Having a dominant player at center is critical for the success of any NHL team. If you look at when the Flyers were good, it was back when they had solid centers like Eric Lindros, Keith Primeau, and Claude Giroux. It's important to win faceoff battles and set up the play, especially if you have great wingers flanking you. The previously mentioned guys had John LeClair, Mark Recchi, and Jakub Voracek.
Some teams are lucky to have two good centers at the same time. The Flyers had Lindros with Rod Brind'Amour, and then Lindros with Primeau. Finally, Primeau had Jeremy Roenick to play with. Those were great years.
Then you have a team like the Edmonton Oilers. It's shocking they've had some collapses in the playoffs over the last few years, as they have two of the best players in the NHL who also happen to play center. Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are, hands down, two of the top five best players in the league. It's almost unfair.
What makes it more unfair is that they also have another solid center on the third line in Jeff Skinner. Skinner is a pending free agent and someone the Flyers should give some serious consideration to.
Why Jeff Skinner?
Skinner may be older than most would want as a free agent since he just turned 33. With the law of averages, he probably has just a few good seasons left in him, unless he is drinking that same "Fountain of Youth" drink that Alex Ovechkin is drinking from.
First of all, Skinner hasn't been attacked by the injury bug all that much. Yes, he's faced injuries, but hasn't been super sidelined by them. A few games here and there, but never more than 10 games in a season. His health has held up for the vast majority of his career.
Playing on the third line has taken away from his offensive production. He scored 16 goals for the Oilers while he had 24 in Buffalo the year before. To be fair, he was also playing three fewer minutes per game
Skinner's strength is in the intangibles. He had a 51.2% faceoff win percentage. He can deliver hits without putting the team down a man. He battles for the puck in the corners and brings a tremendous amount of leadership to whatever team he is playing for.
If Skinner came to Philadelphia, he'd probably be a second or third-line center with Sean Couturier and Noah Cates most likely taking the other spots in the top three lines somewhere. If Jett Luchanko makes the team, he could be a great mentor to him.
The other advantage is that he'd come cheap. He made just $3 million this year. If the Oilers move on from him, he could be a bargain at somewhere under $5 million. That leaves a lot of other financial assets for the team to spend on a defender, winger, goalie, RFA, etc. If Skinner signed a one-year deal, he could be moved at the deadline if the team isn't playoff-bound for future draft assets. Even if he signed a two-year deal, that's not a long-term commitment for a solid player who still has gas in the tank.
Hockey is one of those weird sports where older guys can still be good. Ovechkin is showing no signs of slowing down. Zdeno Chara seemed to play forever. Fellow free agent-to-be Brent Burns is still one of the best defenders in the NHL. Likewise, Skinner is still a dependable player to have. He could easily be a guy the Flyers get and use to build around their young core