Rumor: Sharks and Sabres Could Swap Expensive Contracts

The Buffalo Sabres have recently made forward Jeff Skinner and his $9 million cap hit a healthy scratch in back-to-back games and if you ask one of the hockey world's best insiders, they'll mention the San Jose Sharks as a potential landing spot for a Skinner trade.

Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet was recently a guest on The Instigators with Andrew Peters and Craig Rivet and had this to say about what a deal to San Jose would look like. 

Listening to Friedman's hit on The Instigators in Buffalo, they're talking about a potential Vlasic for Skinner swap.

Would it be possible? Would San Jose even be interested in doing that? First I heard of these rumours.

— NHL Watcher (@NHL_Watcher) February 23, 2021

The only huge hurdle here is the fact that Marc-Edouard Vlasic has a full no-movement clause and going from playing hockey in California to playing hockey in Buffalo just doesn't seem like a move he would sign off on. Perhaps with his family being in Quebec, Canada would make it slightly appealing to be headed closer to them, but you have to think he doesn't sign off on this deal.

Vlasic has five years left on his contract that pays him $7 million per season.

Would both teams be interested? Likely. Skinner has been a huge disappointment and the Sharks are looking for ways to re-tool on the fly and are expected to be open to trading away some of their veteran players including Vlasic, Brent Burns and Erik Karlsson.

This will certainly be interesting to watch as the Sabres continue to sit Skinner and his expensive contract.

Photo credit: Matt Cohen/Icon Sportswire