Buffalo Sabres left winger Jeff Skinner enjoyed a season of redemption in 2021-22. Will he repeat his success in 2022-23?
Many still call the Jeff Skinner signing one of the worst in Buffalo Sabres and NHL history. But I digress, as Skinner had to deal with the ineffective Ralph Krueger for two seasons, a coach who proved he’s the best in hockey at wasting talent.
Krueger didn’t just help Skinner pull off two of the worst statistical seasons of his career; he also helped plenty of other Sabres like Rasmus Dahlin, Tage Thompson, and Kyle Okposo come close to flaming out in the NHL. Enter Don Granato, and each player is doing just fine today, including Skinner.
So what will we make of Skinner’s 2022-23 season? My instant projection is that we will see more than we saw last year. Let’s get to it.
Buffalo Sabres winger Jeff Skinner could have career outing
In 80 games last season, Skinner logged 33 goals, 30 assists, 63 points, and a 12.6 shooting percentage. He had an unforgettable game against the Montreal Canadiens in February, and never seemed to cool off. Interesting what a simple coaching change can do.
Most importantly, he gained sound chemistry with the likes of Tage, Alex Tuch, and Victor Olofsson. Now that the Sabres are no longer suffering from constant turnover, look for Skinner to flourish in 2022-23 with potential career highs in both goals scored and assists.
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In my bold predictions article for players over 30, I said Skinner would hit 65-plus points. And while the predictions in this article are more realistic than our go-long predictions, it’s one of the few that I’m standing by – Skinner gets 65 points regardless.
But I want to take this prediction further: Skinner will also hit a 15% shooting percentage for the first time in his career. His career-best in the past? It occurred in 2018-19 when he hit 14.9% and a career high 40 goals.
My expectation is that Skinner, who I currently have listed as the Sabres top forward because of his experience, current, and even past production, will see a career outing in 2022-23. His chemistry with the team’s top scorers is there, and the Sabres figure to be a higher-scoring team in 2022-23. He will account for a lot of goals and assists. That said, 65-plus points is highly reasonable.
(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference)