The Buffalo Sabres have acquired another top six forward in veteran winger Jeff Skinner.
FINALLY! A proven, scoring left winger for Jack Eichel to vibe with.
Sabres GM Jason Botterill has traded prospect forward Cliff Pu, a second, third and a sixth rounder in exchange for the scoring winger.
Skinner waived his no move clause to accept the trade to Buffalo. He's a Toronto native and will love playing in front of his friends and family who can make the 70 mile drive to watch home games in Buffalo.
In June, Carolina Hurricanes GM Don Waddell said on the record that he was going to trade Skinner and other incumbent players in order to shake up his core. The Canes haven't made the playoffs for the past nine seasons.
Waddell did not have contract extension talks with Skinner. Waddell wanted to test for each to see what Skinner's true trade value was.
OFFICIAL TRADE: We've acquired Jeff Skinner from Carolina for forward Cliff Pu, a second-round pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, a third-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft and a sixth-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft. pic.twitter.com/cFZswscWLS
— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) August 2, 2018
Jason Botterill just fleeced the Hurricanes. Somebody call the cops!
Jason Botterill, Steve Greeley moments before the Jeff Skinner trade. Remember when Greeley interviewed with Canes for their vacant GM job? #Intel @BuffaloSabres pic.twitter.com/jPMb7PFSm0
— SabresBuzz (@SabresBuzz) August 2, 2018
Skinner (204 goals) is one of only twenty two NHL players to have 200 goals in the NHL since the 2010-11 season.
In 82 games last season, Skinner scored 24 goals and 25 assists for the Carolina Hurricanes.
In 579 career games with the Hurricanes, Skinner scored 204 goals and 175 assists for 379 points. Skinner will add pop to Buffalo's power play. He has 45 PPG and 98 PPP in his career.
Skinner will earn $5.725M AAV in the final season of his current six-year, $34,350,000 contract.
In the past two months, Sabres GM Jason Botterill has bid adieu to veteran, slower forwards Ryan O'Reilly, Benoit Pouliot, and Jordan Nolan. In the past sixty days, Botterill has added younger, faster, skilled forwards Conor Sheary, Tage Thomspson, Patrik Berglund, Vlad Sobotka, and Jeff Skinner.
In the past two months, Botterill has bid adieu to veteran, slower forwards Ryan O'Reilly, Benoit Pouliot, and Jordan Nolan. In the past sixty days, Botterill has added younger, faster, skilled forwards Conor Sheary, Tage Thomspson, Patrik Berglund, Vlad Sobotka, Jeff Skinner.
— SabresBuzz (@SabresBuzz) August 2, 2018
Jack Eichel and Samson Reinhart are going to love playing on the number one line with a proven finisher like Jeff Skinner.
The #Canes have acquired Cliff Pu, Buffalo’s second-round selection in the 2019 NHL Draft and Buffalo’s third-round and sixth-round selections in the 2020 NHL Draft in exchange for Jeff Skinner. https://t.co/oEvNu3fqxH
— Carolina Hurricanes (@NHLCanes) August 2, 2018
Lynyrd Skinner is a Sabre. Wont'cha fly high Free Bird, yeah! pic.twitter.com/cWmKc1VOho
— SabresBuzz (@SabresBuzz) August 2, 2018
Botterill wore a ski mask to the Skinner trade talks with Waddell pic.twitter.com/incX9pZqF3
— SabresBuzz (@SabresBuzz) August 3, 2018
At first blush, I really like the Skinner trade. I have always admired his pace, high-skill and finish. Skinner is a sniper. I love that about him. He's solid in all three zones. He's a threat on the power play.
However, I get worried about the injuries, especially the concussions he has sustained during his NHL career.
Skinner is going to LOVE playing with Jack Eichel, Samson Reinhart, Casey Mittelstadt, Rasmus Dahlin, Rasmus Ristolainen, Conor Sheary, Jake McCabe and the talented, skilled Sabres core.
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Welcome to August 2.
Buffalo Sabres GM Jason Botterill just traded for top six veteran winger Jeff Skinner.
The Sabres are doing some serious business this summer.
Botterill still needs to finalize a contract extension for Samson Reinhart, who along with William Nylander (Toronto Maple Leafs) are not the only high profile restricted free agent forwards who remain unsigned by their clubs.
Botterill better hurry. He's running out of salary cap space.
With Skinner's $5.725M AAV added tonight, Botterill only has $6,465,476 in salary cap space to work with. Reinhart's extension will take a big bite out of the remaining cap space
— SabresBuzz (@SabresBuzz) August 3, 2018
Botterill said Thursday night that contract extension talks are ongoing between he and Reinhart's agent at Newport Sports.
Botterill says Reinhart extension talks are on going. Progressing. Says Reinhart is a huge piece to the puzzle moving forward.
— SabresBuzz (@SabresBuzz) August 3, 2018
"We're still believe that Sam is a big part of our future here", Botterill on Reinhart.
— SabresBuzz (@SabresBuzz) August 3, 2018
Detroit’s Dylan Larkin is also patiently waiting for his agent to get his next contracted wrapped up. Wings GM Ken Holland continues to work on the Larkin contract.
Like Reinhart and Nylander, Larkin was not arbitration eligible. Therefore, Holland has the luxury of time on his side.
Appearing at a youth hockey camp in Detroit on Thursday, Larkin spoke with Helene St. James from The Free Press about his contract situation. Larkin said he expects a long term contract extension to be signed, sealed and delivered in the next few weeks before the beginning of Wings training camp.
Dylan Larkin on contract talks with Red Wings: "I feel pretty confident that something will get done before training camp. No worries about it." Sides looking at 5-6 year deal.
— Helene St. James (@HeleneStJames) August 2, 2018
Larkin is looking at a 5-6 year contract extension at a average annual value in the $6 million per season range. The contract comps for Larkin are Adam Henrique’s $5.85M (x 5) deal with the Ducks, James Neal’s $5.75M (x 5) contract with the Flames, Tomas Hertl’s $5.625M (x4) extension with the Sharks, J.T. Miller’s $5.25M AAV (x5) extension with the Bolts, and Tom Wilson’s $5.17M (x 5) windfall with the Capitals.
Such a contract would be music to the ears of Reinhart and Nylander who are waiting patiently for their next contracts to be finalized.
Whichever of the three young forwards signs first will have a profound impact on the two other RFAs.
Assuming Larkin signs first, his contract will be a direct comparable for the Sabres and Leafs to use in their negotiations with Reinhart and Nylander, respectively.
One issue holding up the Larkin contract extension is that Holland only has $2.8 million in available salary cap space. Holland can still sign Larkin now to a $6M AAV for next season which would put the Wings over the salary cap. NHL teams are allowed to operate at 10% over the salary cap during the summer and up until training camps conclude in September. Presumably, Holland looking to move out a contract or two to make room for Larkin’s new contract moving forward.
Look inside the numbers of Larkin, Reinhart and Nylander and you will see that they all have identical offensive productions.
In 242 career NHL games with the Red Wings, Larkin has scored 56 goals and 84 assists for 140 points. He has scored 15 PPG and 41 PPP. Larkin led the Wings in scoring last season with 63 points.
In 249 career games with the Sabres, Reinhart has scored 65 goals and 75 assists for 140 points. Reinhart has scored 29 PPG and 48 PPP. Reinhart scored a career-high 25 goals and 25 assists last season. His 50-points scored last season was a career high for Reinhart.
In 185 career regular season games, Nylander has scored 48 goals and 87 assists for 135 points. Last season, Nylander tied his career-high with 61 points. In his career, Nylander has scored 15 PPG and 41 PPP.
Larkin and Nylander have played in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Reinhart is hoping to check off that box this season on his list of career achievements.
Nylander was interviewed in Toronto on Wednesday night. He has no news to share regarding his contract negotiations.
“Nothing... since Zach (Hyman’s) golf tournament. It’s going slow, that’s what Kyle wants. Any questions, you can direct back to Kyle.… Nylander said matter of factly.
“Of course, I want a long term deal.…
Leafs GM Kyle Dubas is in no hurry to ink Nylander. Dubas has to get new deals finalized with Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner. Matthews and Marner are playing on expiring entry level contracts and will be signing monster -sized, long tern contradt extensions in the days and weeks to comem. Matthews will likely get $88 million over eight seasons ($11M AAV) while Marner wil be looking to score $8M AAV on an eight year deal. Recently acquired John Tavares is now an $11M AAV for the next eight seasons.
How can the Leafs be considered a Cup contending team when their roster is top heavy with expensive forwards while their D corps is paper thin?
Perhaps Dubas is considering all trade options for Nylander, who can fetch a top pair defenseman and other assets at this time.