He’s only 31 while hitting this career milestone and he’s carved out a fascinating legacy.
Most often when an NHL player hits the 1,000-game mark, it’s a player creeping up on the end of the road in their career. It takes a lot of time, good health, solid performance, and good luck to accomplish such a feat. For Jeff Skinner at 31 years old, he’s not near the end of his career by any means. If anything, he’s finding ways to evolve in the league and trying to do things his way, just a bit differently is all.
Skinner has made it this far in the league by being remarkably healthy in his career. After some injury scares early on in his time with the Carolina Hurricanes because of concussions, he’s kept the time lost to ailments to a minimum. After debuting in the NHL at 18 years old as a goal-scoring wunderkind fresh out of OHL Kitchener he’s been an even-strength scoring machine.
Until Auston Matthews passed him recently, Skinner had the most goals scored in the NHL by players drafted since 2010 with 357. He scored 40 goals in a season once and 30 or more five other times in 14 seasons. He’s a remarkable talent and considering he’s never been the biggest guy or the fastest guy, it’s impressive.
Yet, his legacy is complicated. He’s never been known to be at all a defensive player, something many people use against him when assessing what he’s done. There’s also the fact he’s yet to play in the postseason, something that’s less to do with him than the situations he’s been in throughout his career. It’s almost as impressive to play in the NHL for 1,000 regular season games and not be in the playoffs as it is to just play 1,000 games, period.
But Jeff Skinner isn’t a GM, he’s just a guy that is extremely gifted at offensive hockey, upsetting opponents, and loves playing the game. That’s not too complicated.
“It’s one of those things, I think, in the moment you don’t think about, sort of, over the years or you don’t really reflect much, I think I just kind of take it day by day, but when something comes like this, and then people are making plans and for me getting asked who is influential in your career and who was who made impacts, then you start sort of looking back and thinking about the list of people, and for me, it’s been just kind of like, the list keeps getting longer,” Skinner said. “You think you’ve sort of covered most of the people that have been important and then there’s another person you think of, and they helped you in this different situation that you just kind of remembered.
“I think it’s cool to reflect back on all the people that that have helped me and impacted me in a positive way going forward and throughout my career and obviously the longer it goes on the more people that is. I think that’s probably been the biggest thing that’s been pretty cool. Just kind of the reminder of how long it’s been is how many people have helped me or made relationships along the way.”
The highs in Skinner’s career to this point have been, personally, high while the lows have been various, both individually and with his teams, but he’s made an impact on everyone he’s been around no matter what.
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Skinner is the exact kind of player that’s going to drive people nuts. He makes fans go wild when he’s scoring goals, but he can make them rage just the same with a turnover or a blown coverage in the defensive zone. He makes opposing players lose their mind with his chirping and relentless attacking of the net while simultaneously occasionally playing loose with the rule book.
He’s as unassuming in person as he is a complete pain in the ass on the ice. It’s the duality most people have in their lives, just not generally to those kinds of extremes. What he does for his teammates, however, is something they adore him for.
“I think you look at his journey, you know, he comes in, wins a Calder and scores 30 almost every year, and then comes here, scores 40, has a couple off-years where he’s kind of in, you know, in a different role and gets himself out of that,” Tage Thompson said. “I think it’s just a testament to his character and the work ethic he has. I think he’s one of the best competitors on our team. He’s always engaged and wants to be the best, wants to score, wants to be in that big moment in the game. And I think that’s a special quality to have in a player.”
That journey from Carolina to Buffalo saw Hurricanes management kick him on the way out the door. Rod Brind’Amour more-or-less said Skinner wasn’t the right kind of player for his team and the way he wanted them to play. That the Hurricanes turned their own tough times around immediately and made the playoffs for the first time in 10 years after Skinner was sent to Buffalo helped to reflect negatively upon him. His departure coincided with players like Sebastian Aho, Teuvo Teravainen and Elias Lindholm maturing in their games and becoming more dynamic offensive players. It probably didn’t help that Skinner was a (I know, I know…) minus-27 in his final season in Carolina and scored 24 goals with 25 assists. It was time to just move on and try to make things better for both sides. Unfortunately, things in Buffalo have been a bit tumultuous on their own.
Skinner’s time in Buffalo hasn’t been all sunshine and pop music hits, of course. After he scored 40 in his first season with the Sabres, things took a turn in the other direction under coach Ralph Krueger who clearly did not care for Skinner’s mostly offensive game. In an effort to mitigate his defensive shortcomings and surround him with players who would help cover him while he hunted for pucks up ice, he went from playing on the top line with Jack Eichel and Sam Reinhart to playing third-or-fourth line minutes. That change in assignments was a much a surprise to his new linemates as it was Skinner.
“I asked him if you like D-zone starts,” former Sabres teammate and linemate Curtis Lazar said with a laugh. “Jeff was one of my closer friends on the team, a lot of fun.”
“Think about that whole situation. I’m a defensive forward and he’s a prolific goal scorer. Did we mix? No. Did he complain? No. He showed up and we had fun and worked hard and I really appreciate that. I know (Riley Sheahan) and myself were doing everything we could. But I think it just speaks to the character of him that he shows up every single day wanting to work on his game.”
Despite all the drama that’s floated around Skinner throughout his career, from the exit in Carolina to how everything unfolded under Krueger and how he emerged from that situation to score 30-plus goals in back-to-back seasons immediately thereafter, the drama isn’t something Skinner cares to recognize. It’s just all part of what got him to where he is now. What means the most to him are his family and friends as well as his teammates.
“I think that the nice thing about it is there’s so many people and there’s probably maybe a handful of five to 10 people that you could say have been there since the beginning and have made a bigger impact and then maybe other people,” Skinner said. “But I think the beauty of it is that all those little interactions, even if they’re just one teammate you had for half a year, it sort of makes a difference and maybe even something that you didn’t think of at the time that you call back on five or six years down the road, I think, is kind of what I’ve realized what I’ve started to reflect on it.”
Playing 1,000 games is an incredible milestone. Everything that goes into it requires talent, ability, and most of all the love of the game and the people in it. If you find this to be tainted in a way because he hasn’t been to the playoffs yet, first of all get a grip, but secondly know what it means to his teammates, his brothers, to do what they can to try and make that happen eventually.
“I think for me, it’s just, he’s a pro, he does everything the right way and he takes care of himself away from the rink and approaches every day like it’s a tryout,” Thompson said. “I think that’s the attitude you have to have. And there’s really no days off for him. He’s someone that brings a lot of energy and life to our locker room and I’m very blessed to be able to play for him as long as I have. And hopefully, I continue to get to play with him for a while more.”