Jeff Skinner will be the first to admit he hasn't played particularly well so far in 2024-25, after being signed during the offseason by the Edmonton Oilers to further enhance their already potent offence. Instead, he's currently projected for one of his worst ever seasons in the NHL.
Clearly Skinner's coach is unimpressed with his play thus far, with the forward being moved further down the lines as the season has progressed. He's on course for a career-low average ice time of 12:44 per game, considerably below his previous worst of 14:31 during the 2020-21 season.
The 32-year-old has a team-worst -10 rating at the time of writing, albeit he's traditionally struggled in this area, as per a career -130 rating entering this season. Perhaps worst of all though is his lack of scoring, with just six goals entering Saturday night's road game against the Seattle Kraken.
Could Skinner be on the move?
This is understandably alarming for a player who has averaged around 25 goals during his 15 years in the NHL, and even more so, considering the talent on the Oilers roster. As such, there has been plenty of speculation recently, that the organisation are seriously considering moving Skinner ahead of the Mar. 7 trade deadline. (Not that this would be straightforward, with him holding a no-move clause in his one-year deal with the team.)
One of the overriding sentiments, is that the 2010 seventh overall entry draft pick is unable to fit into the system which is used in Edmonton. That his style of play just doesn't mesh with the team philosophy, with the most damning assessment being that he's lacking the necessary hustle and effort.
With all this in mind, Saturday night in Seattle proved to be a welcome one for Skinner, as he finally showed more of what he is capable of, in a 4-2 win for the Oilers. Despite playing on the fourth line -- or maybe because of it -- he had an excellent game against the Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena.
The goal drought finally ends
The two-time NHL All-Star highlighted his performance with his seventh goal of the season, a nice deke high into the net which ended his seven-game goalless drought. It also represented his second straight solid game, with him collecting a primary assist in the previous night's 3-2 home win versus the Anaheim Ducks, to end a six-game pointless streak.
Skinner was asked about his goal postgame by the media, but he made sure to also give credit elsewhere. As per Jamie Umbach of NHL.com, he said:
"It was a nice play by (Derek Ryan) and (Kasperi Kapanen), but I think in the last couple of games, the lines have been playing pretty well. I've been with a couple of guys here and there kind of rotating through, but I think there's a lot of depth and a lot of good players. Wherever you're playing, there will be guys that make plays. I've had some good results in the last couple of games, so hopefully, we can keep that going."
As much as Kris Knoblauch has been forced to demote Skinner due to his overall play and even make him a healthy scratch at one point, the Oilers coach has made sure not to publicly criticise him, attempting to instead praise him as and when possible. As per the team's YouTube channel, Knoblauch said:
"He's an absolute professional and he's been really solid for us all year. It's never easy taking a player out. "
Of course it's easy to dispute that Skinner has been solid all year, but we can appreciate what Knoblauch is attempting to do, and it seems to be beginning to pay off based on these past two games. In this respect, if the winger can continue to produce more consistently as per previous seasons, this Oilers teams is going to even more dangerous for opponents to deal with.