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.
- eichiefs9

Why not
Beau - Barzal - Skinner
Lee - Nelson - Bailey

as the top 9
Good chemistry with Lee and Bailey as always, opens up Nelson in the slot area. Good chemistry with Beau and Barzal which opens up more opportunities for Skinner.

Why not
Beau - Barzal - Skinner
Lee - Nelson - Bailey

as the top 9
Good chemistry with Lee and Bailey as always, opens up Nelson in the slot area. Good chemistry with Beau and Barzal which opens up more opportunities for Skinner.
- bgainesDM

I'm not totally against it, although I have some doubts about that Lee/Nelson/Bailey line. None of those guys are really drivers of play and I have some mild doubts they'd produce well enough.

I also think that doing this today is mostly an exercise in futility since there's a good chance the roster looks a lot different in a month.

I'm not totally against it, although I have some doubts about that Lee/Nelson/Bailey line. None of those guys are really drivers of play and I have some mild doubts they'd produce well enough.

I also think that doing this today is mostly an exercise in futility since there's a good chance the roster looks a lot different in a month.
- eichiefs9

Hell, it might even look different next week.

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.
- eichiefs9

I guess I'm a little cautious here. I could see Skinner turning out to be only a slight upgrade of Eberle. Not so much a prediction as a concern. I question whether he's worth the $9 million/year that he's likely to get. As Ben pointed out, he doesn't seem to be much of a 2-way forward. He's something like -96 in his NHL career, admittedly on crap teams. But you have to wonder...... Carolina dumps him for mostly draft picks, and they suddenly go deep in the playoffs. Maybe just a coincidence....

I guess I'm a little cautious here. I could see Skinner turning out to be only a slight upgrade of Eberle. Not so much a prediction as a concern. I question whether he's worth the $9 million/year that he's likely to get. As Ben pointed out, he doesn't seem to be much of a 2-way forward. He's something like -96 in his NHL career, admittedly on crap teams. But you have to wonder...... Carolina dumps him for mostly draft picks, and they suddenly go deep in the playoffs. Maybe just a coincidence....
- JohnScammo

It carries some risk, there's no doubt about it.

Plus/minus is so flawed it's really not worth putting much stock in. Mat Barzal was -5 on a team that allowed the fewest goals in the NHL and I don't think there's a team in the league that wouldn't cut off a few toes to land him. But, to your point, yes...Skinner has played on some truly awful teams and still managed to produce some pretty good point totals despite not having a great supporting cast around him.

Regarding Carolina dumping him for very little: he only had a year remaining on his deal, I believe expressed no interest in an extension, and (most importantly here) Carolina gave him a full NMC for the final two years of his contract. He had full control over where he went and he may have told them that he'd only go to Buffalo (or approved trades to other teams but the return was even worse than what Buffalo gave up and CAR took the best deal they were offered). So that absolutely killed his value.

Forget Skinner or Eberle, you guys need to be all in long term for Kunitz or Cullen

Forget Skinner or Eberle, you guys need to be all in long term for Kunitz or Cullen
- mdw7413

We'll trade you Leo Komarov and a 7th round pick in 2026 for that garbage bust of a prospect Lundkvist. The 7th round actually projects to be really deep that year.

It carries some risk, there's no doubt about it.

Plus/minus is so flawed it's really not worth putting much stock in. Mat Barzal was -5 on a team that allowed the fewest goals in the NHL and I don't think there's a team in the league that wouldn't cut off a few toes to land him. But, to your point, yes...Skinner has played on some truly awful teams and still managed to produce some pretty good point totals despite not having a great supporting cast around him.

Regarding Carolina dumping him for very little: he only had a year remaining on his deal, I believe expressed no interest in an extension, and (most importantly here) Carolina gave him a full NMC for the final two years of his contract. He had full control over where he went and he may have told them that he'd only go to Buffalo (or approved trades to other teams but the return was even worse than what Buffalo gave up and CAR took the best deal they were offered). So that absolutely killed his value.
- eichiefs9

If I could remember the significance of the Corsi, Fenwick, and other advanced stats, I'd happily use them in place of +/-.

But Carolina absolutely sucked for all those years WITH Skinner. So I expected them to suck even more after they traded him. I never thought they would make the playoffs, let alone play in the conference finals. Again, it could be just coincidence....

We'll trade you Leo Komarov and a 7th round pick in 2026 for that garbage bust of a prospect Lundkvist. The 7th round actually projects to be really deep that year.
- eichiefs9

Forget Lundqvist. We'll settle for their 1st round pick this year.

If I could remember the significance of the Corsi, Fenwick, and other advanced stats, I'd happily use them in place of +/-.

But Carolina absolutely sucked for all those years WITH Skinner. So I expected them to suck even more after they traded him. I never thought they would make the playoffs, let alone play in the conference finals. Again, it could be just coincidence....
- JohnScammo

I know not everyone cares about them, but if you ever do have interest in learning more about it then this is a good starting point/reference. Does a pretty good job of explaining what's what.

Regarding the Canes finally becoming competitive...I'd go with the "coincidence" thing. It's easy to say "Skinner left and they ended up being good" but that's really just confirmation bias and doesn't take into account the fact that Aho really broke out as a star, they got goaltending that was almost as ridiculously-unexpected as what the Isles got, and their already-good young defense took a major leap forward as well. Not to mention adding a defensive stalwart like de Haan into the fold.

I don't think Skinner was the one thing holding them back from going from the 11th worst team in the league to an Eastern Conference finalist.

Forget Lundqvist. We'll settle for their 1st round pick this year.
- JohnScammo

We'd have to add more for that. Change the 2026 7th to a 2025 5th and that would probably be enough to get the 2nd overall

We'd have to add more for that. Change the 2026 7th to a 2025 5th and that would probably be enough to get the 2nd overall
- eichiefs9

Oh all right! Jeez, you drive a hard bargain!

Oh all right! Jeez, you drive a hard bargain!
- JohnScammo

I'm a master negiotibater

I know not everyone cares about them, but if you ever do have interest in learning more about it then this is a good starting point/reference. Does a pretty good job of explaining what's what.

Regarding the Canes finally becoming competitive...I'd go with the "coincidence" thing. It's easy to say "Skinner left and they ended up being good" but that's really just confirmation bias and doesn't take into account the fact that Aho really broke out as a star, they got goaltending that was almost as ridiculously-unexpected as what the Isles got, and their already-good young defense took a major leap forward as well. Not to mention adding a defensive stalwart like de Haan into the fold.

I don't think Skinner was the one thing holding them back from going from the 11th worst team in the league to an Eastern Conference finalist.
- eichiefs9

Thanks. I shall take my homework assignment seriously. By the way, until I have time to finish the assignment, how DO Skinner's advanced stats look? Compared to say, Ross Johnston....

I'm a master negiotibater
- eichiefs9

And with cpt being a master baiter, you guys make a good pairing.

We'll trade you Leo Komarov and a 7th round pick in 2026 for that garbage bust of a prospect Lundkvist. The 7th round actually projects to be really deep that year.
- eichiefs9

Thanks. I shall take my homework assignment seriously. By the way, until I have time to finish the assignment, how DO Skinner's advanced stats look? Compared to say, Ross Johnston....
- JohnScammo

Compared to Ross Johnston? They look like the Sears Tower compared to a Lincoln Log set

They look like what you would expect from an offense-first and shoot-first winger. His CF% has always been on the right side of 50 his entire career, meaning his team generates more shot attempts when he's on the ice than they allow the other team to generate shot attempts against them ie: when he's on the ice, the ice is typically tilted in his team's favor. He was especially good at this in his last season in Carolina.



He gets a ton of offensive zone starts, obviously, because he's not a defensive player at all. He's pure offense, which we obviously need. If he can commit to playing passable "Trotz hockey" I think he'll be just fine. We don't need him to be Patrice Bergeron.

Compared to Ross Johnston? They look like the Sears Tower compared to a Lincoln Log set

They look like what you would expect from an offense-first and shoot-first winger. His CF% has always been on the right side of 50 his entire career, meaning his team generates more shot attempts when he's on the ice than they allow the other team to generate shot attempts against them ie: when he's on the ice, the ice is typically tilted in his team's favor. He was especially good at this in his last season in Carolina.



He gets a ton of offensive zone starts, obviously, because he's not a defensive player at all. He's pure offense, which we obviously need. If he can commit to playing passable "Trotz hockey" I think he'll be just fine. We don't need him to be Patrice Bergeron.
- eichiefs9

I'd settle for Ryan O'Reilly.

I'd settle for Ryan O'Reilly.
- JohnScammo

I would have paid a fortune for him. He's one of my favorite players in the league.

I would have paid a fortune for him. He's one of my favorite players in the league.
- eichiefs9

What are you 12?

What are you 12?
- Vukota

Yeah keep Cpt the (frank) away from me

Yeah keep Cpt the (frank) away from me
- eichiefs9

I would have paid a fortune for him. He's one of my favorite players in the league.
- eichiefs9

Yup. Good combination of size, skill and grit. I don't think I fully appreciated his value until this year's playoffs.

Yeah keep Cpt the (frank) away from me
- eichiefs9

Mission impossible.

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