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Colorado Avalanche: Jeff Skinner Is Still an Option

By Janik Beichler

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Back in June, when Ryan O’Reilly trade rumors were at their peak, I threw in the option of shipping then Colorado Avalanche forward O’Reilly off to Carolina, in exchange for Jeff Skinner. O’Reilly is now in Buffalo, and Nikita Zadorov and Mikhail Grigorenko are the main pieces that came back to Denver. However, Skinner should still be a target.

As mentioned many times before, the Colorado Avalanche could definitely need some proven top-six depth, if they want to get back to the playoffs this season. If the playoffs aren’t the goal, forget about this quickly. If they are, however, the team could definitely use a guy like Skinner.

Related: Colorado Avalanche Forward Depth Is a Myth

Skinner was selected seventh overall by the Hurricanes in the 2010 NHL Draft and has been with the NHL team ever since. In his 2010-11 NHL rookie season, Skinner scored 31 goals and added 32 assists in 82 games, earning the Calder Memorial Trophy.

Unfortunately, Skinner could never live up to his rookie season stats and growing expectations again. In 2014-15, he recorded 18 goals and 31 points, while being a minus-24. As a comparison, Skinner had just scored 33 goals (54 points) in the 2013-14 campaign.

To be fair, the Hurricanes are currently one of the worst teams in the league, and much worse than they were in his rookie season. That automatically results in less points for every player. Nevertheless, management in Carolina doesn’t seem to be entirely satisfied, and Skinner has constantly been rumored to be on the trade block.

Colorado Avalanche Lineup With Skinner

The Colorado Avalanche added Carl Soderberg and Mikhail Grigorenko in the off-season. Mikko Rantanen and Joey Hishon are hoping to make the team as well. So, where would Skinner fit in?

Soderberg’s past and advanced stats suggest that he may not be anything more than a third liner. Grigorenko will hopefully make an immediate impact, but Alex Tanguay and Jarome Iginla will soon have to be replaced. Hishon hasn’t looked like he can be a full-time NHL player so far in training camp, and Rantanen may not be good enough to lead the team back to the playoffs just yet.

With Skinner in the lineup, the Colorado Avalanche’s top six could look like this:

  1. Landeskog — MacKinnon — Skinner
  2. Tanguay — Duchene — Iginla

If Rantanen looks capable of playing a top-six role right away, it could look like this:

  1. Skinner — Duchene — Iginla
  2. Landeskog — MacKinnon — Rantanen

That would leave highly talented players such as Grigorenko and Soderberg — in the second example even Tanguay — in the bottom six, which is exactly what I would call depth.

Acquiring Jeff Skinner

Unfortunately, the Colorado Avalanche can’t just walk up to the Hurricanes’ front office and say “Skinner is ours now.” That means, the club will have to give someone up in return. Here’s where it gets tricky.

In the lineup examples above, the Avalanche has lost none of the team’s best forwards. So, who is the club giving up?

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Back in June, the deal was obviously centered around O’Reilly. To make it an even trade, I also talked about throwing in the two teams’ 2015 first-round picks (3rd overall Hanifin, 10th overall Rantanen). All that is off the table now, so what else could work?

Also back in June, Carolina seemed to be the perfect landing spot for Avalanche goalie prospect Calvin Pickard. The Hurricanes’ current starter Cam Ward fell more and more out of favor, and Pickard could have got a chance to share starting duties with the veteran. However, the Hurricanes decided to trade for Eddie Lack instead, making this option useless.

Now it gets really difficult. The Hurricanes are currently in a rebuild, so young players and prospects would be the most interesting targets. The Avalanche’s youngsters are also their most important players, which makes prospects the only option.

Possible trade baits could be Hishon, Conner Bleackley and all D-prospects, even though they are counted on to solidify the Avs’ defense soon. Draft picks can be included as well.

Time of Trade

The Colorado Avalanche has a lot of questions to deal with during training camp and the preseason. It would be silly to trade important pieces away to push down guys like Soderberg and Grigorenko, without even giving them a chance to succeed in their new roles.

Therefore, it would be smart to see where the club can go with the current roster, without making any changes. However, if the Avalanche gets into a situation where the playoffs seem possible after 30 games or so, it may be a good decision to explore a trade and improve the top six.

Jeff Skinner is a talented scoring forward who could help just about any top six in the league — the Colorado Avalanche’s included. If the moment is right, he might be the right player to bring into the Mile High City.

Next: Why the Avs Defense Is All But Set

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