Jeff Skinner finding comfort zone late in 1st season with Oilers

EDMONTON -- Jeff Skinner is starting to find a comfort zone with the Edmonton Oilers.

After navigating his way through uncertainty about his role in his first season with the Oilers and sitting out as a healthy scratch 10 times, the forward feels he is turning the corner.

“I think you just try and manage the ebbs and flows of the season and I’m still trying to work on things and get better, and you want to try and help the team as best you can,” Skinner said. “Every player goes through that, whether or not you’re a goal scorer or whatever your role on the team is, you go through spurts where you get good looks, and the puck doesn’t go in.”

Skinner is coming off his first two-goal game with the Oilers as they host the Seattle Kraken on Saturday (10 p.m. ET; CBC, SN, CITY, KONG, KING 5, KHN). He scored twice in a 4-3 overtime loss against the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday.

Skinner is expected to get an increase in ice time and power-play opportunity against Seattle with star forwards Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl out injured. McDavid has a lower-body injury and Draisaitl has an undisclosed injury, and both are expected to be out for up to a week.

“No one can replace [Draisaitl] and [McDavid], but other guys can handle more responsibilities and more jobs,” Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said.

The window of opportunity comes at a good time for Skinner, who is feeling as comfortable as he’s been in an Oilers jersey. Now in his 15th season, having played 1,065 games, the 32-year-old is still looking for his first appearance in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. It was one of the reasons he signed with Edmonton.

And while the road to the postseason has not been smooth for Skinner, he and the Oilers are hoping it ends with a Stanley Cup championship.

“It’s not something I’ve experienced before, but I know when I get a chance to get in there, I’m trying to help the team win, that’s kind of my mindset,” Skinner said. “I’ve seen older guys go through the same situation. I think that’s my main mindset, is to just be ready, be a good teammate, practice hard and when you get the opportunity, you try and seize it.”

Expectations were high for Skinner in Edmonton after he signed a one-year, $3 million contract on July 1, 2024. The Oilers felt they were getting a bargain after Buffalo bought out the final three years of Skinner's eight-year, $72 million contract ($9 million average annual value) a few days earlier.

Skinner was expected to a play a top-six role with Edmonton, alongside either McDavid or Draisaitl, but he got off to a slow start, was dropped down the lineup, and eventually fell out of it altogether.

Skinner has 23 points (13 goals, 10 assists) in 59 games this season, and is starting to showcase the skillset that helped him finish with a career-high 82 points (35 goals, 47 assists) in 79 games with the Sabres in 2022-23.

“Obviously coming in at the beginning of the season expectations were high and finding a role and chemistry with a line, just didn’t match,” Knoblauch said. “But not once did he ever play the prima donna personality. He worked hard every day, had a great attitude and wanted his opportunity. He was waiting for it.

“Obviously he’s been around the game long enough, he knows there’s fluctuation with lineups, there’s injuries or coach wanting to change up lines or somebody is underperforming that he would get an opportunity. Right now, we’re shuffling lines, and he played a couple of games with Connor and I’m very happy with how he’s conducted himself and the things he’s been working on in his game and making him a better fit for our team.”

Skinner had to earn a spot on McDavid’s wing against the Utah Hockey Club on Tuesday and again against Winnipeg on Thursday. Through effort and a willingness to be responsible defensively, Skinner has started to find himself back in Knoblauch’s good graces and on the top two lines.

“I think in the last few games, I feel like our line has clicked a little bit,” Skinner said. “When you’re on a line that’s feeling good and clicking, it’s easier to feel good about your game and feel good about your contributions.”

Skinner’s two goals while playing on the top line with McDavid and Zach Hyman marked his first multigoal game since netting a hat trick with the Sabres last season in a 6-2 win at the Kraken on March 18, 2024. They would be the last three goals he would score with Buffalo.

Skinner and Hyman will have a different center against the Kraken with McDavid out of the lineup but hope to continue to generate offense.

“He’s got a knack for the net and is a really skilled player,” Hyman said. “He hasn’t had the easiest year, but for him to stick with it, I don’t think people truly appreciate how hard that is to do, when things aren’t going your way to stick with it and to believe in yourself. For him to be playing the way he’s playing right now and contributing, it’s a huge credit to him. That’s why he’s played this many games in the League.”