After eight years in Carolina, Jeff Skinner, the face of the post-Stanley Cup Hurricanes, will no longer don the red and black.

Skinner was acquired by the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday in a deal that shipped forward Cliff Pu, a second-round pick in 2019, and third- and sixth-round picks in 2020.

Skinner has one year left on his six-year, $34.35 million deal with Carolina that included a no-trade clause which he waived to facilitate the deal. He’ll become an unrestricted free agent for the 2019-2020 season, meaning teams viewed him as a rental more than as a controllable option.

The forward scored 49 points last season after posting a career-high 63 points in the 2016-2017 season, which tied his 2010-2011 rookie season point total that propelled him to a Calder Trophy.

General manager Don Waddell said that while losing Skinner’s scoring production is detrimental, they have a multitude of options to replace it essentially by committee.

“You’re always concerned about goals but I’m more worried about winning,” Waddell said. “With [Martin] Necas coming over this year, getting the No. 2 pick probably gave us a little bit more of a surplus of young players with [Andrei] Svechnikov. The trade we made with Calgary, we picked up Micheal Ferland, who had 20 goals last year. Dougie Hamilton had 17.”

Skinner had not made the playoffs in eight seasons in Carolina, and Waddell, who said he had worked on this deal for longer than any other player he has ever traded, hinted that his departure was more about a locker room shakeup than any specific criticism of his performance. He also noted that Skinner’s no-trade clause limited the market.

“I think we felt, culturally, that we needed to make some changes,” Waddell said. “Saying that, I always say that you don’t make a change just for the sake of making a change, because that usually doesn’t work out for you. When you make changes, they have to be in the mindset that you’re helping yourself moving forward.”

Skinner, the seventh overall pick by Carolina in the 2010 NHL Draft, is the fifth-highest goal scorer in franchise history (205) and seventh on the all-time points leaderboard for Carolina (379). He’s also skated more minutes on the ice for the Hurricanes (9903) than ex-general manager and former Stanley Cup winner Ron Francis (9563).

Reports were that the trade market had slowed down on both Skinner and Justin Faulk in the past week, but as of yesterday, News and Observer columnist Luke DeCock said he’d heard that there “may be movement” within a short period of time.

Funny how this always works. Since posting this column, appears the landscape may have changed and there may be some movement in the next few days after all. Of course, I've heard that before... https://t.co/pgHgjfvjWb — Luke DeCock (@LukeDeCock) August 1, 2018

Pu, a third-round pick by the Sabres in 2016, scored 84 points in 65 games last season in the OHL.

Attached is the press release from the Hurricanes.