Buffalo Sabres Should Re-Sign These Three Players

The Buffalo Sabres’ season may be over, but the offseason will bring plenty of news for the team.

Buffalo Sabres general manager Tim Murray has a lot of work to do this season, starting with the NHL Draft & continuing through free agency.

The team has quite a few free agents to deal with this offseason, so no doubt it’ll be a busy summer – not to mention the lucrative free agents throughout the NHL who could head to Buffalo.

But which should be the top priorities for Tim Murray in looking at which players to re-sign this summer?

Here’s my top three.

1. Rasmus Ristolainen

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Rasmus Ristolainen was a huge part of the Buffalo Sabres’ defensive core this season, and he could be years to come – but all that has to start with a re-signing.

Ristolainen was fourth overall on the Buffalo Sabres in scoring this year, which is impressive in & of itself, and even moreso when you remember he’s a defenseman. He had 41 points and was the only Buffalo Sabres player to appear in all 82 games.

He also ate HUGE minutes each night and ended the season averaging 25:16 a night – top of the team, and almost three full minutes more, on average, than Zach Bogosian.

Ristolainen was 10th overall in the NHL among defenseman in average ice time, and played an average of 31.4 shifts per game, third-most among blueliners league-wide.

He also became the first Buffalo Sabres defenseman to record 19 points in a 20-game span since Garry Galley did it back in 1996. Ristolainen also became just the fifth Buffalo Sabres defenseman to log at least 200 shots in a season (202).

No doubt he’s one of the players most Buffalo Sabres fans are thinking about re-signing this offseason.

He made $925,000 this season (plus an $850,000 bonus) and will be a restricted free agent on July 1.

2. Chad Johnson

Would I have said this at the beginning of the season? Probably not – but the Buffalo Sabres should re-sign Chad Johnson.

Whether you like him or not, it’s hard to deny that Johnson stepped up big time this season.

That started with the first game when Robin Lehner went down with injury, and continued throughout Lehner’s injury and later relapse.

Was he perfect? No. But were there nights that he kept the Buffalo Sabres in it? Absolutely.

Overall, Johnson went 22-16-4 this season with a 2.36 GAA. He started 40 of 45 games he appeared in.

Johnson earned $1.6 million this season and will be an unrestricted free agent on July 1.

3. Nicolas Deslauriers

Perhaps a little surprise, but I’ve picked Nicolas Deslauriers as another priority that the Buffalo Sabres need to re-sign.

Deslauriers seems to often be a highly underrated player and his impact on the ice is often…. crushing.

(See what I did there? Okay… I know, that was awful.)

Deslauriers isn’t probably ever going to be a great offensive guy – he notched 12 points (6-6) in 70 games this season. But he brings a physical quality to the game, and to the Buffalo Sabres organization, that’s important.

He led the Buffalo Sabres with 206 hits this season, nine more than Marcus Foligno. That’s eighth-most in the Atlantic Division (Toronto’s Leo Komarov led with 283), 18th in the Eastern Conference (New York’s Matt Martin led with 365) and 27th overall in the league.

Among players who appeared in 70 or more games, Deslauriers’ average of 2.9 hits/game was 13th leaguewide, 9th in the conference and third in the division.

Deslauriers earned $650,000 this season and is set to become a restricted free agent on July 1.

Next: Buffalo Sabres Season In Review Month-By-Month

Which Buffalo Sabres players would be at the top of your list for Murray to re-sign?