Sabres make surprising decision on Jeff Skinner's availabilty for Seattle
Yesterday at 5 p.m. ET was the deadline for teams to ask players to waive their no movement clauses ahead of the Seattle Kraken expansion draft.
The Buffalo Sabres reportedly asked Jeff Skinner to waive his NMC, and he agreed to it, leaving himself exposed for the Kraken to select. Although it's unlikely the Kraken take Skinner to do his high AAV ($9 million), this allows the Sabres to protect someone else who may have been left unprotected.
"Jeff Skinner has agreed to waive his NMC for the purpose of being exposed in the Seattle expansion draft, his agent, Don Meehan, told me." Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News said in a tweet on Wednesday morning.
Skinner, 29, had the worst season of his career statistically in 2020-21. In 53 games, the Toronto, Ontario native tallied 14 points (7 G, 7 A), 14 penalty minutes, and was a -11.
Sabres GM Kevyn Adams approached Meehan about the NMC on Tuesday morning. Meehan spoke to Skinner, who agreed to waive.
Skinner has six years remaining on a contract that carries a $9 million annual cap hit.� Lance Lysowski (@LLysowski) July 14, 2021
