St. Louis Blues Should Look Into Jeff Skinner

The St. Louis Blues are in the midst of a re-tool that is bordering on a rebuild. As I have mentioned before, what Doug Armstrong does this off season will dictate how long until they can contend again.

Regardless of the "plan", Armstrong is always interested in making the team better as long as it makes sense. With that in mind, Army needs to dip his toe in the waters of Jeff Skinner.

The Buffalo Sabres are going to be buying out the remainder of Skinner's contract in order to give them a little more roster flexibility. That means that the goal scorer might be had at a discount.

Skinner isn't going to be super cheap. He will still want to get paid a fair market value for a player that has scored 40 goals once, 30-plus five times and 20 or more in four other seasons.

Jeff Skinner can help the St. Louis Blues

Nevertheless, the Blues should be in on him if he can be had at a discount. Nobody is going to pay him the $9 million he was getting from Buffalo, but he is likely to be alright with that.

Skinner will be 32 when the 2024-25 season begins, but he also has plenty of mileage on his legs given that he has been in the NHL since he was 18. He is also coming off a season where he did have 24 goals, but only 46 points.

So, why would the Blues be in on this guy given his age and their push to have more guys in their early-to-mid 20's? Because he is still a quality player, is an upgrade offensively over much of what they curently have in the middle six and might fit their budget.

Other than Pavel Buchnevich, the Blues don't have a ton of roster decisions to make right now. St. Louis is projected to have roughly $16 million in cap space coming up and their only scheduled free agents when July 1 rolls around are Marco Scandella, Nikita Alexandrov, Sammy Blais and Kasperi Kapanen.

Honestly, I would be fine with letting all those guys walk, giving their spots to younger guys, trying to find a defender in free agency and bringing in Skinner. How much he wants will dictate whether that makes any sense or not.

The reason I think it could be a good signing is that Skinner is already going to be getting his money from the Buffalo buy out. So, he can sign anywhere he wants for a price that fits their budget instead of having to go specifically after the most money in free agency.

If you could get a player that might net you upper 20's or even 30-plus goals for something in the $4-5 million range, you should jump on that. Skinner isn't the world's best defender, but he's responsible with the puck and doesn't often turn it over.

Will he want to sign in St. Louis? Would he accept a dollar amount that is something Armstrong is willing to give out? There's no way to know except to try.

There are lots of fans out there ready to just hand the keys to the car over to all the prospects coming up or are almost ready. I say you need a strong mix of styles and ages/experience to produce a winner.

Skinner is versatile in that he is capable of playing in the middle or wing. The more guys you have that can fill in at center in a pinch, the better off you are.

The Blues don't need to open up the checkbook for this guy since they have other needs, but if you can get him at the right price, you have to look into it. Armstrong isn't done yet, which is why Kevin Hayes was shipped out for nothing.

Whether he knew Skinner would be bought out or not is anyone's guess. Armstrong has to at least kick the tires though.