2023-24 Buffalo Sabers Player Report Card: Jeff Skinner – The Hockey Writers – Buffalo Sabers

Jeff Skinner’s tenure with the Buffalo Sabers continues to be a wacky roller coaster ride and of all the players on their 2023-24 roster, he may be the most difficult to evaluate afterward.

The long-time winger was among the host of Sabers forwards who performed poorly, but of them all, he may have been the most disappointing. And with the winds of change once again blowing through Buffalo, Skinner’s future with the team is not set in stone and the upcoming season will be decisive.

The strange case of Jeff Skinner continues

2022-23 was the best season of Skinner’s career in almost every way. He transformed his game by passing more and creating chances for his teammates rather than just scoring himself. Thanks in part to the abilities of teammates Tage Thompson and Alex Tuch alongside him, the decision to change his style has yielded remarkable results. His 47 assists and 82 points were career highs by significant margins (as was his plus-15 rating) and he still managed to record 35 goals, his third-highest total. In doing so, he dispelled his old image as a one-dimensional finisher and helped the Sabers move within a single point of their first playoff berth in more than 10 years.

The game isn’t the only new side of Skinner to emerge, as he also began to embrace his place as an elder statesman on the young team and became a vocal presence in the locker room, earning admiration from his teammates and fans. By his fifth season with the Sabres, the Toronto native had become a complete package and all memories of his previous struggles in Buffalo were put aside.

Coming into this season, the sky was the limit for the Sabers and the writing was on the wall that they would finally return to the playoffs. Instead, the team took a giant step in the opposite direction and suffered a seven-point drop, with the blame placed on a number of high-profile players. The entire top line failed to live up to expectations, but it was Skinner’s decline that was most discouraging.

No one is quite sure why, but the electric scorer fans had grown accustomed to was nowhere to be found. His production dropped precipitously to just 24 goals and 46 points, his lowest total over a full season since 2017-18. Sabers coach Don Granato had no answers for his star’s problems and was ultimately forced to reduce his playing time. Skinner finished the season averaging just 15:59 per game, his lowest since 2014-15.

To be fair, he missed eight games due to injury, including three in December following a hard hit from Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon. Skinner is known for his durability throughout his career and missing such unusual time could have discouraged him, as he only scored 13 points in 36 games after MacKinnon’s hit.

Despite his ailments, Skinner reached a historic milestone at the end of the season by playing in his 1,000th career game on April 2, a feat made all the more impressive by the fact that he did it at just 31 years old. It was a well-deserved honor for a player who has suffered his fair share of setbacks throughout his career, but even so, questions remain.

Is Skinner a factor in Buffalo’s future?

Although the 32-year-old remains a Sabers fan favorite, a cloud of uncertainty looms. Skinner is now the oldest member of the Sabers and if rumors that Zemgus Girgensons will leave in free agency this summer prove true, he will also be the oldest. He has three seasons remaining on the eight-year, $72 million contract he signed in 2019 and with a new head coach coming in, fans are wondering how much longer the n #53 could stay in Buffalo (from “Can Jeff Skinner bounce back, adapt to Sabers coach Lindy Ruff’s expectations?” Buffalo News05/06/24).

Perhaps the biggest criticism leveled at Skinner throughout his career has been his lack of two-way ability and that issue has returned this season. He’s only posted a positive plus/minus rating three times, which is problematic given who’s about to become his new bench boss. As seen throughout her first tenure in Buffalo, Lindy Ruff demands accountability from all of her players and is not afraid to punish those who don’t. Skinner’s defensive weaknesses put him at an immediate disadvantage, and having one of his worst seasons only complicates matters further.

Skinner will have no choice but to adapt and it’s possible that Ruff’s tutelage will help him improve his game without the puck and become better overall. After all, he has the speed and maneuverability to be a powerful penalty killer and his fiery personality on the ice often gets under his skin. Although it would be a gamble, he could be more effective if he had more chances, but will Ruff trust him enough?

If that doesn’t happen and Skinner fails to bounce back next season, he could find himself the odd man out and it wouldn’t be a complete stretch to imagine him out of place. He still has a $9 million per year salary and can void all trades via his no-move clause, but the Sabers could convince him to give it up if they can make the deal attractive enough and find a team who could assume his contract. . Some have speculated that he could be bought out, but with the Sabers having much less financial wiggle room than in previous years, that is unlikely.

Related: Sabers’ Dylan Cozens shines for Team Canada at 2024 World Championships

2023-24 hasn’t been a good season for Skinner and there’s an argument that it was the worst of his career when you take everything into account. But if the undersized but tenacious winger has shown anything throughout his time in Buffalo, it’s his resilience. The Sabers as a whole will have a clean slate next season and that could prove to be exactly what they need. Skinner has repeatedly proven the skeptics wrong and, as such, it would be unwise to exclude him.

Final grade: C