Vancouver Canucks: Jack Skille Fighting His Way to a Contract
The Vancouver Canucks have a glut of depth forwards to choose from heading in to the season and Jack Skille is making the decision even harder.
The Vancouver Canucks do not need another fourth-line winger right now and Jack Skille clearly knows that. The 29-year-old forward from Madison, Wisconsin, has played like a man on a mission in his two games of preseason action against the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames.
In his first game of preseason action against the Oilers, everybody had their eyes on Troy Stecher — and rightfully so. But Skille was quietly having a good showing himself. It seemed like he was everywhere on the ice, including in front of the net when Stecher fired a puck past goaltender Jonas Gustavsson that may or may not have been tipped by Skiile.
In game two, Stecher was out of the lineup which gave Canucks fans the chance to focus on other players. Skille made sure he was a player that would not be overlooked as he produced multiple scoring chances throughout the game. He even managed to get himself onto the Canucks power-play unit for two minutes, while also making time for a fight against Flames forward Garnet Hathaway, who had just previously nailed Brendan Gaunce. Skille isn’t known for being a fighter around the league — he only has 106 penalty minutes in 313 NHL games — but there he was, ready and willing to defend his teammate.
With a lot of NHL teams, Skille would be almost guaranteed a position in the bottom six, because hard work, determination and a willingness to put your body on the line for your team is exactly what teams look for in a bottom-six forward. The offensive abilities he has shown to be capable of are just the cherry on top.
Unfortunately for Skille, the Canucks already have too many bottom-six forwards right now with Alex Burrows, Derek Dorsett, Emerson Etem and Brendan Gaunce all putting up a fight to make the team. That’s leaving out Tuomo Ruutu and James Sheppard, as well as players like Borna Rendulic and Joseph Labate who have also had good showings with the Canucks. Regardless of what he does, it’s going to be incredibly difficult for him to make the team.
That said, at the very least, Skille should be guaranteed a spot with the Utica Comets this year and should also be granted the opportunity to come up to the main roster should injuries arise. Because that’s the role he’s earned with the Canucks.
However, with the camp that Skille is having, that might not be enough to keep him in the Canucks system, and he could end up signing a contract with a team that is battling injuries to start the year. One option could be the Dallas Stars, where he would be getting guaranteed NHL minutes on a nightly basis.
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