In terms of players getting the short end of the stick, there may be fewer players with shorter sticks from this past season than Jeff Skinner.

He arrived last summer in free agency and was almost automatically pencilled into the Oilers’ top-six. After all, it made sense. Despite getting bought out by the Buffalo Sabres, Skinner had still been a solid offensive contributor for the team, but the buyout was more because of his salary, than anything else.

The only problem was that he didn’t quite fit there. A 200-foot game — something the team knew before signing him to his one-year, $3-million deal — wasn’t a strong suit throughout his prior 14 years in the league. So when he got demoted in the lineup and bumped out of it at times, he took it as a sign to improve his game.

He did so noticeably, but it still wasn’t enough. But it didn’t stop him from being a solid contributor for the team, with his five-on-five goals per hour rate and points per hour ranking third on the team being Leon Draisaitl and Zach Hyman, and third behind Drasiaitl and Connor McDavid, respectively.

His individual impacts defensively weren’t strong, at a 13 percent rate below league average, according to Hockey Viz, but he drove offence at a 10 percent rate above league average and his overall impacts — thanks to that offence and his ability to draw penalties — still had his overall contributions at that of a second-line winger. That’s what the Oilers had been hoping for when he signed, and while he didn’t play much in the playoffs, appearing in five games, he chipped in some offence and generated a strong amount of scoring chances and individual expected goals.

Evolving Hockey projected him to sign a three-year deal carrying a $4.7-million cap hit, while AFP Analytics projected a one-year, $2.6-million cap hit deal. Now 11 days into free agency and still unsigned — for some reason — Skinner will likely have to take a deal cheaper than projected.

Zach Laing is Oilersnation’s associate editor, senior columnist, and The Nation Network’s news director. He also makes up one-half of the DFO DFS Report. He can be followed on Twitter, currently known as X, at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach.laing@bettercollective.com.