Why the Anaheim Ducks Should Be Paying Attention to the Jeff Skinner Situation
Could the solution to Anaheim’s left winger woes be sitting in Carolina?!?
Jeff Skinner has won the Calder Trophy, has made an All-Star team, and is only 23 years-old.
So naturally, the Carolina Hurricanes are trying to trade him . . . wait, say what?!?
Yes, it’s true: the Hurricanes have been trying to find someone who is interested in the left winger since the NHL Entry Draft, according to Luke DeCock of the News & Observer. So far, no one has made Hurricanes general manager Ron Francis an offer he cannot refuse yet . . . but the fact that the team is even thinking of trading Skinner is astounding . . . and incredibly fortuitous for the Anaheim Ducks.
Just Tuesday, I wrote a piece in which I identified the lack of a true, first-line quality left winger as the Ducks’ most glaring weakness heading into 2015-2016. God bless him, but Patrick Maroon is not a starting forward; heck, many of you told me you would rather see him on the third line! Carl Hagelin would be a nice improvement over Maroon, but I can easily argue that even Hagelin is better suited to play on the second line with Ryan Kesler and Jakob Silfverberg.
Long story short, the Anaheim Ducks need a legitimate first-line forward playing on the left wing alongside Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry, and since there just happens to be one in sale over in Carolina, Ducks GM Bob Murray should be listening.
Hard.
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Sure, Jeff Skinner is coming off his worst season as a professional hockey player, scoring just 18-13-31 in 2014-2015, after his 33-21-54 effort a year earlier. I get the fact that his 14-15 numbers do not seem to justify the $5.725 million cap hit (as per NHLNumbers.com) that Skinner will ding the Hurricanes for through the 2018-2019 season, but come one! It was just one off season! Consider his entire body of work:
If you are concerned that is numbers are not eye-popping, and that his career +/- is -64, remember: he has never played on a Carolina Hurricanes team that has made the playoffs. The fact that Carolina is considering trading this kid just shows you that not everyone in an NHL front office knows what the hell s/he is doing.
Ron Francis is not going to let Jeff Skinner leave Carolina without getting a top-six forward and either a prospect or another role player, but the Anaheim Ducks should absolutely consider finding out what Francis is looking for, if they have not already. I find it hard to believe that Skinner would not thrive playing alongside Getzlaf and Perry, and we all know that Anaheim has the cap space to make such a trade work.
Carolina would be wise to hang onto Jeff Skinner, but if they are really serious about moving him, he could wind up being the man who finally replaces Bobby Ryan in Anaheim.