Buffalo Sabres: Is Jake McCabe Ready for Bigger Minutes?

While the Buffalo Sabres are still negotiating the terms of an extension with Rasmus Ristolainen, they’ve already locked up another solid, shut -down defenseman in Jake McCabe. Fresh off his rookie season and a 3-year extension, is McCabe ready to take on a bigger role?

For the Buffalo Sabres and fans alike, one of the most important tasks this offseason is locking up the Finnish blue-liner, Rasmus Ristolainen, to a long-term deal. It’ll likely take a big dollar amount, but for anyone that watched the bulk of last season, I’d venture a guess that most people out there would rightly say he deserves it. That being said, I do feel that at certain points the Sabres over-utilized Ristolainen last season, especially on the Penalty Kill, when much of that work could’ve been shouldered in the form of Jake McCabe.

In looking at plus-minus for the regular season, Ristolainen finished at -21, which, incidentally, was the worst on the team. We’ll chalk this up to a combination of Ristolainen being given the toughest assignments, playing more minutes than anyone else on the PK, as well as the likelihood of the resulting fatigue. Ristolainen’s TOI (Time On Ice) on the PK was practically double that of McCabe (with Ristolainen at 216:30 minutes and McCabe at 109:02 minutes). Believe it or not, McCabe was third overall in short-handed TOI, while Josh Gorges finished second with 175:12 minutes.

The interesting thing about this as that McCabe finished the season with the best plus-minus on the team. In fact, it’s a very short list of players that finished 2015-16 at even or better. Topping that list is McCabe (+6), followed by Marcus Foligno (+4) and Mike Weber (+3), though Weber only played 35 games with the Sabres before he was traded to the Washington Capitals. The rest of the players on that list, with the exception of Girgensons, who finished with an even 0, are made up of Rochester call-ups and prospects that played only a small number of games.

When you look at it this way, and considering that McCabe had only 4G and 10A the entire season, you may wonder why that extra 100 minutes was not more evenly dispersed between Ristolainen and McCabe. There’s no question that Ristolainen is a budding star and will be a fixture in Buffalo for years to come, but with a physical, shut-down defenseman like McCabe, it may go a long way in helping Ristolainen out.

In average TOI per game both players had decent numbers, with Ristolainen at about 25 minutes (which was good for tenth overall among NHL defenseman) and McCabe hovering at about 19 per game. Especially with a new contract on the way, Ristolainen is most certainly going to take that number one role, and it wouldn’t be a stretch to imagine that his ice-time may even go up slightly next season. But perhaps Dan Bylsma should also be giving due consideration to McCabe.

McCabe was third on the team in Production Value (Ice-Time/Points Scored) and first in Defensive Points Shares (an estimate of points scored by the team as a result of defensive play). He was also third in blocked shots and hits. The fact that the Sabres were able to extend McCabe for 3 years at $4.8M (and to be clear, that’s $1.25M next season and $1.775 in the following two) is a steal, as I believe he’s worth more than that. McCabe may not have the offensive upside that Ristolainen has, and he’s only been in NHL for a year, but when compared to the money Ristolainen will rake in, I’m still left raising an eyebrow or two.

It could be the left-handed defenseman the Sabres were in need of was right here all along. In the spring of this year, McCabe joined Team USA at the IIHF World Championships in Moscow, the same tournament that saw Buffalo Sabres forward Ryan O’Reilly and Sam Reinhart bring home the gold for Canada. Despite an injury in game one, McCabe went on to play a big role for the Americans, and by the time the tournament was over, he was named one of the top three performers for Team USA.

Next: Sabres Player Projections: Marcus Foligno

McCabe strikes me as the type of player that is determined to improve every aspect of his game. One only needs to look at his face to see that he’s dialed-in. He’s not flashy, cocky or exaggerated, but carries himself with a quiet integrity and respect for the game. The more confidence he gains in this league, the more we’ll see him develop, especially on the offensive side of things. Given time, I think McCabe may even challenge for a spot on the number one pair.