Headlines

  • Lightning Acquire Sam O’Reilly From Oilers For Isaac Howard
  • NHL, NHLPA Ratify Four-Year CBA Extension
  • Gavin McKenna To Commit To Penn State
  • Tyler Johnson Announces Retirement
  • Flyers Re-Sign Cam York To Five-Year Contract
  • Sabres, Mammoth Elect Salary Arbitration With Bowen Byram, Jack McBain
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • MLB Trade Rumors
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors

Pro Hockey Rumors

  • Home
  • Teams
    • Atlantic
      • Boston Bruins
      • Buffalo Sabres
      • Detroit Red Wings
      • Florida Panthers
      • Montreal Canadiens
      • Ottawa Senators
      • Tampa Bay Lightning
      • Toronto Maple Leafs
    • Central
      • Chicago Blackhawks
      • Colorado Avalanche
      • Dallas Stars
      • Minnesota Wild
      • Nashville Predators
      • St. Louis Blues
      • Utah Mammoth
      • Winnipeg Jets
    • Metropolitan
      • Carolina Hurricanes
      • Columbus Blue Jackets
      • New Jersey Devils
      • New York Islanders
      • New York Rangers
      • Philadelphia Flyers
      • Pittsburgh Penguins
      • Washington Capitals
    • Pacific
      • Anaheim Ducks
      • Calgary Flames
      • Edmonton Oilers
      • Los Angeles Kings
      • San Jose Sharks
      • Seattle Kraken
      • Vancouver Canucks
      • Vegas Golden Knights
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Partners
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Jeff Skinner, Buffalo Sabres Agree To Long-Term Extension

June 7, 2019 at 8:46 pm CDT | by Zach Leach 14 Comments

9:27 PM: It is official now and McKenzie was right on the mark with the terms. The Buffalo Sabres have announced an eight-year, $72MM extension with leading goal scorer Jeff Skinner. Skinner’s eight-year term is the NHL maximum and one only the Sabres could have awarded him. His new $9MM AAV is one that only 13 other forwards have topped, including teammate Jack Eichel. The Sabres hope that this investment can keep those two stars playing together on the team’s top line and dominating the competition en route to a return to the postseason.

8:46 PM: It was widely assumed that the Buffalo Sabres and star forward Jeff Skinner would eventually come to terms on a contract extension. After all, both sides benefited from the partnership in year one. Skinner enjoyed one of his best seasons to date, including potting a career-high 40 goals, while the Sabres landed a surefire top-line forward, who finished third on the team in scoring and found chemistry with young centerpieces Jack Eichel and Sam Reinhart. Now, it appears that this speculation is about to pay off. TSN’s venerable insider, Bob McKenzie, reports that Buffalo is closing in on signing Skinner to an eight-year extension, thought to be in the realm of $9MM AAV.

If this $72MM deal comes together, Skinner could wind up in the upper echelon of NHL players when it comes to contract value. P.K. Subban, the only other player in the league with a $9MM cap hit, is currently ranked 16th in the league in AAV. The next players on the list are at $9.5MM, likely outside of the projected ranger for Skinner, but anything between a $9MM and $8.7MM AAV would put Skinner right there with Subban. Among those Subban would pass up include Sidney Crosby, Leon Draisaitl, Steven Stamkos, Claude Giroux, and Logan Couture. Obviously, the salary cap ceiling is increasing and Skinner’s cost is a function of that, but this is still a considerable leap for a player whose last contract was a six-year deal with a $5.75MM AAV with the Carolina Hurricanes.

Whether or not Skinner’s reported new value is a fair representation of his ability is up for debate. What’s not up for debate is that Buffalo can afford to offer this contract and possibly overpaying is better than the alternative. The Sabres are currently ranked 25th in committed salary cap entering the off-season with more than $29MM in space and Skinner is arguably their only priority free agent. Buffalo is a team that desperately want to improve, especially after a hot start was followed by an embarrassing second half and would up in yet another disappointing finish. Letting Skinner walk in free agency would be a nightmare for the team and GM Jason Botterill would rather gamble with his job down the line than almost surely lose it in the present if he failed to retain or somehow substantially replace Skinner. Will the 27-year-old be worth $9MM when he’s 35 years old? Almost certainly not, but that’s the trade-off of every long-term UFA contract. In the short-term this would be a great deal to hold on to a talented player who has been a great fit.

Share 0 Retweet 0 Send via email

Buffalo Sabres| Carolina Hurricanes| Free Agency| Jason Botterill| Newsstand Bob McKenzie| Claude Giroux| Jack Eichel| Jeff Skinner| Leon Draisaitl| Logan Couture| P.K. Subban| Salary Cap| Sam Reinhart

Brendan Budy Commits To The University of North Dakota
Main
Free Agent Focus: Carolina Hurricanes
View Comments (14)

Comments

  1. MacJablonski--NotVegasLegend

    6 years ago

    Only Buffalo’s likely to overpay him after a piddly 12-goal total for the last 41 games… Skin-man should’ve potted about 60+ after the torrid start, but now he should probably get paid like a 25-30 goal guy. Jason’s probably not going to go down to the $6-$6.25MM range.

    Reply
  2. highplainsdriftr

    6 years ago

    Wow. I thought it would be a much friendlier deal than this. Hard not to call this an overpay.

    Reply
  3. layventsky

    6 years ago

    It’s about time!

    Reply
  4. MacJablonski--NotVegasLegend

    6 years ago

    Think Jason felt he had to bid against himself? Ticks me off when teams succumb to the “Well, we gotta overpay *somebody* here!” They’re sounding a lot like Ottawa right about now…

    Reply
  5. jdgoat

    6 years ago

    Big yikes

    Reply
  6. SuperSinker

    6 years ago

    Das very many monies.. all these RFA’s are licking their chops after this

    Reply
  7. 3Tavgreg

    6 years ago

    What choice did the Sabres have? You’ve got a team with lot of cap space, an owner worth more than $4 Billion, and a good player willing to play there. Until they start making the playoffs, they have to make these moves.

    Reply
  8. uvmfiji

    6 years ago

    Skinner is allergic to playoff contention.

    Reply
  9. 66TheNumberOfTheBest

    6 years ago

    He now makes more than Sidney Crosby. Pretty safe to call this an overpay.

    Reply
  10. ColossusOfClout

    6 years ago

    Continue dominating the competition? When have they done that? LMAO!!!!!

    Reply
  11. DarkSide830

    6 years ago

    um…he’s good and all…but that’s a lot.

    Reply
  12. fljay73

    6 years ago

    Future contracts for very good offensive players are going up. The Sabres will be drafting a very good ELC offensive player at #7 so everything balances out. As long as Skinner puts up 30-40 goals this contract will not be a albatross. As Eichel continues to improve his point production that will also help improve Skinner’s goal output. Now JBott can focus on improving his 2nd line scoring & adding 1 or 2 better defensemen.

    Reply
  13. LarryJ4

    6 years ago

    Um yeah if Crosby was a free agent right now he’s be getting 12 mill. Just the way the market is now. It’s like comparing apples to oranges from when Crosby got his contract to Skinners now!

    Reply
  14. 66TheNumberOfTheBest

    6 years ago

    If Sid got a contract right now, it would be for…$8.7 million a year. Because he’s that superstitious.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.

Log in Register

    Top Stories

    Lightning Acquire Sam O’Reilly From Oilers For Isaac Howard

    NHL, NHLPA Ratify Four-Year CBA Extension

    Gavin McKenna To Commit To Penn State

    Tyler Johnson Announces Retirement

    Flyers Re-Sign Cam York To Five-Year Contract

    Sabres, Mammoth Elect Salary Arbitration With Bowen Byram, Jack McBain

    Players Still Eligible For Offer Sheets

    Eleven Players Elect Salary Arbitration

    Lyndon Byers Passes Away At 61

    Blue Jackets Re-Sign Dmitri Voronkov

    Recent

    Lightning Acquire Sam O’Reilly From Oilers For Isaac Howard

    Blue Jackets To Let Aidan Hreschuk Reach Free Agency

    Islanders Sign Forward Adam Beckman To One-Year Deal

    Strategic Drafting Will Keep Capitals Competitive

    Golden Knights Sign Lukas Cormier

    Penguins Sign Benjamin Kindel To Entry-Level Contract

    Avalanche Hire Dave Hakstol As Assistant Coach

    Canucks Re-Sign Jett Woo, Nikita Tolopilo

    NHL, NHLPA Ratify Four-Year CBA Extension

    Washington Capitals Sign Sheldon Rempal

    Rumors By Team

    Rumors By Team

    • Avalanche Rumors
    • Blackhawks Rumors
    • Blue Jackets Rumors
    • Blues Rumors
    • Bruins Rumors
    • Canadiens Rumors
    • Canucks Rumors
    • Capitals Rumors
    • Devils Rumors
    • Ducks Rumors
    • Flames Rumors
    • Flyers Rumors
    • Golden Knights Rumors
    • Hurricanes Rumors
    • Islanders Rumors
    • Jets Rumors
    • Kings Rumors
    • Kraken Rumors
    • Lightning Rumors
    • Mammoth Rumors
    • Maple Leafs Rumors
    • Oilers Rumors
    • Panthers Rumors
    • Penguins Rumors
    • Predators Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Red Wings Rumors
    • Sabres Rumors
    • Senators Rumors
    • Sharks Rumors
    • Stars Rumors
    • Wild Rumors

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • 2025’s Top 50 Unrestricted Free Agents
    • Sam Bennett Rumors
    • Nikolaj Ehlers Rumors
    • Mitch Marner Rumors
    • Marco Rossi Rumors

    Pro Hockey Rumors Features

    Pro Hockey Rumors Features

    • Support Pro Hockey Rumors And Go Ad-Free
    • 2025 Free Agent Focus Series
    • 2025 Offseason Checklist Series
    • 2025 NHL Free Agent List
    • 2026 NHL Free Agent List
    • Active Roster Tracker
    • Coaching Staff Directory
    • Draft Pick Tracker 2025
    • Key Offseason Dates
    • Offseason Trade Tracker
    • Pro Hockey Rumors On X
    • Pro Hockey Rumors Polls
    • Waiver Claims 2024-25

     

     

     

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives

    PHR Info

    • About
    • Privacy Policy
    • Commenting Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

    scroll to top

    Register

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version