beyond me. Completely backwards in fact.

 

[GIN ANTONIC]

Honestly cannot think of a player combo or team where Skinner would work well. He gets his points and goals because he is skilled and he is a hard worker but he doesn't play smart or make use of his teammates at all.

This is why in Carolina he would play on the 3rd line with less skilled guys because he could just do his thing with the puck and the grinders would just help support him by retrieving and covering for him defensively.

For those of you saying he'd be a good fit with Matthews on the Leafs... Oy vey... If you put Skinner on Matthews wing for an entire year I guarantee you Matthews would have the worst production of his career.

Skinner's game doesn't support others like how Hyman, Bunting, etc. filled a role and knew what to do, where to be on the ice. Skinner having the puck on his stick just means Matthews or Marner doesn't and if Skinner doesn't score a goal then he's got no way of creating something for the other players.

For teams, like I could for whatever see him making sense on the Islanders or something but he won't want to go there.

Would not be shocked if he signs in Toronto for cheap.... maybe Ottawa but he has played 14 years in the NHL and made it very clear where he wants to play and where he doesn't.

 

[Samsonite23]

You seem to have completely missed the second part of my post talking about buying him out next year if he doesn't rebound, which will lessen the cap penalty and shorten it.

The Sabres have way too much cap space to do anything with this year but are going to have the terrible "problem" of having too much talent to afford in the relatively near future (about 2-3 years).

Why the team would choose to sacrifice future cap space when they will need it for current cap space now that they don't need is beyond me. Completely backwards in fact.

I didn't.

But you seemed to have completely missed my original post (which is weird because you responded to it) which explains that we’ll have to pay him in 2-3 years either way. If we buy him out this year or if we buy him out next year.

So we’d rather have a player that helps our team win THIS YEAR instead of having him play for us at $9M. That way, not only will we have removed a player that doesn’t fit the mold of our team going forward, but also give us more cap space to do with whatever we want with our roster. We may or may not use the cap space this year, it doesn’t matter. We want the player off our team.

 

[LongWayDown37]

No GM Is tying up 4.5M in Skinner for 3 years until he is 35 years old.

I doubt he gets 3M this offseason, but if he does get that or more, it will be on a 1 year deal.

Expecting Adams to find a taker for three years of Skinner is asking the impossible without adding major assets they'd rather not lose.

I would prefer to continue to eat the salary and keep Skinner's production or gladly add somewhat significant assets to move him. Buyout is the worst of these options - paying 6 years against the cap for a player that will not play.

 

[KrakenSabresMike]

You seem to have completely missed the second part of my post talking about buying him out next year if he doesn't rebound, which will lessen the cap penalty and shorten it.

The Sabres have way too much cap space to do anything with this year but are going to have the terrible "problem" of having too much talent to afford in the relatively near future (about 2-3 years).

Why the team would choose to sacrifice future cap space when they will need it for current cap space now that they don't need is beyond me. Completely backwards in fact.

They don’t have “ too much cap space “ - they can now add 4 -5 pieces around 18-20 mil total plus resign their rfas - before they only had 10-12

 

[TheDoldrums]

Honestly cannot think of a player combo or team where Skinner would work well. He gets his points and goals because he is skilled and he is a hard worker but he doesn't play smart or make use of his teammates at all.

This is why in Carolina he would play on the 3rd line with less skilled guys because he could just do his thing with the puck and the grinders would just help support him by retrieving and covering for him defensively.

For those of you saying he'd be a good fit with Matthews on the Leafs... Oy vey... If you put Skinner on Matthews wing for an entire year I guarantee you Matthews would have the worst production of his career.

Skinner's game doesn't support others like how Hyman, Bunting, etc. filled a role and knew what to do, where to be on the ice. Skinner having the puck on his stick just means Matthews or Marner doesn't and if Skinner doesn't score a goal then he's got no way of creating something for the other players.

For teams, like I could for whatever see him making sense on the Islanders or something but he won't want to go there.

Would not be shocked if he signs in Toronto for cheap.... maybe Ottawa but he has played 14 years in the NHL and made it very clear where he wants to play and where he doesn't.

I haven't seen anyone suggest putting him with Matthews, that makes no sense.

Now Tavares on the other hand...a guy who doesn't like/need to have the puck all the time and whose line should be sheltered defensively anyways? I can see a fit there. He is more like a high level grinder at this point in his career.

 

[GIN ANTONIC]

I haven't seen anyone suggest putting him with Matthews, that makes no sense.

Now Tavares on the other hand...a guy who doesn't like/need to have the puck all the time and whose line should be sheltered defensively anyways? I can see a fit there. He is more like a high level grinder at this point in his career.

See below. Not saying all Leafs fans or fans in general were suggesting this. Just commenting on the ones that did throw it out there.

FWIW, Skinner + Tavares.... not the worst idea I've heard.

I’d take him on the leafs for a cheap bounce back 1 year deal to rebuild value. Ride shotgun with Matthews who would help mask Skinner defensively.

He could slot into Marner's old spot and put up maybe 60% of his production in the regular season.

 

[Scintillating10]

If he doesn't want a buyout, and considering that Buffalo has said that the 11th pick is in play for forward help, why not combine the two?

MTL
Skinner 3Y @ 9M (full cap)
11OA

BUF
Anderson 3Y @ 5.5M (full cap)
+ young forward prospect (Mesar? Heineman?)
26OA

Anderson's buyout is literally half of what Skinner's is, so that gives them more flexibility next year/pushes back the decision a bit or makes it less impactful if they still go ahead with it.

It avoids a buyout for both players this year, Buffalo gains 3.5M on top of a 3RW with speed & size and a bottom 6 prospect at F that can fight for one of their open spots next year upfront.



Then MTL turns around and retains Skinner at 50% and some of their young D, or Matheson.

Wishful thinking here, but would Skinner @ 50% for 3Y, Matheson, and Harris be a package worthy of the 13OA which is also said to be in play?

Trying to be creative here, but MTL has the cap space and there's a few targets in this draft that could be interesting around 11-13OA (Sennecke, Iginla, Catton - allows them to take BPA at 5 which is likely a defenseman.)

I like way you think but maybe adjust some. Doubt Buffalo would let 11 go to save 2m a year caphit for 6 years. Mesar has bust written all over him. Himerman hasn't been same since injuries . Habs would have to chip legit NHL prospect

 

[Djp]

When would you suggest buying him out then? Doing it next year only saves them an extra 1 year of annual payment and it’d be at $2M instead of $2.44M. Not exactly a huge difference.

Sticking with him throughout the contract is a big no-no for me. There are so many players that could fill his spot at a way lower price…Players that actually contribute to winning and play defense.

There is not a pressing need to buy him out right now. Buffalo isnt in a tight cap situation this dummer.

Is he slightly overpaid..yrs. is he a total bust...no.

Hed been a pretty reliable 25+ goal scorer

I'd prefer to trade him at 50% than buy him out.

If he is bought out he likely signs by someone for 3M or so.

If they wait until next year, his actual pay is under the cap at 7 and 5M.

If they trade him st 50% the cap hit would be $4.5M but salary is at 3.5 and 2.5 or 3M avg which is similar to signing cost.

If he does a 35g+ season next year teams will have interest at 50% with a controlled salary vs having to bid.

Buffalo has a potential to see a 2nd buy out window where they also could buy him out. But that hurts Skinner
signing elsewhere beyond league min.

You seem to have completely missed the second part of my post talking about buying him out next year if he doesn't rebound, which will lessen the cap penalty and shorten it.

The Sabres have way too much cap space to do anything with this year but are going to have the terrible "problem" of having too much talent to afford in the relatively near future (about 2-3 years).

Why the team would choose to sacrifice future cap space when they will need it for current cap space now that they don't need is beyond me. Completely backwards in fact.

This is why they would prefer to trade at 50% than buy out. It might be easier to fo this at deadline or next summerbecausr actual money under cap

If they buy him out things likely get tight the next 2 seasons after 24/25

Without buying him out, they have about $4M or so for a 1 yr rental and they have some space for a 3 yr contract

If they buy him out, they would have room for another player or a more expensive one like the taylor hall signing they did.

The concern is personality clash between Skinner and Ruff.

 

[Daz28]

It’s not about the cap space, it’s about the player and team construction.

Not sure if Wade Redden was the reason for NMC, but we've seen too many reasons for why they should be outlawed. A player who's not earning his due shouldn't have a free 1st class ticket to the teams bench. Riding a bus in the A for $9M doesn't seem like too harsh a penalty for not earning a spot, imo.

 

[VaporTrail]

Did you guys know he used to be a figure skater?

And also some of his personal goal songs have been music by Miley Cyress, Mariah Carey, and Whitney Houston lol

 

[ItWasJustified]

And also some of his personal goal songs have been music by Miley Cyress, Mariah Carey, and Whitney Houston lol

The only Sabres players that had acceptable gong songs were Connor Clifton, Henri Jokiharju, Tyson Jost, Casey Mittelstadt and JJ Peterka. The other players should be thrown into the sun for their horrific choices.

 

[EddieTheEagle]

The only Sabres players that had acceptable gong songs were Connor Clifton, Henri Jokiharju, Tyson Jost, Casey Mittelstadt and JJ Peterka. The other players should be thrown into the sun for their horrific choices.
View attachment 887919

You have no riz, I see.

 

[Yatzhee]

Did you guys know he used to be a figure skater?

We knew it the moment that jaw dropping 9 mil for max term contract was announced. We figure he did a Sep-tuple axle and got 1 mil per axle at his audition skate.

 

[tsujimoto74]

And also some of his personal goal songs have been music by Miley Cyress, Mariah Carey, and Whitney Houston lol

Man, I’m going to miss his goal songs (presuming he’s truly on the outs).

 

[Scintillating10]

We retain $4.5 M and give up prospects? I don't see how Buffalo is getting a much better player than Skinner for $4.5 M that's left and this could seriously help Toronto.

Would Buffalo give up 11 for a team to take Skinner 0% retained?