| What is up wiith J. Skinner? [message #840101] |
Tue, 14 January 2025 10:29  |
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 Rocksteady
Messages: 531
Registered: March 2007
No Cups
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So.. is Jeff Skinner trash?
I ask that with all honesty, he's been a top 6 winger all his career and was expected by Jeff Jackson to maintain that level. Except with the Oilers, Jeff Skinner has been a pile of nothing and he's now being scratched and sent to the bottom six.
Speculation on the radio says that McDavid and Draisaitl don't like playing with him and he's been an odd fit for the team.
So... is he trash?
The very definition of insanity is doing the exact same thing expecting different results.
Generally Disappointed.
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smyth260
Messages: 1093
Registered: November 2007
1 Cup
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I actually think he’s done well with limited ice time, a coach that dislikes him, no PP time, and bottom 6 linemates.
Tied for 5th in goals on the team with 7, all even strength, while 10th in forwards for ice time. I have time for Jeff Skinner. The team is winning, but I think this is a usage issue not a player issue.
If the coach and managers didn’t know he was poor on defense before this, that’s on them. He’s been in the league a while, they should have planned for that.
[Updated on: Tue, 14 January 2025 13:13]
Clean house or bust
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Adam
Messages: 7199
Registered: August 2005
Location: Edmonton, AB
6 Cups
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| Rocksteady wrote on Tue, 14 January 2025 10:29 |
So.. is Jeff Skinner trash?
I ask that with all honesty, he's been a top 6 winger all his career and was expected by Jeff Jackson to maintain that level. Except with the Oilers, Jeff Skinner has been a pile of nothing and he's now being scratched and sent to the bottom six.
Speculation on the radio says that McDavid and Draisaitl don't like playing with him and he's been an odd fit for the team.
So... is he trash?
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Nope - not trash.
He didn't get points early, and then he's been busted down the lineup. He's playing just 12 minutes a night and getting weak linemates, and very little powerplay time. We see this all the time when a talented guy playing top line minutes moves teams to a deeper squad where he plays on the third or fourth line. It's inevitable that the production drops - especially if the coach isn't a fan of the player. We even saw this with Teemu Selanne in his brief stint with the Avs, where coach Tony Granato said that if he wanted to play on the top lines he first had to score more from the fourth line. Selanne's 32 points that season was the worst season of his entire career on a PPG basis. Injuries played a role too, but playing limited minutes with scrubs does not put a guy in a position to succeed.
Production is usually correlated to opportunity and Skinner hasn't been the coach's preferred option at any point this year. I don't fully agree with that decision on utilization - If it were me, I think I'd have him playing up in the top-6 over Podkolzin. While I like the effort from Podkolzin, he's not a finished and he's 5-11-16 playing mostly with Draisaitl, compared to Skinner's 7-8-15 playing a minute less a game and mostly with fourth liners.
Even Nugent-Hopkins, stapled to McDavid's side, only has 14 ES points this year, same as Skinner, so is Skinner really struggling? And is he not better used up line-up?
That said, he's a talented guy who has the ability to score at the NHL level and at some point the team is likely to suffer some injuries. He can step up when needed. The last couple of years we've had wingers banged up in the playoffs to the point where they're virtually useless, so having some depth pieces that can contribute will be very valuable.
We can't expect him to produce at a point per game clip in that role, like he did in Buffalo a couple seasons back, but he can still chip in and will be there when called upon.
On the "McD & Drai don't like him" front, I never put any stake in those rumours.
"Thinking that a bad team's best players are the reason the team is bad is the "Tambellini re-signing Lennart Petrell" of sports opinions." @Woodguy55
#FireBobbyNicks
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tardigrade81
Messages: 2518
Registered: November 2022
Location: Regina, Saskatchewan
2 Cups
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Well said
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Kr55
Messages: 10915
Registered: May 2002
Location: Edmonton
6 Cups
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Knob probably doesn't like his defensive game, so he might just be stuck down the lineup. That's OK though, he can give some surprise offense against weak comp in the playoffs. Lots of teams have won a cup by having some skill guys like him down the lineup that can take people by surprise while they are completely fixated on stopping the top lines.
"We need to get better immediately. That starts today"
- Lowe, 2013
"Next year I would forecast as another developmental year"
- MacT, 2015
5 x $5,000,000
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Skookum Jim
Messages: 4471
Registered: March 2006
Location: Burnaby, BC
4 Cups
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I had high hopes for J. Skinner, remember him as quick and agile, and a shooter.. not now..
He's too slow.. which I am surprised at.. he's not that old.. maybe taking too many summers off in training.. and he's too weak on pucks.. he's a turn-over machine.. too weak and too slow does not combine for an effective NHL hockey player.. especially one that sees himself (and others previously) as a top 6.. he can do things with the puck in the offensive end.. if some one goes and gets the puck for him.. but that's too rare an occurrence.
BTW .. Noah Philp just got called up from Condor Town.. worth a look.
McDAVID! Oh YEAH Baby!! (Thank you Lord!)
Tic-Tac-Tao!
Keep on Rockin' in the Free World
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Kr55
Messages: 10915
Registered: May 2002
Location: Edmonton
6 Cups
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| Skookum Jim wrote on Tue, 14 January 2025 20:53 |
I had high hopes for J. Skinner, remember him as quick and agile, and a shooter.. not now..
He's too slow.. which I am surprised at.. he's not that old.. maybe taking too many summers off in training.. and he's too weak on pucks.. he's a turn-over machine.. too weak and too slow does not combine for an effective NHL hockey player.. especially one that sees himself (and others previously) as a top 6.. he can do things with the puck in the offensive end.. if some one goes and gets the puck for him.. but that's too rare an occurrence.
BTW .. Noah Philp just got called up from Condor Town.. worth a look.
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Skinner has never had high straight line speed. He is just agile and has good hands in chaos. Seen that on some of his goals here.
His entire career he has been a guy cheating for rush offense. A large majority of offense through his career has been on the rush. That cheating obviously comes at the price of him being a no show a lot in his own end. If you can anticipate a rush chance and be ahead of defenders, the lack of speed doesn't hurt you as much, but you also need to play with some good linemates to participate in good rush opportunities. Not really the situation for most of his ice time here so far. Harder to get away with the cheating on a good team with high expectations, and when you are against good competition.
"We need to get better immediately. That starts today"
- Lowe, 2013
"Next year I would forecast as another developmental year"
- MacT, 2015
5 x $5,000,000
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