Jeff Skinner’s NHL contract is set to be terminated, and Toronto will notice
Photo credit: Robert Edwards-Imagn Images
According to Elliotte Friedman, the San Jose Sharks are set to put Keff Skinner into the free agent market and the Maple Leafs are a team that have to keep watch.
With the NHL season set to resume shortly, teams are preparing their rosters for the long stretch ahead as they look towards a playoff push, one of those teams being the San Jose Sharks.
They aren't risking anything and want to make sure they have the best lineup viable which means letting one of their veterans go.
San Jose says goodbye to Skinner after waivers placement
According to Elliotte Friedman, the Sharks are placing forward Jeff Skinner on waivers for the purposes of contract termination:
There is no official wording as to why San Jose and Skinner decided to part ways, but he has 13 points in 32 games with the Sharks (6 goals, 7 assists) and is a minus-8 in only 12:21 TOI.
It very well could be performance-based as the Sharks were hoping for a little more from a guy who over the past few seasons has been one of the more consistent goal-scorers who often flies under the radar.
But it may also be the fact that the Sharks are a much younger team and with no real hopes or aspirations of keeping Skinner around, may have decided to let him go to pursue more playing time and a bigger role.
Maple Leafs need to reel in San Jose's veteran ASAP
He signed as a free agent this past summer with the Sharks some rumours surrounding him and the Maple Leafs -- a team that may circle back with this latest news.
For a team who needs to add some secondary scoring on the cheap (especially if they are losing Bobby McMann to a trade) it makes perfect sense to add Skinner to the mix.
While he is 33 years old, the Toronto native does have 712 points in 1,110 career games, not to mention he has a lot more versatility than you'd think with him being able to play center in a pinch, as well as help sharpen Toronto's discipline issues.
You're signing him to something arguably cheaper than you would have this past summer, and there is no commitment necessary as Skinner is a free agent at year's end, but if he plays well enough then you have a reliable scorer for a couple years at a bargain price.
It would be silly for Toronto to ignore Skinner and would be doing themselves a disservice by not checking in and seeing if he's interested in running things alongside Auston Matthews.
Teams will be able to sign Skinner after he clears waivers which is a likely outcome, and will need to wait 24 hours before they can approach him with a potential deal.
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| POLL | ||
FEVRIER 16|891 ANSWERS Jeff Skinner’s NHL contract is set to be terminated, and Toronto will notice Should Toronto sign Jeff Skinner? | ||
| Yes | 377 | 42.3 % |
| No | 514 | 57.7 % |
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