This in, news that the San Jose Sharks have signed former Edmonton Oilers sniper Jeff Skinner to a one-year deal at $3 million for the season.
Montreal hockey commentator for TVA Renaud Lavoie @renlavoietva
1X$3M ⬇️
San Jose Sharks @SanJoseSharks
Jeff Skinner is a Shark 🦈
Red Deer Vipers broadcaster Mat Torgerson @Torgerson_Matty
Adding a forward who averages 57 pts per season. That’s a B+ move by GM-MG. Welcome home Skinner!
Oilers fan Finn 🇨🇦 @oilersjayscan
Take care of yourself, Jeff. Sorry it didn’t work out here
Oilers fan Tim Ingram @TimIngram12
The Sharks have signed some good veterans to lead the youth. My prediction is they do not finish last this coming season.
Hockey stats analyst AFP Analytics @AFPAnalytics
This deal is fine considering the need to use up some cap space
Oilers fan oilcat @oilcats
20-30 goal scorer on any team but Knobs team.
Dallas hockey commentator Gavin Spittle @gjspittle
I love this signing by GM Mike Grier. Joins a young, very talented roster. If he lights the lamp, Skinner will bring back nice value at the trade deadline.
Hockey stats analyst HockeyIceStorm @HockeyIceStorm
Skinner remains a capable finisher with the touch & hockey sense to unlock scoring chances. But his lack of consistent effort & defensive mishaps have positioned him as a complementary role player rather than the top-six fixture he once was.
Hockey stats analyst Benchrates @benchrates
Fair terms based on his current level
Hockey stats analyst David Johnson @hockeyanalysis
Skinner is one and done as far as making the NHL playoffs is concerned.
Edmonton Journal hockey writer Jim Matheson @jimmathesonnhl
Good that Jeff Skinner found work and for same $3m, but now in San Jose. He can score goals and that’s hardest thing to do in NHL
Edmonton sports show Avry’s Sports Show @Avry
Deserved more run in Edmonton, stepped up when called upon in reg season and playoffs if he played all 82 easily would have had 20+ goals, will be a good vet in a rebuilding room in San Jose.
Sharks fan Mark Weber 🇺🇸 @markiemark47
If we could push him to a consistent presence on the third line, that’s best case scenario and means our forward prospects popped but I’m guessing he’ll get plenty of run on the second line at least the first bit of the season either way.
Minnesota sports fan Jordan Durand @jordanwjdurand
Bro spent 10 years in Buffalo, finally got a taste of the playoffs and said “nahhh I like my summers off” 😂
Oilers fan Den Polland @oilersgm2
Hope all the best for Jeffrey. Entered the dog house with Knoblauch and didn’t really come out until game 6? Have never, will never understand his deployment with Oilers. I hope he has a solid season and gets flipped to a contender at the deadline
San Jose hockey writer Max Miller @Real_Max_Miller
Another veteran added to the fold
Carolina fan Joel Brittain @JBrit21
Management: “We need an identity unique to the sharks”
Marketing: “I heard they live to be extremely old”
Owner: “Sign every old guy in the league”
Oilers fan Oil83 @Fixit1980
Eagle turns and perimeter play for days
roster
My take
1. Massive turnover on the Oilers forward lines. Gone are Kane, Perry, Brown, Ryan, Arvidsson. Now this.
1. The Jeff Skinner saga in Edmonton was more of a tragedy than anything. Skinner came here with high hopes of playing top-line hockey with either Leon Draisaitl or Connor McDavid, but he quickly found his way into the dog house of Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch for his undisciplined defensive play. Skinner rebounded and started to play better on defence, bringing his “A” game late in the season and showing well in a few playoff games. But he ultimately didn’t fit into the Oilers, a team that needed to get fast, more aggressive and younger. As a player, Skinner is agile, but he’s not that fast, aggressive and he’s no longer young.
The real tragedy of the Skinner saga, though, is that his signing represents the biggest blunder of interim GM Jeff Jackson’s brief tenure last July. By signing Skinner to $3 million per season and Viktor Arvidsson’s to $4 million per season, Jackson put the Oilers over the salary cap last summer and he did so when the team had still not yet signed young and talented restricted free agents Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg. Jackson was hailed for his bold move to bring in skilled veterans like Skinner and Arvidsson, but he had painted a huge target on the Oilers, which blew up on the franchise when St. Louis presented offer sheets to Broberg and Holloway.
It was a colossal and catastrophic blunder, one that the team is having a hard time recovering from, even as new GM Stan Bowman has done well to plug the holes created by Broberg and Holloway’s departures.
2. Any thought that the Oilers might bring back Skinner this year ended when the team traded for attacking winger Ike Howard of Tampa. To put an exclamation mark on that, the Oilers gave Howard the #53 sweater of Skinner. One irony here is that Howard is also an offensive specialist and will face a similar challenge as Skinner faced on the Oilers, playing solid enough defence to hold on to a spot on one of the top three lines.
3. When it came to even strength scoring, Skinner had 1.74 points per 60 this past season, which was second-line production. 141st overall for all regular NHL forwards. On the Oilers, only Draisailt and McDavid scored more points per 60 at even strength.
4. If the Oilers had signed Skinner, he would have presented a block to Matt Savoie and Ike Howard getting roster spots. Given that the Oilers really do need to get younger, faster and more aggressive, I’m content with the decision to move on from the veteran Skinner, even as he played OK two-way hockey for the team last year, and even as he had some good moments in his brief playoff cameo.
The Oilers need to improve to get better, Skinner is on the downward part of his career, so I’m not against betting on wingers like Savoie and Howard to make a difference, not to mention young Vasily Podkolzin and veteran speedster Kasperi Kapanen.
GrA major wingers Oilers 2024-25