The Buffalo Sabres captain has announced his retirement due to marital issues with his wife.
Buffalo, New York Moving forward, Jeff Skinner is appreciative and inspired by his new deal, which will keep him with the Buffalo Sabres for the next eight seasons.
The fact that the Sabres made him the team’s second-highest-paid player, after captain Jack Eichel, impressed him. Furthermore, Skinner is happy about the increased standards brought about by his $72 million contract.
In his first interview one day after reaching the deal, Skinner told The Associated Press over the phone on Saturday, “Obviously, I know there’s expectations and what my job is, and my job is to produce.”
“But I think that any athlete has that pride and wants to work and help the team win,” he stated. “I’m thrilled to be present and contribute.”
After registering a career-high and team-leading 40 goals in his debut season in Buffalo, Skinner is expected to be a key player. The 27-year-old was traded to the Sabres last August after playing his first eight seasons in Carolina.
The Hurricanes made the trade with the understanding that, once Skinner’s contract expired after the season, they would not be able to pay his asking price.
The Buffalo Sabres, who are rebuilding their team, are in desperate need of goal scorers with a track record, so they jumped at the chance to sign the four-time 30-goal scorer before he became a free agent on July 1.
“One of the questions is going to be about giving an eight-year contract to a 27-year-old, but there’s always going to be risk,” Botterill said on Saturday.
“Our biggest focus, I think, heading into free agency was getting Jeff signed, and we’ve accomplished that,” he stated. “We want to add to our group and not have to go out there and try to replace what Jeff Skinner can bring.”
Skinner became the first player from Buffalo to reach 40 goals since 2008–09’s Thomas Vanek. And ninety of Buffalo’s 226 goals from the previous season came from Skinner, Eichel, and forward Sam Reinhart.
In order to increase secondary scoring, Botterill is currently concentrating on developing young talent and adding players through trades or free agency this off-season.
We missed out on the playoffs. We need to keep getting better in a lot of different areas,” Botterill continued. “If we manage to incorporate a tiny bit more
