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Buffalo, NY (WGR 550) – Jason Botterill kept a very positive perspective throughout the discussions with Jeff Skinner. He always thought they would get along and not afraid to say it. The chief executive of the Sabers said, "I think it's my job to be optimistic. I think that when the organization wants a player and a player testifies to him and says he wants to be part of the solution, it's up to me to look for a way to reach an agreement. I understand that this will not always happen. "
Botterill knew that signing a contract with Skinner was going to be long, but that has always been a priority for him. He explained that he wanted this particular player to stay in the team: "We want to strengthen our group and not try to be forced to go out there and get out of there. try to replace what Jeff Skinner can bring.
"The other thing that has strengthened us in reaching an agreement with Jeff is the way we are adapting to our group. I thought that he had a great influence on our young players. The relationship with some of our elite players such as Jack and Sam, but doing everything possible to have an impact on Rasmus Dahlin, Casey Mittelstadt and just his professionalism off the ice. "
Skinner is 27, which means he will be 35 when the contract expires. Botterill is not too worried about it. "There will always be risks to doing this sometimes, but we are very comfortable with the way Jeff behaves off ice, his dedication to conditioning and training and we think this attitude of our sport science department will allow it to be in good health and help the Buffalo Sabers in the next eight years. "
Fans are still hoping for a big free-space victory on July 1, but that usually leads to disaster. Botterill said they would talk to some free agents, but there are better ways to do this: "I think our goal is to move forward, we will definitely be talking actively with different free agency players. . We will see how that happens. I think our most important goal before becoming a free agent was to get Jeff signed, and we did it. We will continue to discuss to see if it is appropriate to help our team from this point of view.
"I think sometimes a more realistic option is to trade, as we did last year with Conor Sheary and Matt Hunwick, and to use our maximum space from that point of view or to add a player like Jeff Skinner, as we did later this summer. So I think we will continue to look both ways, both commercially and by free will, to see if we can improve our team. "
Many have heard you ask me on the air if some of the players who have done nothing but lose here in Buffalo must be moved. This would include Rasmus Ristolainen, Zemgus Girgensons and Johan Larsson. I asked the question to Botterill if he took it into account when he was considering exchanges or qualification offers. He said, "This is definitely a concern. This gives us hope that many of these players have enjoyed success earlier in their careers in other situations and at least know how to win in these environments. In addition, the hope of our organization is what materialized in November and December. I think that they realize what can happen to the city when you are successful. I think what happened in the first period at least shows these guys that this can be accomplished. It's now the next step to do it in 82 games. "
Next week we will hear Skinner's testimony himself when he comes to Buffalo to sign his contract.
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