Rumor: Forward may only last a few months on his new team after being traded this summer.

There were a large number of significant trades during the summer of 2018 and while some of them will certainly work out some others are much more likely to end in heartbreak for the organizations that pulled the trigger. 

One such deal is the big time trade pulled off by the Buffalo Sabres and general manager Jason Botterill, a trade that brought veteran forward Jeff Skinner to the Sabres organization. The move was clearly designed to give star center Jack Eichel a big weapon on the wing  and there's no question that a 3 time 30+ goal scorer is exactly the kind of weapon that fits the bill. The best part however was how little, relatively speaking, the Sabres gave up in order to acquire Skinner.

Botterill gave up National Hockey League prospect Cliff Pu as part of the deal and also included a 2nd round pick in the 2019 NHL draft as well as a 3rd and 6th round pick in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft in order to acquire Skinner. The relatively low cost was likely due almost entirely to the fact that Skinner only has 1 year remaining on his deal and was showing no signs of being willing to sign a new contract extension, but that may also prove to be a big problem for the Sabres moving forward.

Almost as soon as the deal was made official we began to hear talk that the Sabres were looking to quickly sign Skinner to a new long term deal, but that deal has yet to materialize for the Sabres. The question now of course is whether or not Skinner would be willing to commit to a perennial loser lie the Sabres on a long-term deal? If I had to take a stab in the dark, and this is purely speculation, I would wager that short of forging amazing chemistry with Eichel Skinner like intends to test free agency next season.

Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News has suggested that the Sabres could look to deal the proven goal scorer at the NHL trade deadline this season and even believes they can get value for him. According to Harrington a proven goal scorer like Skinner could fetch multiple assets for the Sabres at the trade deadline, especially for organization in need of an offensive boost. 

Talks on an extension have gone quiet and unless something big changes I think his stay with the Sabres will only last a few short months,=.