Oilers make Jeff Skinner healthy scratch vs. Blackhawks

When the Edmonton Oilers visit the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday night, top free-agent acquisition Jeff Skinner will be watching from the press box.

The forward will be made a healthy scratch for the second time this season amidst a failure to find his offensive game with his new team, per play-by-play analyst Jack Michaels. Josh Brown will be the second healthy scratch while Derek Ryan and Troy Stetcher slot into the lineup.

Skinner signed a one-year, $3 million contract with the Oilers on July 1 after he was bought out by the Buffalo Sabres.

A five-time 30 goal-scorer and one-time 40 goal-scorer, Skinner has struggled this season with Edmonton, scoring just seven goals and 15 points with a minus-10 rating, leading to being bumped from the Oilers’ top-six.

He’s averaging a career-low 12 minutes 36 seconds per game.

Watch the Oilers take on the Blackhawks on Hockey Night in Canada starting at 7 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. MT.