Mark Pysyk Growing Into One Of Buffalo Sabres’ Top Defensemen

Buffalo Sabres defenseman Mark Pysyk has arguably been one of the team’s top defenders alongside often-partner Jake McCabe. Pysyk, 23, has steadily grown into his role over the past few seasons, working his way through the American Hockey League’s Rochester Americans and quickly becoming that squad’s top blueliner, showcasing his skills and exactly why he belongs in the NHL.

Overall, Pysyk is a high-caliber player who generally makes smart decisions and strong plays. His passing is smooth, and thanks in large part to his smart decisions, the other players on the ice have confidence in him. He often brings up a play from the offensive zone, not unlike his partner McCabe, and the team isn’t afraid to let him.

He makes the Buffalo Sabres a better team; one example of this: the team has a lot more high-danger scoring chances with Pysyk on the ice than without. His plus-27 in that category is third-best in the league among defensemen, behind only Marc-Edouard Vlasic (38) and Justin Braun (37), both of the San Jose Sharks.

Even when you extend the parameters to include all players, not just defensemen, Pysyk is seventh league-wide, with every player above him suiting up for the Sharks.

Pysyk’s plus-44 scoring chance differential is tied for eighth overall in the league and second among defensemen. Buffalo Sabres center Zemgus Girgensons is a plus-46 in that category.

More from Sabre Noise

• 3 biggest standouts at Buffalo Sabres 2023 Prospects Challenge
• 3 takeaways from the Buffalo Sabres final Prospects Challenge game
• Buffalo Sabres experiment with lesser-known talent in loss to Pens
• Buffalo Sabres 75 Bold Predictions for 2023-24: Prediction 51
• Buffalo Sabres vs. Pittsburgh: A quick look at the Penguins prospects

Realistically, anyone who’s been watching Pysyk over the past few seasons with the Buffalo Sabres and Rochester Americans should find it as no surprise that he’s excelling at this point.

Pysyk opened his professional hockey career with the Amerks in the 2012-2013 AHL season, registering 18 points (4-14) in 57 games. That was good enough for fourth among the team’s defensemen; his plus-8 was tied for best on the Amerks as well. His first AHL season also included scoring his first pro goal in his debut on October 12 against the Syracuse Crunch.

That was also enough to earn him his first NHL call-up once the league’s lockout ended; had there not been a lockout, it’s likely he would have made his Buffalo Sabres debut even earlier that year. He went on to appear in 19 games with the Sabres that season, recording five points, including his first NHL goal and first multi-point game. He played an average of just over 16 minutes per game in that rookie season debut, including once topping the 20-minute mark for ice time.

Despite his solid rookie performance, Pysyk returned to the AHL for part of his sophomore season and ended up splitting the year between Rochester and Buffalo. But once again, he was solid on both ends.

He finished the season fifth among Amerks defensemen in scoring, despite only appearing in 31 games with the team, among players like Rasmus Ristolainen, Brayden McNabb and Chad Ruhwedel. That year’s team was an offensively strong squad, with 16 players meeting or eclipsing the 20-point mark. Pysyk registered 12 points that year, and all the players who topped him in that category also played more games than he did (aside from Linus Omark).

Of course, those stats can only show so much for Pysyk’s offensive side, and say absolutely nothing about his defensive strongpoints. The AHL doesn’t keep as detailed statistics as the NHL does – for instance, things like time on ice fall to the wayside. There really isn’t a site keeping track of shot differentials, Corsi/Fenwick, etc. for the AHL, and there certainly wasn’t one a few years ago when Pysyk was a part-time AHLer. So it’s hard, at times, to really be able to quantify defense capability, especially from years passed.

One way or another, he was good enough to earn a spot in the Buffalo Sabres’ roster at the beginning of the 2013-2014 season. He spent all of October and November, and much of December, with the NHL club, before being shipped back to Rochester.

In the end, Pysyk appeared in 44 games with the Sabres that season, and 31 with the Amerks.

Once again, he found himself in Rochester, this time to start the 2014-2015 season. Pysyk spent most of that season in the American Hockey League, playing in just seven NHL games between December and February. But given the dreadful status of the team, and the oft-discussed tank, he was better off in Rochester, even though at times it seemed like he got buried.

His season regrettably seemed to end in February, after he collapsed from an unknown ailment during a pick-up basketball game with teammates. He was kept out of the lineup for precautionary reasons, and though he eventually returned to team practices, said he never felt 100% during the team activities.

Though no one expected him to, Pysyk managed to return to the Amerks lineup for three games in mid-April. He looked pretty much in form and it was a huge sigh of relief to see him in good shape after the potentially scary incident. Pysyk ended the season with 54 AHL games under his belt, along with the seven NHL matches. He had 17 points on the season, one shy of his AHL record, and added three points with the Buffalo Sabres.

Next: Ristolainen Emerging as Sabres' Top D

This season, Pysyk has proven to be one of the Sabres’ best defensemen, despite being bounced around a little bit.

He’s played in all 17 games, logging at least 13 minutes of ice time each night. On several occasions, he’s eclipsed the 17-minute mark, and sometimes even the 18-minute mark.

Pysyk started off the year as part of the Sabres’ top defensive pairing, playing alongside Josh Gorges for the team’s first two games of the season – both losses. Gorges has since been paired with Rasmus Ristolainen as the team’s solid top defensive pairing, though that could change eventually when Zach Bogosian comes into the lineup.

Since then, Pysyk has played eight of 15 games paired with McCabe, seven of which they’ve spent as the second defensive pairing; the team has gone 3-5 while Pysyk and McCabe have played together. They’re two fairly-young defensemen who are growing together and both of whom have strong points that work well together.

Pysyk has also been in that third pairing with Carlo Colaiacovo for four games (all wins) and with Mike Weber for three (one win, two losses).

What happens once Bogosian comes back, we’ll have to wait and see – though both Colaiacovo, and now Weber, have been dealing with injuries themselves. Either way, Pysyk has found himself in a solid spot and quite simply, he continues to work hard night in and night out and play strong. He’s smooth on the puck and smart on the ice: two attributes that can only bode well for him.