Projected Buffalo Sabres Defense Pairings For 2015-16

By Joseph DiBiase |

Defense seems to be the Buffalo Sabres biggest weakness going into the 2015-16 season. General Manager Tim Murray has expressed his interest to still add a top four left handed defenseman. At the moment Josh Gorges is the only guy that fits that description and he is known to be injury prone.

Arguably the Sabres best three defenseman in Zach Bogosian, Rasmus Ristolainen, and Mark Pysyk are all right handed. Last season Mark Pysyk played a lot of games on the left side, so at this point I believe he would start on that side with the Sabres.

Here are my projected defensive pairings in order for the start of the 2015-16 season:

Josh Gorges and Rasmus Ristolainen–

Ristolainen is ready to take on a top pairing role. Last year he had his ups and downs, but his ups showed his potential to be an elite defenseman in this league. With another year of seasoning he should have less of the downs and be a more consistent and reliable defender. Other than consistency Ristolainen has few flaws.

Josh Gorges gives Ristolainen a steady veteran defenseman on his side that can help settle him down if he needs him. Gorges being a stay at home defenseman also gives Risto the freedom to move up in the play if he needs to. Problem with Gorges is that he is hurt a lot. His health is very important to the Sabres since at this point he is maybe the only left handed defenseman that can play significant minutes. The next lefts behind him include Mike Weber, Jake McCabe, and Matt Donovan.

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Mark Pysyk and Zach Bogosian–

Mark Pysyk, as I said before, has experience playing on the left side last year in Rochester. He is ready for a top four spot, so if he has to play the left side for that to happen, that’s exactly what should happen. Pysyk is composed, steady, consistent, and has some offensive ability. I expect he’ll play on the powerplay as well.

Bogosian gives the nastiness that Pysyk doesn’t have. He, like Pysyk, has a well balanced game that will complement Pysyk nicely. He can also be a veteran presence for Pysyk if he needs it. Bogosian would also likely be a powerplay player. Like Gorges, Bogosian needs to stay healthy. To this point in his career he has not played over 70 games since 2010-11. The only full season he played was in his rookie year, 2009-10, when he played 81 games with Atlanta.

Jake McCabe and Mike Weber–

For this to work, Weber will have to prove capable to play on the right side. Even though he’s a lefty, he has played the right side before, but very little. Weber has become disliked by the fans, but much of that is because he was playing lots of minutes. Now he’ll be a 6th or 7th defenseman, a role more suited for him.

After watching Jake McCabe at developmental camp, I think he’s ready for an NHL spot. He would give the Sabres another weapon on the powerplay, and would add offense to the back end as a whole. Things he needs to work on however, would be stepping up. Many times he’s tried to make the big hit, missed, and gotten himself out of position.

Extras

Carlo Colaiacovo is a nice veteran defenseman when healthy. I see him as the 7th defenseman, considering everyone knows he won’t play a full season anyway.

Matt Donovan is a potential call up, considering he has NHL experience and has decent offensive ability.

Chad Ruhwedel is now 25 years old, so if he wants to be an NHL regular he needs to make a big step soon. This year’s training camp gives him an opportunity to do that. I wouldn’t bet it happens, but he better be motivated to get a spot or he may be a career AHLer.

Next: Buffalo Sabres Make Progress in Rochester

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