Buffalo Sabres buy out the final three years of forward Jeff Skinner’s 8-year, $72 million contract

By JOHN WAWROW The Associated Press

FILE - Buffalo Sabres left wing Jeff Skinner (53) carries the puck during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Vegas Golden Knights, March. 2, 2024, in Buffalo, N.Y. The Sabres officially moved on from Skinner, the top-paid forward on the team's roster, by buying out the final three years of the veteran's contact Sunday, June 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeffrey T. Barnes, File)[ASSOCIATED PRESS/Jeffrey T. Barnes]

The Buffalo Sabres officially moved on from Jeff Skinner, the top-paid forward on the team’s roster, by buying out the final three years of the veteran’s contact. The move comes a day after GM Kevyn Adams informed reporters at the NHL draft in Las Vegas he had initiated the buyout paperwork. And it represents yet another example of how the Sabres have mismanaged their roster during what has become an NHL-record 13-season playoff drought. Skinner was acquired by the Sabres in a trade with Carolina in the summer of 2018, and was signed to an eight-year, $72 million contract a year later.