Buffalo Sabres Players Year In Review: Zemgus Girgensons

With young players, the best thing to see year after year is significant improvement in their gameplay. With Zemgus Girgensons the word improvement comes as an understatement.

Related – Year In Review: Rasmus Ristolainen

Every single Sabres fan knows his name and they know what they will get night in and night out; a hard working performance with nothing left to show but sweat and bruises (and a few points here and there). Girgensons entered the year as the player to watch as he looked to climb his way up to star status. He did exactly that as he eventually made his way to the All Star Game as the top vote getter.

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With the passion he has for the game and the dedication he has for the Buffalo Sabres, nobody besides Zemgus Girgensons deserved to be treated as he was.

Girgensons started off the year as a transitional 2nd to 1st line center, but eventually made his way to become the undisputed top line center for the Buffalo Sabres. He found himself playing against the other top talents in the league and he held his own pretty well. He was a leader on the ice in many ways. He set the pace level for how hard other had to work, and he was second on the team in goals.

Playing alongside Tyler Ennis and Matt Moulson for the year had a positive effect on Girgensons. Both players are dedicated and hard working and they meshed well with him. Zemgus Girgensons is not much of a finesse player, but he does have very good finishing ability. He played a total of 61 games (missing the rest due to an injury sustained towards the conclusion of the year) and he scored 15 goals and 15 assists for a total of 30 points. Among those 15 goals were these things of beauty:

There isn’t a single situation where Zemgus Girgensons does not play. He plays on the power play, penalty kill, and anywhere in between. He is the everything package that has kept Buffalo Fans coming to the arena. He is the ray of sunshine that constantly shines on the ice. There isn’t anything Girgensons cannot do.

He is the one that sets the style of play for Buffalo and he will continue to be that kind of a weapon next season. He improved on his numbers this season and you can expect he will do the same next year. Girgensons will not have as much pressure put on him next year due to the Jack Eichel and Ryan O’Reilly situations and he will be able to flourish much better. He won’t be up against the top level talents anymore and will benefit for most likely playing alongside Tyler Ennis again.

Zemgus Girgensons is a versatile player that can play anywhere in any situation. Wherever coach Bylsma decides to use him, he will succeed. He is not going to slow down and he will not be going anywhere. Girgensons is the heart and soul of these young players and he will no doubt eventually be a leader on the future team.

Next: Sabres Projected Defensive Pairings for 2015-2016

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