3 Potential Landing Spots for UFA Jeff Skinner

It was clearly time for Jeff Skinner to find a new home. Watching from the press box for three weeks leading up to the break as a healthy scratch, the veteran forward mutually agreed with the San Jose Sharks on a contract termination about a week ago.

The 33-year-old was having a dreadful season, with just six goals and 13 points in 32 games played. But this is a guy with ten 20-goal seasons on his resume, and six 30-goal campaigns. There's some obvious potential upside, at a low cost, for a team out there looking for some secondary scoring.

With that, we have a look at three potential landing spots that make a lot of sense for newfound free agent Skinner:

Los Angeles Kings

Despite the big splashy acquisition of Artemi Panarin, the Kings have more work to do now to help their offense. They lost the services of their third-leading scorer Kevin Fiala for the rest of the season after his injury at the Olympics. The Kings' offence sits 30th in the NHL at just 2.54 goals per game.

Buffalo Sabres

Finally in a position to end their 14-year playoff drought, the Sabres won't do anything major to break up their good vibes, but adding a secondary scorer and a familiar face like Skinner could be a good buy-low proposition. And it wouldn't cost them any assets. He spent six years in Buffalo, notching his only 40-goal campaign and a couple of 30-goal years.

Carolina Hurricanes

Another reunion possibility could await Skinner. The Canes will be sailing into the playoffs as the top team in the Metropolitan Division, but as always, they're looking for ways to improve. It was Carolina that drafted Skinner with the 7th overall pick in the 2010 NHL Draft, and he spent a super-successful eight seasons there to start his career, including winning the Calder in his rookie year. This would bring things full circle for the 16-year veteran.