That's A Lot Of Skins

I've respected Jeff Skinner for a long time. I always thought he was a better goal-scorer than he showed in Carolina, and he certainly made the league take notice of his scoring exploits in his first season with the Buffalo Sabres. However, for years it seemed he would yo-yo back down to a lower number than the year before when it came to goals, so his new reported contract of $72 million over eight years will leave a lot of people asking for Skinner to deliver just as well as he did this season.

When he signs the deal in the coming days, Skinner will become the second-highest paid player behind centerman Jack Eichel, and he remains the only 30-goal scorer on the Sabres at present moment after scoring 40 goals last season. Even after scoring 40 goals, he still only equaled his career-high points total of 63 and Buffalo missed the playoffs yet again after starting the season so promisingly.

It's hard to imagine that a 60-point player can get a contract that averages $9 million per season, and some will say that general manager Jason Botterill overpaid for Skinner when it was possible that Skinner may have signed for less, especially since Buffalo was the only team that could offer the 27 year-old an eight-year deal. However, attracting high-scoring free agents to a team that may struggle in the Atlantic Division again next season is always a tough sell, so Botterill likely made the right decision for his club when it came to the money and term offered to Skinner assuming that Skinner doesn't regress in his scoring totals over the next couple of seasons.

The nice part for Botterill in this off-season situation is that the Sabres are poised to be a team with great cap space for the next few seasons. While the cupboards are bare in Rochester when it comes to pure goal-scoring, we saw decent production from Sam Reinhart at the IIHF World Championships, Casey Mittelstadt has all sorts of raw talent, and Jack Eichel is top-tier center the Sabres need. None, though, have that bonafide goal-scoring talent that Skinner has, so having the cap flexibility to make this deal shouldn't hurt the Sabres even if Skinner slips to the 20-goal plateau.

Of course, this sets the bar at rather insane levels for players needing new contracts elsewhere such as Winnipeg with Kyle Connor and Patrik Laine, and in Toronto with Mitch Marner. How those teams work around this new deal for Skinner will prove interesting, but Buffalo got their guy and were able to keep their first 40-goal scorer since Thomas Vanek. For a team that's missed the playoffs eight years in a row and has yet another new coach behind the bench in Ralph Kreuger, having a guy who can light the lamp regularly will help immensely in Buffalo's quest for a Stanley Cup.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!