Jeff Skinner trade grade: Sabres rob the Hurricanes blind

Jeff Skinner was dealt from the Carolina Hurricanes to the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday, and the Sabres absolutely took the Hurricanes to town in the deal.

After months of speculation, Jeff Skinner has been traded from the Carolina Hurricanes. Skinner is now a member of the Buffalo Sabres, and they pried him for Carolina for super cheap.

The Carolina Hurricanes traded Jeff Skinner to the Buffalo Sabres in return for a second-round draft pick in 2019, a third and sixth-round pick in 2020 and 20-year-old forward prospect Cliff Pu, who was the Sabres’ third-round pick in 2016. Skinner also waived his No Trade Clause to accept the trade to Buffalo. Skinner also has one year left on his six-year contract with a cap hit of $5.725 million.

The 26-year-old Jeff Skinner won the Calder Trophy in his rookie season in 2011 and has been one of the best even strength producers in the league over the last three seasons, ranking seventh among NHL players with 74 even-strength goals. Last season Skinner had a slightly down year with 24 goals and 25 assists for 49 points but was his sixth season posting 20 or more goals and third straight.

The Hurricanes have tried to trade Jeff Skinner ever since their season ended in early April. It became clear that Skinner would be unwilling to sign an extension, so the Hurricanes were left with three options. Trade Skinner before the season, trade him at the deadline or risk losing him for nothing. While there was plenty of interest, eventually it narrowed to Buffalo being the best fit that Skinner was willing to lift his no-movement clause.

”This was the right time for us to move on and provide Jeff with a fresh start in Buffalo,” Hurricanes general manager Don Waddell said in a statement. ”We talked to every team in the league over the past four months, and ultimately the Sabres were the team that provided us the best value in return.”

Don Waddell can say that, but Buffalo is easily the winner of this trade at the moment. They got a top-six winger in Jeff Skinner, held onto all three of their first round picks in next years draft, and didn’t give up any of their revered prospects. Skinner could be the piece that pushes Buffalo into competing for a playoff spot as a proven scoring winger that will be playing alongside Jack Eichel or Casey Mittelstadt.

Don’t look now, but the Sabres are starting to look scary after this busy offseason. As if getting a possible generational defender in Rasmus Dahlin wasn’t enough, they’ve also added Carter Hutton, traded for Connor Sheary and Matt Hunwick, and got Tage Thompson, Vladimir Sobotka and Patrik Berglund in the trade for Ryan O’Reilly. Now with Jeff Skinner in their top six, the Sabres have to start being taken seriously by other teams. It might not be enough to make them a playoff team just yet after finishing in last place the previous season, but it certainly gives them a fighting chance.

For the Hurricanes, they just gave up a big part of their great wing depth in return for a bunch of low reward lottery tickets. For the return that they got from Buffalo, they would’ve been better off just keeping Skinner to start the season and seeing what they have before deciding to move him. Granted they were handcuffed by Skinner’s no movement clause and could’ve found a team willing to pay more without it, but that return is not at all impressive.

Buffalo has three first round picks, and you couldn’t get a single one? Cliff Pu was also the best you could do for a prospect? You could say that the trade is only for one year of Jeff Skinner, but he was willing to lift his no movement clause to go to Buffalo, so there is clearly some incentive for him to stay there. If you want to make the playoff this season, then why ruin your wing depth by trading a player you won’t be able to replace before the season starts? In short, the team is now worse off with the trade, and the futures they are getting instead aren’t really worth it.

Obviously, time is the best way to determine who wins a trade, but it’s difficult to see how Carolina ends up on top here. Buffalo on the other hand should get really excited at the team they have this season. For the first time in a long time there is real, tangible hope here.