‘”It’s a very crucial time,” McKenzie said. “There’s been dialogue all week long between Skinner’s representatives and Buffalo general manager Jason Botterill. The NHL Combine is in Buffalo, so agents, players, prospects, general managers of all teams are descending on Buffalo. The sense seems to be is that there’s optimism, but not to the point where either side is entirely comfortable with the numbers they are exchanging. I do expect that there is likely to be more dialogue in the next 24 hours between Skinner’s reps and the Buffalo Sabres.”‘