Jeff Skinner’s first season with the Buffalo Sabres could not have progressed any better. Acquired by the Sabres from the Carolina Hurricanes in 2018, Skinner pumped in a career-high 40 goals for his new team. The timing was perfect. His six-year, $34.35 million contract was expiring.
On June 7, 2019, the Sabres signed Skinner to an eight-year, $72 million extension.
Things went sideways soon after.
Injuries hit Skinner during the first season of his new deal, limiting him to 59 games and only 14 goals.
It got worse.
In 2020-21, Skinner scored just seven goals and seven assists. On Nov. 29, 2021, a television microphone at KeyBank Center caught the Seattle Kraken’s Brandon Tanev querying Skinner, with several naughty words mixed in, how he scored his $9 million average annual payday. Tanev did not ask his question kindly.
“Confidence, in anything, goes up and down,” Skinner said. “Obviously, when you’re feeling good, it’s a little bit higher. When you’re going through a little bit of a funk, it’s lower.”
Tanev’s chirp caught Skinner at the beginning of a revival, though. He finished that season with 33 goals and 30 assists in 80 games. Skinner was healthy again. He was playing with confidence. It didn’t hurt that linemate Tage Thompson, 24 years old at the time, exploded for a then-career-best 38 goals and 30 assists.
Skinner’s game has remained consistent. In 2022-23, he scored 35 goals and 47 assists in 79 games for a career-high 82 points. This season, he had 24 goals and 22 assists in 74 games. Skinner, 31, has three years remaining on his deal.