Buffalo Sabres: Re-visiting Jeff Skinner’s “ill-fated” contract

While Buffalo Sabres winger Jeff Skinner signed one of the worst contracts in NHL history, it is also wise to know that truths are transitory. 

Jeff Skinner has never scored over 63 points in a single season, though he has hit that number four times in his NHL career. The latest came last season, when he knocked down 33 goals and 30 assists.

It was Skinner’s highest goals for total since 2018-19, when he found the back of the net 40 times. Between 2019-20 and 2020-21, his points totals went to shambles, scoring just 37 times (21 + 16) in 112 games. Abysmal was an understatement here: Skinner looked like a low-end third-liner getting paid a star player’s salary. 

And rightfully so, many fans and critics dubbed his lucrative contract one of the worst, if not the worst, in league history. Some may still believe that, but Skinner has at least erased some of those critics over the last 1.5 seasons.

Buffalo Sabres finally seeing a return on their investment for Jeff Skinner

Over the past 109 games, Skinner has been lights out, scoring 99 points, 49 goals, and 50 assists. This season, he is on pace to shatter his previous career-high of 63 points, with 36 points, 16 goals, and 20 assists through 32 games.

Skinner is part of a formidable Buffalo Sabres lineup that also includes Alex Tuch, Tage Thompson, Rasmus Dahlin, and Dylan Cozens, all of whom are on pace to score at least or close to 80 points this season. They are also directly responsible for the Blue and Gold often enjoying their status as one of the highest, and at times the highest, scoring team in the National Hockey League.

So is Jeff Skinner’s “ill-fated contract” still one of the worst in NHL history? He still needs to enjoy a few more solid seasons, but at this point, you can no longer call it one of the worst ever. Skinner has simply played at too high of a level over the past year-and-a-half, and is on pace to have the best season of his career.

Given Skinner’s career resurgence that started last season and trickled into this year, expect the winger to continue his high-octane ways along with the rest of the Buffalo Sabres. And at age 30, it is safe to say Skinner still has a good few seasons left in his prime.

Article Source: At 30, resurgent Jeff Skinner enjoying one of Sabres’ greatest seasons ever by Bill Hoppe

(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference)

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