Sportsnet: Elliotte Friedman and Jeff Marek on 32 Thoughts: The Podcast – The Rat Pack is Dragged Back to Edmonton, on rumors about a possible Jeff Skinner purchase in Buffalo.
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Friedman: “So this is something that’s been floating around in hockey circles for about, at least to my ears, about three or four days ago. And the hard thing is, you know, the Sabers don’t mean anything. He is represented by Don Meehan. Don Meehan is quiet about it.
And what someone told me is that you have to be careful because the buying window doesn’t start until 48 hours after the Stanley Cup is awarded, so things can always change.
NHL Rumors: San Jose Sharks, and Buffalo Sabres
So, you know, that’s, you know, but I think it was going to come out. You know, something that a lot of people were talking about.
Now, you know, somebody said to me, why don’t the Sabers ask him to waive his no-movement clause and the thing is, if you’re Jeff Skinner in this situation and you know, the Sabers might want to move away from you, (a) you want to control things. That’s what you want to do. You want to control the situation. Of course, so it’s probably best for you, unless you’re absolutely sure Buffalo can trade you where you want to go. It’s better for you to say no, wait, just buy me. And let me go to the place I want to go.
And secondly, you know, his contract is $9 million. If we go to a situation where he is an unrestricted free agent, he can take his buyout, which is two-thirds of $22 million over six years, and he can choose it for any salary he wants. Skinner has more control over the situation as an unrestricted free agent, able to choose where his salary goes.
So I think that’s why Buffalo is kind at this position. Another interesting thing about it, there are a couple, next year’s cap hit will be less than $1.5 million using Capitals Friendly. And so it will give Buffalo another $7.5 million dollars in cap room. And next year is a big year for the Sabers.
Another thing that interests me, too, is that they are looking for, it is believed that they are looking for a number of leaders. One, one of those deep pieces, we’ve been talking about, but also the top six if they can.
And you know, Skinner, he had 24 goals a year ago, he scored 40 before, he scored 30 before. I know it’s a big knock on him you know, he’s played over 1000 games, he’s never played in the playoffs, but he’s scoring goals.
So it’s a really, really interesting move for the Sabers that will give them a ton of flexibility next year if it happens. But, you know, I always try to be careful what I say without being 100% aware, so I can’t say 100% it’s going to happen but it’s definitely there. And I think we’re still waiting to see if Buffalo makes a final decision.”
NHL Rumors: Top 12 Acquisitions This Offseason
Jeff Skinner has 3 years @ $9M Cap Hit remaining.
The purchase cap hit is:
Year 1 $1.44M
Year 2 $4.44M
Year 3 $6.44M
Years 4 to 6 $2.44M pic.twitter.com/vZecPUaBlC— PuckPedia (@PuckPedia) June 18, 2024
Trade and buyout rumors began to swirl around Jeff Skinner. #LetsGoBuffalo pic.twitter.com/ZPoKuku21n
— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) June 18, 2024
