The San Jose Sharks [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/san-jose-sharks] placed left winger Jeff Skinner on unconditional waivers for the purpose of terminating his contract, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman [https://x.com/FriedgeHNIC/status/2023473129570660588?s=20] reported Monday. Skinner was signed to a one-year, $3-million contract in the summer to join the Sharks. Since then, Skinner has scored six goals and seven assists for 13 points. He's also accumulated a plus-minus rating of minus-eight and is averaging the lowest time on ice of his 16-year career at 12:21. After a 32-game tenure with the Sharks, Skinner will be moving to another home. If no team claims him, he'll become a UFA on Tuesday. This isn't the first time Skinner has become a free agent before his contract expired. After the 2023-24 campaign, the Buffalo Sabres [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/buffalo-sabres] bought out the left winger's contract, ending a six-year relationship with the franchise and his eight-year, $72 million contract that carried a $9-million cap hit. Eventually, Skinner signed with the Edmonton Oilers [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/edmonton-oilers] on July 1, 2024. It was a one-year contract at $3 million. In 72 regular-season games with the Oilers, he scored 16 goals and 29 points. He also made his first Stanley Cup playoff appearance, despite playing over 1,000 career NHL regular-season contests. However, Skinner wasn't much of a factor in Edmonton's second straight run to the Cup final, playing five games and contributing one goal and an assist. Before his six years in Buffalo and two seasons split between Edmonton and San Jose, he featured in eight seasons for the Carolina Hurricanes [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/carolina-hurricanes]. The Hurricanes selected the Toronto native in the first round of the 2010 NHL draft at seventh overall. Since then, the 33-year-old has made 1,110 NHL appearances and has scored a total of 379 goals and 712 points. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Image [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/8127be64-29a5-4c3a-8ebc-51fffbeb115e.jpeg] For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free [https://thehockeynews.store/products/print-subscription]. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here [http://eepurl.com/i7OC4I]. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.
