Unrestricted free agency began only a few hours earlier Monday when the Buffalo Sabres announced a flurry of signings totaling $10.2 million.
Jason Zucker, a six-time 20-goal scorer coming off a disappointing season, inked a one-year, $5 million contract to give the Sabres another capable veteran forward that will skate on their first, second or third line after the club parted ways with Jeff Skinner.
General Manager Kevyn Adams also revamped his bottom six with two forwards, Sam Lafferty and Nicolas Aube-Kubel, who, along with recent trade acquisition Beck Malenstyn, should transform the Sabres’ fourth line into a fast, physical group that wears down opponents on the forecheck. Lafferty got a two-year contract worth a total of $4 million, while Aube-Kubel left the Washington Capitals for a one-year, $1.5 million pack from Buffalo.
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The Sabres signed former Arizona Coyotes left wing Jason Zucker on Monday to a one-year, $5 million deal.
"Adams said over the weekend the offseason was incomplete. For now, that’s his current grade, too," Mike Harrington writes.
Lastly, the Sabres added Amherst’s Dennis Gilbert, a left-shot defenseman, and re-signed Jacob Bryson to address the need for blue-line depths. Their goaltending in Rochester was also addressed with the addition of Felix Sandstrom.
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It’s the money that Buffalo did not spend, however, that raised questions about the strength of the roster as the franchise tries to snap a 13-year playoff drought that’s among the longest in North American professional sports and dates to Lindy Ruff’s first stint as coach.
“I’m open to it,” Adams said in response to whether the Sabres are planning to add another forward who can skate on their first or second line. “It’s not like the offseason stops. There are ongoing conversations, plus the dust settles a little bit and you see where different teams are. But I really like where our group is at right now. I like it a lot. I like the look of our team."
The Sabres still have approximately $21 million to spend next season, according to CapFriendly.com, and a chunk of that available money will go to new contracts for restricted free agents Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, Henri Jokiharju, Peyton Krebs and Malenstyn. However, none of the four will address the need for a goal-scorer to replace Skinner, whose contract was officially bought out Sunday after a disappointing season in which he still had 24 goals. The Sabres also elected to not re-sign Victor Olofsson, a flawed winger that had 28 goals while they finished with 91 points in 2022-23.
Among their signings Monday, only Zucker and Lafferty registered double-digit goals last season with 14 and 13, respectively. Zucker, 32, had 27 goals in 2022-23 while spending most of his 5-on-5 ice time next to Evgeni Malkin and Bryan Rust in Pittsburgh, but he’s also endured some struggles since leaving the Minnesota Wild in 2020.
Zucker was limited to 17 goals in 79 games between 2020-21 and 2021-22, and he was mostly used in a bottom-six role last season with the Arizona Coyotes, whose coaches implemented a defensive-minded system to account for the lack of skill in their lineup.
Zucker had 25 points in 51 games while averaging 14:02 of ice time with Arizona, then he had six goals with 10 points in 24 games between the regular season and playoffs after a trade to Nashville. His skill set is far different than that of Skinner, and fits with Ruff’s standards for how Buffalo needs to play next season. Zucker has 697 games of NHL experience and takes far fewer risks than Skinner, who, according to Adams, wouldn’t have skated in the top six with Ruff as coach. Zucker should help the Sabres score at even strength and serve as an additional net-front presence for a power play that ranked 29th in the NHL, though Zucker has only seven goals on the man-advantage the past two years. His speed and offensive ability could complement Sabres center Dylan Cozens on the second line.
“Like every team, you want to score more, and I think some of that can be just internally,” Adams explained. “Can guys take a big step and have an ever bigger offensive year? I’m not concerned about our talent or skill level or our ability to score goals. I believe we have that in our room. We needed to be a team that the roster’s rounded out and makes more sense and in matchups and all these things.
"And Jeff, when you make these decisions, when he kind of got in a spot where he was not going to be on your top line and playing top power-play minutes or minutes in general, you have to make hard decisions. That’s the kind of internal debate we had, and when you’re looking at the cap and all the different things we’re juggling, that’s why we ended up making the decision."
The production that Zucker had during his 13th season in the NHL is not worth the contract given by the Sabres, but it’s only slightly above what he was expected to receive and they’re betting that the promising underlying numbers that he posted will translate to more offense if he’s given an opportunity with better players. He gets to the front of the net, a quality that’s been lacking in the organization for years, and he plays a simple, direct game that may be able to help Buffalo mature at 5-on-5.
As Adams stated, a trade is still possible. He remains in talks with teams. Winger Martin Necas, one of the top available options, did not get moved by the Carolina Hurricanes, who lost Jake Guentzel to unrestricted free agency.
An overhaul of the fourth line was needed after a season in which Krebs, Zemgus Girgensons and Kyle Okposo were unable to repeat the outstanding results from 2022-23 when they were among the best in the NHL at shutting down opponents at 5-on-5. Girgensons chose to join the Tampa Bay Lightning on a three-year contract over an offer from the Sabres to return for his 11th season in Buffalo.
Adams and Ruff wanted to add speed, physicality and tenacity, which led them to Malenstyn, Lafferty and Aube-Kubel.
Lafferty, 29, has double-digit goals in each of the past two seasons, including a career-high 13 with Vancouver in 2023-24, and he may be able to help the Sabres win more faceoffs after they again ranked last NHL. He won 51.1% of his 356 draws, ranked third on the Canucks with 192 hits and excelled when skating on a line with center Elias Pettersson. The Sabres will use Lafferty as a center, which positions Krebs to move up to a third-line role.
“I think he showed a lot of signs over the last year of starting to understand the defensive side of the game,” Adams said of Krebs, who, at 23 years old, has already appeared in 203 NHL games. “He’s a very, very competitive kid. He’s getting better and better like in different areas.”
Aube-Kubel reunites with his former linemate in Washington, Malenstyn, and gives the Sabres another agitator who has a strong track record of shutting down opponent’s top players while being a menace on the forecheck. He won the Stanley Cup with Colorado in 2022 before he eventually joined the Capitals. The 28-year-old was among their best at limiting opponents’ scoring chances at 5-on-5 while receiving challenging assignments next to Malenstyn and center Nic Dowd. The Capitals outscored their opponents 26-21 when Aube-Kubel was on the ice.
"We wanted to be a team that wears teams out, that can be relentless on the forecheck and hard, and we want to be a team that's more responsible defensively," said Adams. "So when you look at the additions that we've brought in over the last few days now, starting with Malenstyn, guys like Malenstyn and Aube-Kubel, that hit hard, they’re physical.
"... Lafferty is a really, really likable player. I kind of describe him as he's a winning hockey player. Plays center or wing, comfortable either way, good penalty killer, really good speed and size at six-foot, can skate and disruptive player."
Adding both represents a philosophical shift from the Sabres. They almost made the playoffs in 2022-23 with a fast-paced style of play that helped them rank among the highest-scoring teams in the NHL, but they gave up too many goals and got pushed around too often.
Adams began to address the latter problem at the trade deadline that season when he added Jordan Greenway. The Sabres then signed defensemen Connor Clifton and Erik Johnson last summer to bring playoff experience and improve their struggling penalty kill.
The team improved in the latter and showed progress in their 5-on-5 on defense. however, the Sabres fell behind too often in games and their power play hurt their momentum more often than it produced goals. Top players didn't produce as expected. They finished with 83 points, fired Granato and hired Ruff in an effort to bring accountability and experience behind the bench.
"We had goals coming into this offseason of what we were trying to achieve, and I think we’re a much better team than we were a couple days ago," Adams added.
The Sabres brought back Bryson on a one-year, $900,000 contract after they elected to not commit to a qualifying offer that cost twice that amount. He’s another left-handed shot on a depth chart filled with options on that side, though he’s coming off a bounce-back season in which he was excellent on the breakout and gives Ruff another defenseman who can help Buffalo play at a fast pace.
Bryson currently slots in as the Sabres’ seventh defenseman behind Jokiharju, Rasmus Dahlin, Owen Power, Bowen Byram, Mattias Samuelsson and Connor Clifton. It’s unclear, though, what’s next for Buffalo’s blue line with Jokiharju unsigned. AFP Analytics, a Rochester-based consulting firm, projects Jokiharju to receive a one-year contract worth $3.39 million or two at a cap hit of $4.03 million.
The potential issue is neither Jokiharju nor Clifton can play the left side, which may be a need for Buffalo if it wishes to have a top four of Dahlin, Samuelsson, Power and Byram. The team may also prefer to have a different skill set on its third pair, particularly a veteran who can bring physicality and excels on the penalty kill. Gilbert fits the latter criteria and should be a top defenseman if he begins the season with the Rochester Americans.
The Amherst native and former Buffalo Jr. Sabre joined his hometown NHL team Monday on a one-year contract that’s worth $825,000 in the NHL. Gilbert, 27, has been a regular with the Calgary Flames the past two seasons, a stretch that began with the former St. Joe’s standout earning the praise and respect of Darryl Sutter. Gilbert averaged 12:17 of ice time while appearing in 34 games in 2023-24.
Aube-Kubel had six goals with 16 points in 60 regular-season games with the Capitals this season.
The Sabres also announced a batch of signings for Rochester late Monday afternoon in Sandstrom, winger Brett Murray, center Mason Jobst, center Josh Dunne and defenseman Jack Rathbone.
The next steps for Buffalo are unclear, aside from completing contracts with restricted free agents. As it stands, the NHL depth chart includes 12 forwards: Malenstyn, Aube-Kubel, Lafferty, Krebs, Zucker, Tage Thompson, Alex Tuch, Dylan Cozens, Jack Quinn, JJ Peterka, Zach Benson and Jordan Greenway. Lukas Rousek will require waivers if he does not make the Sabres’ roster out of training camp, as his contract is now a one-way deal, and several prospects will try to impress Ruff, most notably Jiri Kulich, Isak Rosen, Matt Savoie and 2024 first-round pick Konsta Helenius.
The club is still in search of a No. 3 goalie to compete with Luukkonen and Devon Levi, whom Adams said will be their tandem in the NHL. Sandstrom, who is coming off a disappointing season with the Philadelphia Flyers’ AHL affiliate, projects as a No. 4. Sandstrom, 27, has appeared in 30 NHL games over the past three years.
None of the moves Monday will matter, though, if the Sabres don’t get more out of franchise pillars like Thompson, Cozens and Tuch.
"And then Lindy and the coaches are going to do the rest in terms of how we play with structure, defensive responsibility," said Adams. "The non-negotiables. You know, our players talked about accountability at the end of the season. They’re gonna have accountability. I promise you. And this is gonna be a big, exciting time for these guys coming into camp, to say, ‘It’s time now.’ And I get excited about that. So, we’re gonna continue to look at things, but I like where our roster is."