Hurricanes GM says team not 'comfortable yet' with offers for Skinner

Carolina Hurricanes general manager Don Waddell hasn't been shy about his interest in trading forward Jeff Skinner, but the offers he's received aren't quite where he wants them to be.

"It's ongoing," Waddell said about his trade talks with teams regarding Skinner, according to Chip Alexander of the Raleigh News & Observer. "We've got a lot of people talking to us. We've had decent to good (trade) offers, but we haven't gotten comfortable yet."

Related: Report: Hurricanes want 1st-rounder, prospect for Skinner

Skinner is still only 25 years old and has averaged 28.7 goals per 82 games over the course of his career, but he has just one year left on his contract with a $5.75-million cap hit.

Skinner's goal total dropped from 37 in 2016-17 to 24 last season, but an unfortunate 8.7 shooting percentage is largely to blame. He's also one of the most underrated defensive players in the game, as he had 93 takeaways last year, second only to Connor McDavid in the entire league.

Skinner is a valuable asset about to enter the prime of his career, so Waddell is right to wait for a great offer, rather than a "decent to good" one before pulling the trigger on a deal.

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