Brodie’s Breakdown: Jeff Skinner

The last time we saw Jeff Skinner, he was part of that Stanley Cup final contender with Edmonton just a few months ago. And believe it or not, those were his very first NHL playoff appearances. But since 2010, the 33-year-old has logged close to 1100 NHL games, mostly with Carolina and Buffalo. Now he’s likely to assume a top six forward role with San Jose, which would include being linemates with some upand cominging talents. Uh, it’d be fun. I think it’s it’s always fun to play with great players, I think. And and that’s what uh that’s what those guys are. And I think the fun thing to see sort of young guys anytime, but especially I think in today’s game, the the steps they take, I think, um sometimes can be bigger than expected. And um I think that with the talent that they they already have, I think the experience they’ve um started to gain, I think it’s only going to help them. So, um yeah, I’m really excited to to to join the team. And I know there’s been a few a few veterans that have sort of signed on and um there’s been some I know obviously Clinger Clingberg from from Edmonton, but I think you see that pattern where there’s a good mix of of old and young guys and also I think like you mentioned the the old guys showing that excitement to to play with those young guys is is always a good sign. So um yeah. Yeah, really really excited to to get to know those guys and to to get to play with them. Skinner tallied 40 goals in 18/19 and has reached the 30 mark six different times in his career. Last season he played 72 games in Alberta. And while 29 points and 16 goals may have been seen as a down year, the Shark scouts realized his surroundings and skill set also mattered. Yeah, I mean the scout still um you know said they you know he still has still has the quickness in his game and the smarts and the competitiveness and knows where to go to score and and was still hungry to score. Um you know it’s not always easy to jump into a a team that just uh went on a long run and went to the Stanley Cup finals to find your kind of niche there and and sometimes there’s you’re in situation where guys used to playing with certain players and they like playing with certain players. So, it’s um it’s a hard hard um hard sometimes hard to find your your niche and there’s not a lot of power play time there that goes around either. So, um but they still look saw a lot of things that they liked. Longtime Sharks fans will remember Skinner who of course won the Calder with Carolina during Logan Couture’s rookie season. But perhaps the coolest thing we’ll take away from Skinner’s earlier years is this youth hockey photo with then teammate Tyler Defoley. Yeah, kind of feels like already this move was just meant to be for the San Jose Sharks.

Brodie Brazil breaks down the Sharks addition of veteran forward Jeff Skinner.

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