Skinner's not a $9 million player. How many concussions has he had at this point, 15? And unlike Letang, he's a wing.
Edit: looks like he's been healthy the last few years, but I still don't like anything about signing a guy who basically doubled his goal total in a contract year for that much money.
Last year was Skinner's lowest shooting percentage in the last 4 years by a huge amount - the only time in that period it wasn't over 10. He was always going to bounce back from that. His 40 goal season is pretty in line with what he did in 16-17 and is the 4th 30+ goal campaign of his career. It's not like this came from nowhere and will never be repeated. The list of guys who've been that consistently prolific through the period Skinner's been active is pretty small - Tavares, Tarasenko, Stamkos, Seguin, Perry, Patches, Pavelski, Ovie, Marchand, Kucherov, Kessel, Crosby, Bergeron, Benn.
I guess you could argue with Patches getting 7m on his latest contract and being probably about the best comparable, that Skinner is a couple of million overpaid... but being that 4 years older makes a difference and Patches signed his contract at his lowest value point. The overpayment on Skinner's a fair chunk less than that.
edit: for everyone pointing at the production/cost of Kessel and saying "Why not keep him?", do you really put no credit at all in the various stuff about him being difficult to coach and that affecting the locker room dynamic, particularly between the coach and the other stars? Or do you believe that's probably a thing but that points are more different?
Also, if the production/cost is so desirable above all other aspects, why isn't the queue for Kessel stretching around the block and down the street? I get that other GMs have seen that Rutherford's tied himself to an anchor with his remarks and that their instinct is to dangle him over the side looking for a bargain rather than untie him, but the price of entry to the sweepstakes has been established pretty darn low; there is plenty of room in which to raise the anchor a bit higher than Minnesota have while getting a bargain, right? So why isn't the rumour market alive with the sound of music?