Buffalo Sabres 75 Bold Predictions for 2023-24: Prediction #4
Jeff Skinner may be one of the Buffalo Sabres oldest skaters, but the 31-year-old is still one of their most productive scorers.
Last season, Buffalo Sabres winger Jeff Skinner broke the 63-point curse, which he reached four times in his career, and twice since he was traded to Buffalo. He shattered that record with 82 points in 79 games, becoming a pivotal piece in one of the NHL’s most formidable trios.
However, Skinner may not reach that milestone again thanks to presumably better defense coming to the Queen City. And he could become part of that movement after being rather lackluster defensively, as there is one statistic he’s excelled at in the past that he can bring back to the table.
Last season, he logged just 41 takeaways, the lowest in his career when you don’t count shortened seasons because of lockouts and COVID. However, Skinner has proven in the past that he can be rather effective in this category, tallying 93 of them in 2017-18, his final season with the Carolina Hurricanes.
Buffalo Sabres winger will approach career high in two distinct categories
As a team, the Sabres know they need to get better defensively, particularly Skinner, along with linemate Tage Thompson. Thanks to Skinner’s history in wrestling the puck away from opponents, he could easily revert to the player he once was back in Carolina, when he logged at least 62 takeaways per year between 2014-15 and 2017-18.
This season, Skinner hits the 60-plus takeaway mark again, and perhaps more as the season progresses and the sense of urgency peaks in March and April. But there is another statistical category I’m going to get bold with here, one that trended upward last season: Faceoffs.
In 2022-23, Skinner won 47.3% of his faceoffs, a near 7% increase from 2021-22 when he won just 40.6% of them. During his first season in Buffalo, Skinner’s faceoff win percentage (FOW%) sailed north of the 50% mark at 52.2%, a career high.
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Once again, with an increase in urgency sure to come in March and April 2024, Skinner will take charge, and if there is no one else capable, will win draws at a 53% FOW%, helping to set up scoring chances late for the Buffalo Sabres. And that will go a long way for the team’s success during the final two months of the season as they try to finally end their playoff drought.
(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference)