After 14-season drought, Jeff Skinner is finally going to NHL playoffs

Skinner spent the first eight years of his career with the Carolina Hurricanes — who selected him in the first round of the 2010 NHL Draft — which was right in the beginning of the franchise's nine-year playoff drought between the 2009-10 and 2017-18 seasons. 

Following that 2017-18 season, Skinner was traded to the Buffalo Sabres.

Carolina ended up making the playoffs without Skinner the following season, starting their recent run of playoff appearances that has seen them turn into a Stanley Cup contender. 

The Sabres, meanwhile, missed the playoffs in each of Skinner's six seasons as part of their own 14-year playoff drought that is still ongoing. 

Buffalo bought out the remainder of Skinner's contract this offseason, allowing him to become an unrestricted free agent. He signed a one-year, $3 million contract with the Oilers.

The Oilers were in the Stanley Cup Final a year ago and should be a contender every season as long as they have Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl on their roster. Making the playoffs should be a bare-minimum expectation for that group, and they are back this season. While it might be business as usual for most of the roster, it is almost certainly a special moment for Skinner to get the opportunity to experience playoff hockey for the first time.