6:30 p.m.: Edmonton is also seeing Mattias Janmark return on a three-year, $4.35MM contract, per Seravalli. It’ll cost them $1.45MM against the cap through 2026-27. The Swede is coming off a career-worst year offensively, limited to only four goals and 12 points in 75 games, but was a key part of an Edmonton penalty kill that clicked at 94.3% in the postseason. CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal adds that depth defenseman Troy Stecher is returning on an undisclosed deal. Edmonton later confirmed Stecher’s deal is a two-year, $1.575MM pact ($787.5K cap hit).
5:49 p.m.: The Oilers are expected to add winger Jeff Skinner in free agency, Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reports. It’s a one-year deal worth $3MM, Seravalli adds.
Skinner, 32, became a UFA after the Sabres bought out the final three seasons of the eight-year, $72MM pact he signed back in 2019. He’s had varying results throughout the contract, which carried a $9MM cap hit and was coming off a middling 24 goals and 46 points in 74 games in 2023-24.
However, he did become one of the higher-ceiling options available on the market upon his buyout. That’s because he’s got a claim to fame that few other UFA wingers have – a 40-goal season under his belt. He’s also only one year removed from a career-high 82 points and +15 rating in 79 games with Buffalo.
And what better way to unlock that potential than putting him into an Oilers top six, potentially on a line centered by Leon Draisaitl and fresh free-agent add Viktor Arvidsson on his right flank? He immediately jumps out as one of the better value signings of the day, especially after outproducing Evander Kane (who he’ll likely challenge for second-line duties) in slightly fewer minutes on a worse team.
Skinner won’t be a major defensive upgrade on whoever he pushes down the lineup. He’s not a terribly physically involved player and has consistently owned poor individual chance-prevention metrics. But he does have a knack for finishing, especially at 5-on-5, helping balance out an Edmonton offense that can occasionally be too power-play reliant.
With Skinner on the books, Edmonton still has roughly $2.75MM in projected cap space remaining, per CapFriendly.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
He likely will never have a better opportunity to match his season best. Nice get.
So either the Skinner continues or it finally gets broken?
That’s why it’s not multi-year. Go place a bet for Edmonton not making the playoffs. Parlay that Stuart Skinner gets traded.
Oilers should win it all next season.
* Meant Skinner curse.
For what Skinner brings now to the table, this is a pretty team-friendly deal. Obviously Buffalo got shafted, but there are a lot of guys in the league who put worse numbers up making twice as much.
Ruff obviously did not want Skinner in Buffalo going forward.
At $9 MM a year, NO ONE would.