Jeff Skinner was an absolute hyped up signing on July 1. Heck, I even advocated for the Edmonton Oilers to jump on him right away in my free agents article. He seemed like the perfect fit for the team who struggled to score in the finals. He appeared to be a slamdunk guy to play next to Leon Draisaitl or Connor McDavid, and score 20 goals at least even strength, and yet, that experiment may be coming to an end in the month of December. Why is this? Has his game fallen off? Is it a fit issue? Coaching? Lets’s dive into the reasons why most believe Skinner will not be on the Oilers roster by playoff time.
Skinner’s icetime and stats
Through 32 games this season, Skinner has ammessed six goals and six assists for twelve points. He’s on pace for 15–15–30 in 82, which honestly isn’t too bad, but it’s not what they expected from him when they signed him. Again, he was brought into be a top six sniper for 97 and 29. Kris Knoblauch’s ice-time usage of him highlights the fact he doesn’t like something in his game.
G Opp TOI
1 WPG 13:56
2 CHI 16:09
3 CGY 15:38
4 PHI 11:49
5 NSH 13:04
6 DAL 14:06
7 CAR 16:57
8 PIT 14:27
9 DET 15:00
10 CBJ 14:40
11 NSH 16:47
12 CGY 14:45
13 NJD 12:26
14 VEG 14:10
15 VAN 12:17
16 NYI 8:53
17 NSH 10:29
18 TOR 11:10
19 MTL 12:19
20 OTT 15:16
21 MIN 14:10
22 NYR 13:37
23 UTA 13:29
24 COL 11:27
25 VEG 15:50
26 CBJ 13:19
27 STL 12:04
28 TBL 11:55
29 MIN 13:10
30 VEG 12:58
31 FLA 11:21
Provided by Hockey-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 12/19/2024.
Knoblauch doesn’t trust the defensive lapses he has. Sure, while he isn’t a strong defensive player, what he makes up for that is his elite finishing, which he won’t be able to show off playing with grinders such as Mattias Janmark, Corey Perry, Derek Ryan, and Connor Brown.
Upcoming roster decisions
Jeff Skinner was placed on the fourth line when Viktor Arvidsson came back against the Boston Bruins Thursday night. Not only that, the scratched Derek Ryan is supposedly to come back into the lineup per Knoblauch. Add on to the fact that Evander Kane will be back with the team by the deadline and the question lingers is where does Skinner play?
Kane will draw on the left side where Skinner is slotted, and if they want DR in, who do they take out? Brown and Janmark have been scoring, Perry’s been solid as the fourth line winger, and you’re not scratching the $3M recently signed Adam Henrique. All signs point to Skinner’s job being in jeopardy.
What will happen to Skinner?
Everything just points to Skinner being gone. I am happy thought Edmonton took the chance and the low-risk of signing him. Even though I disagree with how the coaching staff has handled him, nothing will change their minds and its better for both parties to part aways. Jason Strudwick seems to agree with that assessment,
“I believe there’s going to be a mutual agreement to say guys, this just isn’t working out. Let’s find a solution where we’re going to get the chance to move you to someplace you can play and play more. He’s not a fourth-liner.”
https://oilonwhyte.com/jeff-skinner-could-see-unwanted-nhl-record-continue-indefinitely
Skinner does have a NMC but I think the Oilers would flip him to a contender to get an asset they need. Skinner still gets to play a playoff game and gets ice time, a contender gets a motivated player, and the Oilers either clear cap or get a valuable asset in return. What are your guys’ thoughts on the Skinner situation?
I agree that they will ask if he is open to be traded and based on his usage and place in the lineup, I am sure he would welcome a change of scenery. He likes to carry the puck to much to play with McDavid or Draisaitl as they are both best when they have the puck. He is a valuable offensive weapon that doesn’t fit in our top 6. Our 3rd line is defensively sound and scoring and he is a liability on defence, doesn’t PK, and won’t be valuable offensively when playing with grinders on the 4th line. You know if you are on the 3rd and 4the line when Kane, Hyman, and Arvidsson are out, you are probably out of the lineup if the team is healthy. Nobody wants that, let alone the player.
I believe Vancouver would be a good trading partner in this situation. They are a playoff contender (which is what Skinner would want) and they have an asset that is having a challenge staying on their club, Vincent Desharneir. Vinny has only played two-thirds of Vancouver’s games and I don’t believe it’s because of injuries.
Vinny costs the Canucks $2MM x 2 years, where as Skinner costs only $3MM x 1 years. Vancouver saves $1MM and gets a 20+ goal scorer on a team that is not scoring enough (they at 16th in the league for scoring).
The Oilers would save $1MM in cap space for the 2024-2025 season, and have the option of moving him down next year to save on some cap space in 2025-2026. Also he would provide size and toughness on the roster and for the penalty kill. He might even be happy to join up with his goalie buddy Stewwy. Everyone gets something from this trade, Oilers, Canucks, Skinner, and Vinny. Merry Christmas