Jeff Skinner - Highest and Best Use?

[GASabresIUFAN]

The Sabres laid out heavy cash to keep Skinner after his great 3/4 season as Jack's trigger man.  Now it seems like the dynamic duo is about to be separated by HCRK.  Is this really the highest and best use of this player?  Will this lead to us getting even close to $9 mill worth or value from him.  Where should he be utilized on the PP?  

Right now HCRK seems to have him playing on the 2nd line but the 1st PP.  Admittedly I would place him on the 1st line with Jack and the 2nd PP because I don't think his passing is good enough for the top PP.  

Thoughts?

[Zamboni]

It’s preseason. 

Lines change all the time.

Whatever line gets him to be the best Jeff Skinner he can be, AND help win hockey games (most important), is fine with me. I couldn’t care less what number line he plays on.

 

[darksabre]

This certainly seems like a lot of hand-wringing over nothing 

[GASabresIUFAN]

36 minutes ago, darksabre said:

This certainly seems like a lot of hand-wringing over nothing 

Why?  Skinner does a good job creating his own opportunity but he never succeeded as he did last year until he played with a top flight center like Eichel. 

Thus removing him Eichel maybe reducing him to what he was in Carolina.  If that was the plan why are we paying him top line money? 

[darksabre]

5 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

Why?  Skinner does a good job creating his own opportunity but he never succeeded as he did last year until he played with a top flight center like Eichel. 

Thus removing him Eichel maybe reducing him to what he was in Carolina.  If that was the plan why are we paying him top line money? 

It's preseason my dude.

[Taro T]

1 hour ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

The Sabres laid out heavy cash to keep Skinner after his great 3/4 season as Jack's trigger man.  Now it seems like the dynamic duo is about to be separated by HCRK.  Is this really the highest and best use of this player?  Will this lead to us getting even close to $9 mill worth or value from him.  Where should he be utilized on the PP?  

Right now HCRK seems to have him playing on the 2nd line but the 1st PP.  Admittedly I would place him on the 1st line with Jack and the 2nd PP because I don't think his passing is good enough for the top PP.  

Thoughts?

The goal shouldn't be getting the "best Skinner.". It should be getting the most wins. 

And if Olofsson-Eichel-Reinhart can produce the way it has in limited action, a strong case can be made to keep them together providing Skinner can stay in the 30's with Johansson as his pivot.

I'm on record as saying I believe Skinner fits best on the 2nd PP, but if he does end up split from Eichel, he almost has to go on the 1st PP to make sure he doesn't end up hating coming in to work. 

Edited September 24, 2019 by Taro T

[nfreeman]

I too am willing to give RK the benefit of the doubt and see how things unfold, but I would much prefer Skinner with Eichel on the top line and Reino with Olofsson on the 2nd line.  

[triumph_communes]

I think Skinner is best suited to play with Eichel OR Reinhart, our best primary passers.  I dislike the Eichel-Reinhart duo anyway, as neither ever wants to shoot, and Reinhart takes a backseat when Eichel is out there.  I think the 'misuse' of Skinner will be resolved when Eichel and Reinhart get split up.

 

But that's assuming that Johannson can't pass the puck, or Rodrigues can't make plays.  Skinner excels at scoring on what I'd call 'broken' plays, and Rodrigues is really good at making weird those things happen on the ice.  I'm interested to see how that duo works out.

[LGR4GM]

21 minutes ago, triumph_communes said:

I think Skinner is best suited to play with Eichel OR Reinhart, our best primary passers.  I dislike the Eichel-Reinhart duo anyway, as neither ever wants to shoot, and Reinhart takes a backseat when Eichel is out there.  I think the 'misuse' of Skinner will be resolved when Eichel and Reinhart get split up.

 

But that's assuming that Johannson can't pass the puck, or Rodrigues can't make plays.  Skinner excels at scoring on what I'd call 'broken' plays, and Rodrigues is really good at making weird those things happen on the ice.  I'm interested to see how that duo works out.

Jack Eichel was 5th overall in the NHL in shots last season. 

[LGR4GM]

23 minutes ago, triumph_communes said:

I think Skinner is best suited to play with Eichel OR Reinhart, our best primary passers.  I dislike the Eichel-Reinhart duo anyway, as neither ever wants to shoot, and Reinhart takes a backseat when Eichel is out there.  I think the 'misuse' of Skinner will be resolved when Eichel and Reinhart get split up.

 

But that's assuming that Johannson can't pass the puck, or Rodrigues can't make plays.  Skinner excels at scoring on what I'd call 'broken' plays, and Rodrigues is really good at making weird those things happen on the ice.  I'm interested to see how that duo works out.

I think this has more weight. I would put Reinhart with either Skinner or Olofsson and then give them a center. Sam can drive the line and feed the shooter. 

[jad1]

The Eichel-Skinner-Reinhart is not only the best line the Sabres can ice, it has the potential to be a top five line in the NHL.  This line and strong goaltending drove a badly-coached and talent-poor team to a 10 game winning streak last season.

Eichel's playmaking optimizes Skinner's scoring.  Reinhart's play-making optimizes Eichel's scoring.  Reinhart ensures that the team gets value from their two highest-paid players.

If the GM builds a reliable, NHL-quality 2nd line to support these guys, they could lead the team to the playoffs.  As a first line, they are that good.

[Curt]

4 hours ago, jad1 said:

The Eichel-Skinner-Reinhart is not only the best line the Sabres can ice, it has the potential to be a top five line in the NHL.  This line and strong goaltending drove a badly-coached and talent-poor team to a 10 game winning streak last season.

Eichel's playmaking optimizes Skinner's scoring.  Reinhart's play-making optimizes Eichel's scoring.  Reinhart ensures that the team gets value from their two highest-paid players.

If the GM builds a reliable, NHL-quality 2nd line to support these guys, they could lead the team to the playoffs.  As a first line, they are that good.

I agree, but unfortunately the bolded is pretty far from being a reality right now.

[PerreaultForever]

i think you underestimate how good of a playmaker Johanson can be. Watching him in the playoffs last year he can pass the puck quickly, blindly and accurately at top speed. Pairing him with a goal scorer might work. Okposo is who I question. 

[GASabresIUFAN]

I have zero problem with pairing MoJo with a goal scorer.  He was brought in to be a 2nd line offense creator.  The question is do you put your best scorer (Skinner) with your 3rd best playmaker or do your leave him with your best playmaker (Eichel).

FYI: I’d argue that Reinhart is our second best playmaker and maybe our 4th best goal scorer.  Goal-ofsson could be our second best scorer already.  

Jack’s shootout % is way to low to call him 3nd.

Edited September 25, 2019 by GASabresIUFAN

[MODO Hockey]

Why is this even a question after previous season i wonder,

We didnt even have a 2nd line last season, speaking of consistency. 

Jack is a playmaker, he needs a sniper and that could be Victor, time will tell but ill say it again, we could already see the chemistry in end of last season

Imo we need a strong 2nd line and who else could up those odds for that happening other than Jeff (?)

Let Jeff settle on 2nd line with the right tools and we might just for once in a long time have two strong lines

[North Buffalo]

he needs a play maker say Sam.  Not sure best combo for Jack... Victor and??? TT or Vesey?  Just not sure, heck I would even try Mitts up there.