I think the idea is that if you are unable to sign Skinner, then the fruits of using assets on 1 year of Jeff Skinner isn't that great, especially when you aren't actively trying to improve your team to make the playoffs that same season. If you have to trade him at the TDL, that means you aren't going to be able to get him to agree to a good contract for term or money right there. Then you're taking the risk that Skinner will do a "handshake agreement" to come here, but then there's a variable of Skinner possibly increasing his value on the market. Instead of looking at 8 million which you couldn't get him to agree to right away, if someone is willing to give him 9-9.5 he may take the better deal, which Botts probably wouldn't agree to, or he would at least be at a disadvantage in a bidding war. Of course, there's the probability that Skinner doesn't mesh with the team he is traded to and sees that he was exceptionally well off in Buffalo, and he could come back.