Side note, the following is not to say I don’t want to sign Skinner or think they are in a position to not sign him.
However, since his heater has cooled a touch, for the last ten games or so, mostly the last 5 or so, I have noticed an adjustment that teams are starting to do more effectively. And that is to force Skinner into a passing situation. He is a shockingly bad passer for his other considerable skills.
Under pressure he can be exploited there. It will be interesting to see if Housley and staff can shift their form to keep him in shooting spaces and away from coverage.
At first glance, that line is getting a lot of focus, and collapsing defense. I’d like Jack and Sam to start looking for a trailing defender on the rush. We finally have a d group who has nobody who can’t functionally join the rush and a couple are very good.