New Jersey Devils: 5 Sabres Trades That Make More Sense Than Jack Eichel
By Nick Villano
Jeff Skinner
No, we’re not saying we would rather have Jeff Skinner and that terrible contract on the Devils over Jack Eichel, but there is a deal that makes more sense for the future of the Devils. Spoiler alert: it has to do with the Sabres paying the Devils to take this deal off their hands. Buffalo is terribly mismanaging Skinner, and now everyone is unhappy with the situation.
At $9 million per season, Skinner is worthless. There are exactly zero teams that would take on that whole contract unless the Sabres were looking to pair it with a Dahlin or Eichel deal. The Sabres have to be desperate to get out of an eight-year deal that still has seven years left.
The Devils can ask the Sabres to eat up $4.5 million per season of the contract in the deal. That’s just the start. To get out of such a deal, it’s going to take multiple picks and/or prospects. Would the Sabres be willing to give up their 1st-round pick this season? Is that even worth it with a lot of question marks at the top of the draft? It’s hard to think the Sabres would be willing to give up that pick with so much uncertainty surrounding the franchise, but there aren’t many other ways out of the deal.
The buyout actually isn’t that bad, it’s just long. The only real big hits in a buyout are in 2022 and 2026. However, they would be paying more than $2.5 million through 2033. So, the Sabres might be willing to pay one big asset to get rid of it.