Sabres buy out Skinner with 3 years left on deal
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Ryan S. Clark, NHL reporter
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.
WASHINGTON — Washington Nationals top prospect James Wood made his major league debut Monday night in a 9-7 loss to the New York Mets.
“It’s unreal,” said Wood, a native of nearby Olney, Maryland, before the game. “Just being able to play for the team I grew up around and watching, it’s a blessing.”
The Nationals selected the contract of the 21-year-old outfielder to call him up from Triple-A Rochester. Wood was acquired in the August 2022 trade that sent Juan Soto to San Diego. He played left field and batted sixth in his first major league contest.
“Unique,” Wood said when asked for one word to describe his debut. “It’s just like the first time doing something, something you’ve never done before, playing in front of a crowd like that and obviously in the major leagues.”
After receiving a standing ovation from the crowd of 26,719 in the bottom of the second, Wood fell behind 1-2, worked the count full and then lined an opposite-field single into left-center against Mets starter David Peterson. It was his only hit of the night in four at-bats.
“I was just kind of looking for a fastball,” Wood said. “His fastball runs, it’s got a run and sink on it. I was trying to push it up and away, especially after I swung through the one down. And then I was just able to get one.”
He is the third-ranked prospect in the Major League Baseball pipeline. The 6-foot-7, 234-pounder was hitting .353 with 10 home runs, 37 RBIs and an OPS of 1.058 in the minors.
“He’s done really well at Triple-A,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said. “I talked to him a little bit today about his routine, stick with his routine and really just be where your feet are and have fun.”
Wood estimated he’d have “more than 50” friends and family members in attendance for his debut.
“It’s cool just being back home and having my family here and trying to soak it all in,” he said. “At the end of the day it’s still baseball, so just trying to look at it that way.”
The Nationals acquired him in August 2022 in the deal for Soto that also brought shortstop CJ Abrams and left-handed starter MacKenzie Gore to Washington.
Abrams and Gore have been mainstays on a rebuilding club that has remained competitive a year after finishing last in the NL East at 71-91. Washington (39-44) entered Monday four games out of an NL wild-card spot.
In a corresponding roster move, the team designated outfielder Eddie Rosario for assignment.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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