The San Jose Sharks have signed left winger Jeff Skinner of Toronto, Ontario to a one-year contract worth $3 million according to Rogers Sportsnet. Skinner joins defenseman John Klingberg as players who were with the Oilers last season who are now in northern California.
Skinner is joining his fourth National Hockey League franchise. In addition to one season with the Oilers in 2024-25, Skinner spent eight seasons with the Carolina Hurricanes from 2010 to 2018, and six seasons with the Buffalo Sabres from 2018 to 2024.
This past season in Edmonton, Skinner had 16 goals and 13 assists for 29 points in 72 games. He was a +1 with 26 penalty minutes, one game-winning goal, two power-play points, 22 faceoff wins, 23 blocked shots, 45 hits, 19 takeaways, and 41 giveaways. The game-winning goal came on April 3 in a 3-2 Oilers win, ironically over the Sharks. Skinner scored from defenseman Evan Bouchard of Oakville, Ontario and Mattias Janmark with five minutes and three seconds left in the second period to break a 2-2 deadlock.
Skinner is a two-time All-Star. He was honoured while with the Hurricanes in 2010-11, and Sabres in 2018-19. While with the Hurricanes, Skinner won the Calder Trophy, presented to the NHL’s rookie of the year. In both seasons that Skinner was a NHL All-Star, he had 63 points.