Sad Report: Winger Rejects Maple Leafs to Sign with Oilers
One of the most coveted free agents heading into July was bought out by the Buffalo Sabres before July 1 and decided to sign with the Edmonton Oilers once free agency began.
Jeff Skinner was waived by the Sabres and chose to sign a one-year, $3 million deal with the Oilers, passing up on his hometown Toronto Maple Leafs.
NHL insider Chris Johnston reported that Skinner turned down the Leafs to join the Stanley Cup finalist Oilers. While Toronto was in the running to sign the recently bought-out forward, Edmonton secured his signature first.
“He’s going to Edmonton clearly to win. He could have signed for one year and $3 million with about ten different teams,” Johnston said on the July 2 episode of The Chris Johnston Show. “I know the Leafs were among the teams that had talked to him, pitching the idea, ‘Hey, you can play alongside Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner on our team!’”
Skinner had signed an eight-year, $72 million contract with the Sabres in June 2019, but Buffalo cut him ahead of free agency before the 2024-25 season. Following that, Skinner entered free agency and chose to sign with the team of his choice.
