He also endured a few rocky seasons with the Sabres that ended in him being bought out. In his first year with the Edmonton Oilers, he’s gone from a high-profile free-agent signee to someone struggling to get into the lineup.

How far down the Oilers' pecking order has Skinner dropped? He played 13:34 in Thursday's 6-2 win over Vancouver − and that was his biggest ice time total since Dec. 3.

Jeff Skinner joined the Edmonton Oilers over the off-season with two goals in mind: To finally make the playoffs for once in his career; and put pucks in the net, like he always has. So far, he is on track to do one of those things,