SAN JOSE – The San Jose Sharks placed Jeff Skinner on waivers for the purpose of mutual contract termination on Monday, with the two sides parting ways less than three weeks before the NHL trade deadline.
If Skinner is not claimed by another NHL team by Tuesday, he will become an unrestricted free agent able to sign with any team. Skinner would have to be on another team’s roster by the March 6 trade deadline to be eligible to play in the playoffs.
The Sharks signed Skinner, 33, to a one-year, $3 million contract in July, hoping he could become a top-six forward with the team and rekindle some of the scoring touch he had earlier in his career.
However, Skinner managed just five goals and eight points in his first 28 games with the Sharks. He missed 10 games from mid-November to early December with a lower-body injury, and had been a healthy scratch each of the last 10 games before San Jose’s Olympic break began on Feb. 5.
Skinner, drafted seventh overall in 2010, has 1,110 points in 712 career NHL games.
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