Skinner is getting paid 13M this season. Look at him on the bench. He looks bored half the time. The guy looks country club checked out. At best he's OK letting others do the hard work and not even being a significant piece. I think he could show more in playoffs (who know's he's never been there) but he isn't looking too engaged. You'll notice him in some shifts and periods but mostly at a segment of games are over when he starts looking to hunt some goals.
Really the Oilers ought to have done considerable legwork in talking to the player and really trying to assess what he's interested in, not just taking him at word. He hasn't looked a part of things here since TC. He had a weak preseason and people said wait for season before saying anything.
Is his performance here the look of a player on a new team trying to impress? It isn't.
The other thing is WC play is a bit stronger/harder and teams heavier on stamping out play around the net. Skinner has more difficulty getting into and staying in scoring areas here. He's getting bounced out, and off the puck regularly.
My impression of Skinner off the ice is that he’s a bit of a fun loving goof ball. Based on some mic’d up stuff I’ve seen. But I don’t put too much emphasis on the off ice personality stuff. Like Drai is sarcastic and aloof, doesn’t translate to the ice where he takes the game seriously.
Let’s talk about Skinner on the ice so far. I think foot speed is an issue that is apparent. But I don’t think compete or effort is. He tries to play hard, but he isn’t finding any space out there. I agree that he’s probably not used to the WC, which is a harder hitting conference. Maybe more impactful though is the difference between playing on the Oilers versus Sabres. Teams get up to play the Oilers, and teams probably lazy into Buffalo expecting an easy night. And when games get away from Buffalo and teams take their foot off the gas, that’s going to lead to easier ice for Skinner as well. Skinner is seeing competitive fight-for-every-inch hockey every game, something he will need to adjust to, if he can.
One adjustment Skinner needs to make is that he's holding onto pucks too long. He gets closed in on too fast and defenceman are reaching around his small stature and smothering him. I think a mindset change of using your teammates more and making quicker puck touches/decisions should help him.
That said, there are flashes of skill he’s shown that outside of McDrai we don’t really see on this team. That one stick handle tuck-in goal he had was a thing of beauty. He's had a reputation of being a goal scorer since Junior and has always lived up to it. I think there is a version of Skinner we haven't seen yet, he needs to adjust to find that game again otherwise were f***ed outta 3M.
In terms of the Oilers assessment of him. I must admit I was a bit disappointed when speed wasn’t brought up as a team concept during the Drop episode of Free Agency Day. “Size up front” was brought up, but not speed. Do they not know what our team identity was in the playoffs? Speed baby speed. McDavid said it best we’re at our best when we play fast.