Earlier this week, one of our editors wrote about how the Buffalo Sabres must re-sign Rasmus Ristolainen.
But Ristolainen isn’t the only Buffalo Sabres player who needs to be re-signed this offseason, with several set to hit free agency on July 1.
Here, let’s look at three Buffalo Sabres *not* named Ristolainen who need to be re-signed.
Even though Marcus Foligno has been on the Buffalo Sabres for few years now, he is still only 24 years old which is just around the average age for the Sabres. Foligno has been in the NHL more or less for several years, dating back to when he was 20 years old playing 14 games with the Buffalo Sabres.
This gives Foligno a lot of experience and playing time, which will help the young guys like Sam Reinhart and Jack Eichel who are still under 20. Foligno can be a leader on and off the ice.
As of now Marcus Foligno is only taking a $1,875,000 hit to the salary cap, which is not very much, especially when compared to Ryan O’Reilly’s cap hit of 7,500,000. Even though Foligno is still going to be doing his last restricted free agent contract, I think that he should ask for around $2,500,000 because when he signed his previous restricted free agent contract he got 19 points in 74 games the season before.
This past season Foligno tallied for 21 points in 75 games. He is making improvements in his game. Foligno has become more of a physical presence with his big hits and tough play. So I think that having him asking for $2.5 million for three years will be a good deal, because after that time the Buffalo Sabres will be able to decide what they want to do with him.
The Buffalo Sabres have lack of depth on the wings so they should be wanting to keep any of the true wingers that they have and not keep trying to have the many centers that the Sabres have move to play on the wing.
2. Jake McCabe
The next player that the Buffalo Sabres should make a point to re-sign is defensemen Jake McCabe, who just finished the last year of his three year entry-level deal.
McCabe is only 22 and just finished his rookie year, playing in 77 games this past season with the Buffalo Sabres. In the seasons prior, he played just 2 and 7 seven games with the Buffalo Sabres.
McCabe’s play became increasingly better during this past season. McCabe recorded 14 points in 77 games which is not too good, I think that the Sabres need to make sure that he gets re-signed so that you get to see a full season and off-season while being on the main roster.
Right now McCabe is getting paid only $925,000 for his entry-level deal. After his three years he has only played 86 total games on the main roster so it is hard to evaluate how good he is going to be in the future, but if the Buffalo Sabres are committed to keeping this very young defensemen I think that the should sign in for about $1,250,000 for two years.
I think that McCabe should get that amount because it is hard to give him a longer contract because he has only played a little over a season but what we saw from him a the IIHF world championships, I think that he will get better and show what he is worth, so when McCabe is 24 if he performs well throughout his contract the Sabres will be able to reward him with a bigger contract for a longer period of time.
Zemgus Girgensons, the Latvian Locomotive, has been a great player during these bad years for the Buffalo Sabres but he is one of the many young players that this turnaround starts with. Girgensons was drafted with the 14th overall pick in the 2012 draft, so he is finishing his entry level contract.
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Girgensons has been playing on the main roster since he was 20 years old when he played 70 games while getting 22 points. Girgensons’ best season so far was when the people from Latvia voted him into the all-star game with the fan vote. During that season he played only 61 games while recording 30 points while breaking even with goals and assists with 15 each.
With him still being a restricted free agent he can ask for how much he wants but an offer that would be reasonable for the Buffalo Sabres to do would be around 1,010,000 for two years. Girgensons entry level deal was worth 894,166 for three years. So I think that this is a very reasonable deal for both parties and the price could go up even more depending on how long the want to sign him for.
I think that if the Buffalo Sabres sign him for two years that would still give Girgensons another restricted free agent contract to do when he is 24 and at that point he could decide to try and get a more long term deal for him. It is possible that the price could go up even more because Girgensons has shown himself to be valuable to this team. I think this contract could probably go as high as 1,250,000 while adding another year.
That is the three players that the Buffalo Sabres need to sign this idea of a New Chapter as these players could be key paragraphs in the New Chapter.
Next: Buffalo Sabres Free Agent Frenzy: Five Centers to Target
Let me know what other players the Buffalo Sabres should make sure that they sign and for how much and how long.