Sabres sign Jeff Skinner to a massive new contract.

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HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 4 years ago
Sabres sign Jeff Skinner to a massive new contract.
Nicholas T. Loverde/CSM/Zuma

The Buffalo Sabres have now heavily invested themselves in their top 2 offensive stars and it has to be said that not everyone is convinced that this was the right move on the part of Buffalo Sabres general manager Jason Botterill.

First, in the late hours of Friday night the Buffalo Sabres released an official announcement in which the organization announced that it had retained the services of veteran forward Jeff Skinner for 8 more years. According to the announcement the Sabres came to terms on an 8 year contract extension with Skinner in the late hours of Friday night, and that new deal will play Skinner a whopping $9 million in average annual value in each of those next 8 seasons. This means that Skinner will earn a staggering $72 million over the full length of this deal, making him one of the highest paid players in the NHL at his position, and it also means that he will be 35 years of age by the time this contract has run its course. 

This is of course a massive risk for the Buffalo Sabres as Skinner has shown himself to be an inconsistent player during his time in the National Hockey League and has previously had his character questioned due to how his time with the Carolina Hurricanes organization played out. Skinner clearly did not vibe well with the Hurricanes organization, something that is somewhat hard to blame him for given the state of the team while he was there, and eventually forced the team to make the trade deal that would eventually see him become a Buffalo Sabre. 

In spite of some of the questions around Skinner and his new contract, there is no question that he proved to be invaluable for the Sabres in his first year with the team. His 40 goals are the 3rd most by a first year Buffalo Sabre in the history of that franchise, and his 32 even strength goals this season were the most ever by a first year member of the Buffalo Sabres. I truly believe that Skinner would have gotten paid one way or another this summer, and it is clear the Sabres are banking on the chemistry between Skinner and star forward Jack Eichel, to propel them through the majority of this contract from Skinner.

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