Jeff Skinner directly answers possibility of waiving no-move clause for trade off the Oilers

Trade rumours have followed Skinner for much of this season, as he was demoted to the fourth line and a healthy scratch.

In an interview with the Athletic, before the Oilers take on Skinner's former Buffalo Sabres, the veteran forward said that he will not waive his no-move clause.

Despite Skinner's commitment to staying with the team, it's hard to find a path forward for him to be a meaningful player, or even be in the lineup come the playoffs.

When Connor McDavid returns to the lineup, Skinner is the most logical player to come out as the 4th like forward. Evander Kane will come back in for the playoffs too, then it becomes more difficult to even play Skinner.

Jeff Skinner is a veteran sniper, with 364 goals and 685 points in 1049 career games. He shouldn't be a fourth line player or healthy scratch, which should prompt a trade.

If the Oilers can't push Skinner towards a trade with repeated healthy scratches, they'll have to find a way to make him more effective to get more from his $3M cap hit.

Hopefully this situation can find some progression, because the Oilers can't continue to get such little production from a $3M veteran. Either he can improve his play, or the Oilers need to convince him to accept a move to another Cup contender.