from Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News,

BN: The money question in town is right now is, how do you approach Jeff Skinner's contract situation? When are you going to start talking dollars with him?

JB: The bottom line is it's a great situation to have. Really. I'm very happy people are concerned about Jeff Skinner's contract because they've loved how Jeff has played for our team, loved the chemistry he's had with Jack Eichel. That's the same way we look at it.

We're excited for Jeff, how he's come in, his practice habits, how he's handled himself off the ice, the relationships he's built with our veteran players and the way he's interacted with our young players. He's been outstanding. You see the chemistry on the ice.

What's made him and Jack so effective is they have that ability to score off the rush and down low. Every week, they get more comfortable. It's been great to watch. At the start of this process, I'd say it's worked very well on just letting him get acclimated to Buffalo.

There's always going to be time to discuss the contract situation. We're happy with how he's progressed. We've stayed in touch with his agents. We haven't decided to talk about contracts because it's working now. There will be plenty of time down the road to do that.

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