He would've easily gotten that in the open market

I also disagree. Buffalo is a far nicer place to live than most people think, probably better than at least half of the other NHL cities out there. I've been there numerous times and would have no qualms about signing there as a UFA - especially considering most UFA's are married with small children and their idea of a "cool" place to live is different from (say) a 22-year-old.

And as far as history, Buffalo has as rich a history as any non-original-six franchise. Having joined the league in 1970 along with the Vancouver Canucks, the Sabres kicked off their first NHL season by selecting HHOFer Gilbert Perreault in the amateur draft. He, along with Rick Martin and Rene Robert, formed the famed French Connection line, one of the best lines in hockey through the 70's.

Many, many great players are forever connected to the Sabres, including Pierre Turgeon, Alex Mogilny and Pat LaFontaine. They've been to the finals twice, most of us remember the Hasek / Satan-led team losing a heart-breaker foot-in-the-crease overtime game to the Stars.

Of course, today's foundational players Jack Eichel and Rasmus Dahlin also make the team and attractive destination for talent, as they're well set up for the future.

Skinner would have not seen an offer above $8M in FA. Buffalo had to overpay to keep him.

oh come on, Buffalo is a sh*thole.

It's not. I'm not a Sabres fan nor do I live there (I have never lived there). Go sometime - it's much nicer than its reputation.

I mean it's easy to sit here and say that, but then again everyone also thought evander Kane wasn't gonna get 7 mil and he did.

can you not agree that $9M is pretty expensive for someone who's career high in points is 63...?
using that logic, Marner should expect a $108M contract from Toronto.

This argument is shot. He's a goal scorer. He scored 40 goals last year while playing with the best center he's very played with. He's overpaid by maybe a mil, but you don't just give up 40 goals for nothing. He also is top even strength goals since he entered the league.

thank you for proving my point - he is overpaid and Buffalo had to overpay him to stay. that is the entire argument!

i spend many winter weekends in Buffalo and the surrounding suburbs - it is not someplace i would want to make my home.

Live in Buffalo first, then let's talk. Until then, stop trash talking a place you never lived. It's always been a hockey city. Detroit, in case you didn't know went bankrupt.

Regarding Skinner, his cap hit could've even been higher than 9 without the 8th year option to other teams.

Oh settle down lmao. Buffalo is a fine place to live but it’s definitely at the bottom end of the NHL cities. And yeah Detroit is a similar city to buffalo

Buddy, you have no idea. Detroit is a proper sh*thole if you live anywhere within about 20 miles of the arena.

I live right across from Detroit. Downtown Detroit is nice and has a lot of cool bars/ restaurants/ shops, but (most) the surrounding neighbourhoods are absolute garbage. Like someone said though, doesn’t matter where you live, long as you have money. Buffalo is just a smaller scale Detroit

Disagree though. Buffalo has none of the total garbage areas that Detroit does. Slums, I think they're called.