skinner will not be bought out. knock it off

He should be

He's making more than Draisaitl bro

Their arent going to be buyouts and if there were he wouldn't be the one to go. One bad season (really, an unheard of slump of 20 games).

In your scenario, buy out Okposo, dont sign merrill and pay olofsson properly and you have a better and more realistic team.

there's no denying that skinner is on horrendous contract and there's no denying that he had a really rough season this year but you can't put it all on skinner. he had absolutely atrocious linemates and he was bounced all around the lineup so he was never able to build strong chemistry with anyone. if you put okposo on a line with two great players he wouldn't put up high numbers but if you put skinner on a line with two great players then hes going to put up great numbers (40 goals last season with eichel/reinhart). so if there's a CBO this offseason the sabres would use it for okposo and not waste it on skinner.

Since none of the 5 comments above me decided to read the title, I'll answer your question:
Wild card at best. Although that might be a reach considering how many good teams are in the East. I'm just not sold on the depth on this team.

If you buyout Okposo instead of Skinner, Eichel is healthy for the season, and Ullmark plays really really well, yes this team probably makes the playoffs. But the Atlantic is extremely competitive, and the habs and senators will most likely be better next season

Yup.
BTW did you read this?
Imagine if a trade could be make for Domi or Larkin.
I would make for an interesting season if the team actually had a #2C.

EIDT:
You add Kopitar, Anze but you drop Ristolainen, Rasmus; Mittelstadt, Casey; Thompson, Tage and Skinner, Jeff
Kopitar adds a lot but so do Ristolainen and Skinner (he will bounce back) while we may see Tage and Casey actually contribute this season.
This team would not be as good as the last two.