Sabres: Will Jeff Skinner have a bounce-back season in 2021?
Jeff Skinner is coming off a disappointing season with Buffalo. Will he be able to return to what we saw from him in his first season with the Sabres in 2021?
After having an MVP caliber season in the 2018-2019 season with the Buffalo Sabres, Jeff Skinner had a disappointing 2019-2020 season. Given that the Sabres signed Skinner to an eight-year, $72 million contract in 2019, Buffalo will be looking for him to improve upon his stats from last season.
In Skinner’s first year in Buffalo, he posted a career-high 40 goals and finished the season with 63 points. This performance earned him his massive eight-year contract to stay with the Sabres.
His first season after he signed this contract was not what the Sabres were hoping to see from him each year. Skinner posted 14 goals and nine assists in 59 games with Buffalo in last year’s shortened season.
One big difference that Skinner experienced from his first season in Buffalo to last season was his linemates. In his first season where he had 63 points, he was regularly on the same line as Jack Eichel.
Last season he was paired with a lot of different players, the most common centers being Marcus Johansson and Evan Rodrigues. This isn’t the only reason why Skinner had very little production last season, but it sure didn’t put him in the best spot to replicate his 2018-2019 stats.
This season it looks like Skinner will be a second line winger paired with Eric Staal, who will be playing center. Having this type of quality consistency for Skinner could help him get back closer to what we saw from him in his first season in Buffalo.
I fully expect Skinner to post better numbers than he did last season. He is coming off the least productive season of his career, and I really do not think that he will continue with the lackluster stats for seasons to come. Especially if he can gain some chemistry with his linemates that he will be paired with during the 2021 season.
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Jeff Skinner does not become a free agent until the 2027-2028 season. So as of now, it looks like he will be in Buffalo for a while. The Sabres will be looking for a little more consistency from Skinner over the next multiple seasons to feel comfortable with the contract they gave him.