Jeff Skinner signed a one-year, $3 million contract with the San Jose Sharks to insulate the young forwards.<\/p>\n
Through eight games, Skinner has done exactly that. The winger scored the first San Jose Sharks goal of the season. Skinner would\u2019ve been on pace for 41 goals before having one be taken away against the New Jersey Devils<\/a> on Saturday.<\/p>\n He\u2019s also making an impact away from the ice. Before playing the New York Rangers on Friday, Michael Misa<\/a> named Skinner as one of his favorite veterans to be around.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s great. I like hanging out with him a lot. He\u2019s a leader in this room and brings a lot of experience,\u201d Misa said. \u201cHe\u2019s been great for us so far. I know he\u2019s gonna continue to do that. He\u2019s always laughing [and] smiling. It\u2019s good to be around him.\u201d<\/p>\n Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.<\/p>\n Skinner hasn\u2019t been shy during postgame media scrums either. He calls it as he sees it, even if the Sharks are struggling.<\/p>\n \u201cWe didn\u2019t create enough, offensively; we didn\u2019t get many looks,\u201d Skinner said after the loss to the Devils. \u201cI thought [Yaroslav Askarov] played really well throughout the game, kept us in it. We just weren\u2019t able to sustain O-zone time or create enough looks or chances or shots to turn the tide.\u201d<\/p>\n Skinner\u2019s skating has been on display through eight games. His edgework and speed<\/a> have provided whatever line he\u2019s on with an offensive creator, something that had been missing for a few years.<\/p>\n Because of his skating, Skinner has drawn four penalties this season, which is tied for third in the NHL. Macklin Celebrini leads the league with six penalties drawn.<\/p>\n Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.<\/p>\n Skinner\u2019s physicality and flexibility give the Sharks valuable minutes<\/p>\n But what stands out the most is his forechecking physicality and ability. Skinner has surprised many with his physicality along the boards. The Sharks forward hasn\u2019t gotten credit for many hits \u2014 4 \u2014 but he has been engaged in contact on nearly every shift.<\/p>\n He goes into one-on-one battles looking to separate his man from the puck. As before, his skating allows him to angle his body to initiate contact, giving him an advantage. <\/p>\n With the Sharks\u2019 Sleepover Line dominating during the four-game road trip, Skinner has been playing on the second line with Alexander Wennberg and William Eklund. Eklund has remained on the left wing, and Skinner has played on the right, even though he\u2019s a lefty.<\/p>\n His ability to find the puck on the boards and create options for Eklund and Wennberg to use their skill around the net for scoring opportunities. He will do the dirty work for his linemates, and so far this season, Skinner has been rewarded for it. <\/p>\n Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.<\/p>\n The Sharks\u2019 first goal of the season was a perfect example as he went to the front of the net to bang in the loose puck.<\/p>\n Skinner will look to get a goal that counts against the Minnesota Wild on Sunday.<\/p>\n Read more news and stories about the San Jose Sharks on\u00a0Sharks Hockey Digest<\/a>! Bookmark the page and follow Sharks Hockey Digest on Twitter @SharksHKYDigest<\/a>!<\/p>\n Home<\/a> \u00bb Opinion<\/a> \u00bb Jeff Skinner Has Been Sharks Most Impactful Free Agent SigningAdvertisement. Scroll to continue reading.\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jeff Skinner signed a one-year, $3 million contract with the San Jose Sharks to insulate the young forwards.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":24710,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[2094,2100,3259,4227,88,90,89,98,4174,755,2105],"class_list":{"0":"post-24709","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-jose","8":"tag-alexander-wennberg","9":"tag-jeff-skinner","10":"tag-michael-misa","11":"tag-minnesota-wild","12":"tag-san-jose","13":"tag-san-jose-headlines","14":"tag-san-jose-news","15":"tag-san-jose-sharks","16":"tag-sharks-news","17":"tag-sj-sharks","18":"tag-william-eklund"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24709","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24709"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24709\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24710"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}