Jeff Skinner's time with the Buffalo Sabres is over after general manager Kevyn Adams told reporters Saturday the club will buy out the veteran winger.
Skinner had three years remaining on an eight-year contract he signed in 2019 as a free agent that saw him earn $9 million annually.
Once the buyout has been completed, it will result in the Sabres having dead cap space on their books for six seasons. It will cost the Sabres $1.44 million in cap space in 2024-25, according to CapFriendly, a figure that will rise to $4.44 million in 2025-26 before increasing another $2 million to $6.44 million in 2026-27. It will then cost the Sabres $2.44 million over the next three years until coming off the books after the 2029-30 season.
With the buyout, the Sabres head into free agency, which kicks off Monday, with $31.743 million in available cap space.
The decision to buy out Skinner comes as the Sabres are trying to make the playoffs for the first time since the 2010-11 season when they lost in the first round to the Philadelphia Flyers.
One of the reasons why the Sabres signed Skinner to that eight-year deal was the belief he could help them get back into the postseason. A six-time 20-goal scorer who also had three 30-goal seasons with the Carolina Hurricanes, Buffalo hoped Skinner would give them a consistent goal-scoring threat.
He was just that in the first year of the deal. Skinner scored a career-high 40 goals while tying his previous career high of 63 points in 82 games. But the next few seasons would prove challenging as Skinner scored just 21 goals and 35 points over 112 games between the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons.
He bounced back to score 30 goals and 63 points in the 2021-22 season and another 35 goals and a career-high 82 points in 79 games during the 2022-23 season.
But the 32-year-old finished the 2023-24 season with 24 goals and 46 points for his third-fewest goals in his career when playing more than 64 games; his 46 points were the second fewest in a season in which he played more than 64 games.
Although the Sabres bought out Skinner, his production at a lower cost could result in him becoming an attractive option for a Stanley Cup contender in need of scoring depth at a certain price.