Jason Botterill has signed Jeff Skinner to an eight-year, roughly $72 million deal, the team announced Friday night. In my opinion, this means the Sabres general manager passed his first real test as the man in charge of shaping the franchise.

Yes, he’s made other big moves, but let’s be honest: my 4-year-old would have known to give Jack Eichel a 10-year, $80 million contract and not drafting Rasmus Dahlin with the first pick in last year’s draft would have been a fireable offense. Some fans will scream he failed the Ryan O’Reilly trade, but as I tweeted the other day, this Stanley Cup Final’s version of ROR isn’t the guy who would be on the Sabres had he stayed. His locker clean-out comments about losing his love for the game meant he had to go, and I’ll safely assume Buffalo didn’t turn down better offers.

So, signing or failing-to-sign 40-goal scorer Jeff Skinner was the first real test. Convince a guy — with money and years — to stay in a city that annoyingly gets laughed at by major markets (especially that fan base up north) and has picked in the top 10 for seven straight years. Well, mission accomplished, and what might be better yet is Botterill will have money to play with going forward with just a handful of guys locked up long-term. Meaning, more tests will be coming — now Botterill just needs to make the honor roll and have this not be everyone getting an A in gym class.