Jeff Skinner Getting Bought Out by the Buffalo Sabres

The Buffalo Sabres are moving on. According to multiple reports, including initially from Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, the Sabres are buying out the last three seasons of Jeff Skinner's contract. With the Stanley Cup handed on Monday night, the NHL's buy out window opens on Wednesday.

This isn’t breaking news. Friedman and Marek were on this a week ago.

Multiple sources have confirmed to me the Sabres will buy out the last 3 years of Skinner’s contract barring an unforeseen trade.

I discuss his BUF career & reasoning for the move.https://t.co/eZNOSiqJqD
— Chad DeDominicis (@CMDeDominicis) June 26, 2024

Skinner, 32, has three years left at a whopping $9 million annually, and last season recorded 24 goals and 46 points in 74 games. He's spent the past six seasons in Buffalo, and even though he may have just had a down season, he's scored 40, 35, and 33 goals as a Sabre.

There's going to be a tremendous amount of interest in Skinner and he's going to be hearing from the likes of the Carolina Hurricanes, Nashville Predators, LA Kings, Pittsburgh Penguins, Vancouver Canucks, among others.

The $27 million buy out works out to a $1.4 million cap hit next season, then goes up to $4.4, $6.4, and then $2.4-million for three more seasons. This financial flexibility is something the Sabres management group is craving.

Skinner still has game, it's going to be entertaining to see where he lands.

Jeff Skinner will be bought out by BUF.

- Very efficient goal-scorer
- Strong chance creator, especially off rush
- Inconsistent playmaker
- Not much of a puck carrier
- Agile but not fast skater
- Uninvolved defensively and on the forecheck with little physicality pic.twitter.com/cincRug9ZZ
— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) June 26, 2024