Keep up the great work Ben, we missed out most of the season having any Isls talk so this is refreshing.
9 mil wow, Sabres the eastern version of Oilers for management style. Get Skinner for <6.5 then your talking. The thing is Lou already has Ho-sang to step in but this kid is not wired like most, so not sure he will fit which is to bad because he has offensive skills lacking on this forward group. Another player I would go after is another maligned kid Brandon Pirri, all he does is score goals and would be cheap.

Keep up the great work Ben, we missed out most of the season having any Isls talk so this is refreshing.
9 mil wow, Sabres the eastern version of Oilers for management style. Get Skinner for <6.5 then your talking. The thing is Lou already has Ho-sang to step in but this kid is not wired like most, so not sure he will fit which is to bad because he has offensive skills lacking on this forward group. Another player I would go after is another maligned kid Brandon Pirri, all he does is score goals and would be cheap.
- Leo_Union

Everyone wants to pay nothing for the kid but reality is he’s going to make more than 6.5. He did score 40 goals last season😂

Everyone wants to pay nothing for the kid but reality is he’s going to make more than 6.5. He did score 40 goals last season😂
- Cptmjl

He's injury prone though. He's missed .9% of his games over the last four years! That's nearly one percent!

He's missed 3 games in the last four years, come on man


- eichiefs9

How about the years before that? should we just ignore those? After his rookie year he missed 20 games in 2011/12, Missed half the season in 12/13, missed 11 games in 13/14, .. and yes he has concussion issues in the past. Last 4 years he played a full season.. in those years he was hugely inconsistent. Last year he had a great year on a contract year. the year before he had 24 goals, 25 assists and was a -27 on the year (your boy Eberle was 25/34 and +5 that year). ... you love him.. I don't..period.

He's injury prone though. He's missed .9% of his games over the last four years! That's nearly one percent!
- eichiefs9

just keep ignoring the first 4 years of his career..

It's a fair point but even if you go back and look at his entire career, he's only missed truly significant time in one season. His sophomore year.
- eichiefs9

missed half the season his 3rd year

missed half the season his 3rd year
- niteislander

missed half the season his 3rd year
- niteislander

That was the lockout year. Teams played 48 games.

That was the lockout year. Teams played 48 games.
- eichiefs9

How about the years before that? should we just ignore those? After his rookie year he missed 20 games in 2011/12, Missed half the season in 12/13, missed 11 games in 13/14, .. and yes he has concussion issues in the past. Last 4 years he played a full season.. in those years he was hugely inconsistent. Last year he had a great year on a contract year. the year before he had 24 goals, 25 assists and was a -27 on the year (your boy Eberle was 25/34 and +5 that year). ... you love him.. I don't..period.
- niteislander

He played on abortion-level Hurricanes teams. He finally got a real center and he scored 40 goals. He's not perfect but people who think he's only worth $6M are insane. His injury issues are behind him, I'm not sure why they're relevant 8 years later when he's missed three games in four years.

I got absolutely sewered in here like a week or two ago for suggesting we should completely avoid re-signing Cizikas because he's not young and his body is going to continue to break down due to the style of game he plays and he's missed 52 games over the last four seasons...but somehow that doesn't apply, because....... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

- bgainesDM

Oh, and Skinner has scored the 3rd most goals at 5v5 over the last three seasons behind only Ovechkin and P. Kane. But I could see why his concussion 7 or 8 years ago would be a good reason to not want him.

He played on abortion-level Hurricanes teams. He finally got a real center and he scored 40 goals. He's not perfect but people who think he's only worth $6M are insane. His injury issues are behind him, I'm not sure why they're relevant 8 years later when he's missed three games in four years.

I got absolutely sewered in here like a week or two ago for suggesting we should completely avoid re-signing Cizikas because he's not young and his body is going to continue to break down due to the style of game he plays and he's missed 52 games over the last four seasons...but somehow that doesn't apply, because....... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
- eichiefs9

Stop bringing logic to the discussion-it is taboo on this site

Oh, and Skinner has scored the 3rd most goals at 5v5 over the last three seasons behind only Ovechkin and P. Kane. But I could see why his concussion 7 or 8 years ago would be a good reason to not want him.
- eichiefs9

While I want the Isles to get Panarin, I would gladly take Skinner and watch Barzal setting up Skinner for many goals.

While I want the Isles to get Panarin, I would gladly take Skinner and watch Barzal setting up Skinner for many goals.
- ses111

I’m not really to huge on Skinner. Not a fan but if he’s available and we weren’t able to add anyone you can bet your arse Lameriello will make him in an offer and it’ll be more then 6.5. With that said the Sabres will most likely wind up resigning him and overpay for him.

He would most likely be pretty awesome on Barzals wing.

While I want the Isles to get Panarin, I would gladly take Skinner and watch Barzal setting up Skinner for many goals.
- ses111

Yeah Barzal feeding a shoot-first Skinner for the next 7 years sounds pretty good to me.

Yeah Barzal feeding a shoot-first Skinner for the next 7 years sounds pretty good to me.
- eichiefs9

Just beat my edit 😂

I’m not really to huge on Skinner. Not a fan but if he’s available and we weren’t able to add anyone you can bet your arse Lameriello will make him in an offer and it’ll be more then 6.5. With that said the Sabres will most likely wind up resigning him and overpay for him.

He would most likely be pretty awesome on Barzals wing.
- Cptmjl

Skinner is not a perfect option like any other player but if you miss on a Panarin and Skinner is available, you do not think twice about trying to sign him.

Yeah Barzal feeding a shoot-first Skinner for the next 7 years sounds pretty good to me.
- eichiefs9

Just curious. Skinner is a LW. So is Lee, Beau, and DalColle. Assuming Lee gets re-signed, what would your lines look like?

Just curious. Skinner is a LW. So is Lee, Beau, and DalColle. Assuming Lee gets re-signed, what would your lines look like?
- JohnScammo

Dont forget Ladd & Martin

Yeah Barzal feeding a shoot-first Skinner for the next 7 years sounds pretty good to me.
- eichiefs9

Yep! You can do so much worse than Skinner.

Just curious. Skinner is a LW. So is Lee, Beau, and DalColle. Assuming Lee gets re-signed, what would your lines look like?
- JohnScammo

I'm not 100% positive, but if Bingo is lurking I'll let him confirm, but a lot of sites list him as LW/RW and I'm pretty sure he's spent time at both. If he weren't able to play RW though, I'd consider sticking Beau over on the right side.

Something to the effect of:

Skinner-Barzal-Bailey
Lee-Nelson-Beau
MDC-Cizikas-Komarov
Martin-Fritz-Clutterbuck

But that's just as the team is constructed as of now, that's subject to change.

If Skinner does play RW:

Lee-Barzal-Skinner
Beau-Nelson-Bailey
MDC-Cizikas-Komarov
Martin-Fritz-Clutterbuck

I'm not 100% positive, but if Bingo is lurking I'll let him confirm, but a lot of sites list him as LW/RW and I'm pretty sure he's spent time at both. If he weren't able to play RW though, I'd consider sticking Beau over on the right side.

Something to the effect of:

Skinner-Barzal-Bailey
Lee-Nelson-Beau
MDC-Cizikas-Komarov
Martin-Fritz-Clutterbuck

But that's just as the team is constructed as of now, that's subject to change.

If Skinner does play RW:

Lee-Barzal-Skinner
Beau-Nelson-Bailey
MDC-Cizikas-Komarov
Martin-Fritz-Clutterbuck
- eichiefs9

OK, that makes sense. And a lot of these guys are ambidextrous, so I was putting too much stock in the fact that Skinner is listed as a LW. He may be just fine playing RW.

Dont forget Ladd & Martin
- Hell_Bent

Yeah, I left out Martin and the vaunted 4th line intentionally. I was really more curious about the top 9.

And Ladd??? What's left to be said?

OK, that makes sense. And a lot of these guys are ambidextrous, so I was putting too much stock in the fact that Skinner is listed as a LW. He may be just fine playing RW.
- JohnScammo

I'd move any Islanders winger out of their spot to accommodate Skinner, honestly. I'd rather see him play RW, but if he's better at LW then so be it. Scoring is scoring and I don't care what side of the ice it comes from.