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Sabres: What to expect from Eric Staal in 2021

By Jacob LeBlanc

BUFFALO, NY - NOVEMBER 22: Eric Staal #12 of the Minnesota Wild takes a shot as Victor Antipin #93 of the Buffalo Sabres defends during the third period at the KeyBank Center on November 22, 2017 in Buffalo, New York. (Photo by Kevin Hoffman/Getty Images)
BUFFALO, NY - NOVEMBER 22: Eric Staal #12 of the Minnesota Wild takes a shot as Victor Antipin #93 of the Buffalo Sabres defends during the third period at the KeyBank Center on November 22, 2017 in Buffalo, New York. (Photo by Kevin Hoffman/Getty Images) /
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The Sabres made a trade to acquire Eric Staal this offseason. What should we expect to see from him in his first year in Buffalo?

The Buffalo Sabres addressed their need for a second line center this offseason when they traded for Eric Staal. Staal will immediately take over the second line center role, as it was a position that was a very large weak spot for Buffalo last season.

In exchange for Staal, the Sabres sent Marcus Johansson to the Minnesota Wild. Johansson played in 60 games for the Sabres last year and had nine goals and 21 assists. Staal played in 66 games last season for the Wild and had 19 goals and 28 assists.

At 35-years-old, Eric Staal will be a very nice veteran presence on this year’s Buffalo team. He will also fit in very well on the Sabres roster.

Buffalo was in desperate need of a quality second line center. Staal will take over as the second center on the depth chart once the season starts, and will likely reunite with his former Carolina Hurricanes teammate Jeff Skinner on the Sabres second line. Skinner and Staal played together in Carolina for almost six seasons.

Staal was also a teammate of newly hired Sabres GM Kevyn Adams in Carolina. The two of them won a Stanley Cup Championship together in 2006 for the Hurricanes. So it should not come as a huge surprise that Adams made this move to bring in someone he is very familiar with.

This is the last year of Eric Staal’s two year contract. So if the Sabres plan to keep him, they would need to resign him after this season. Depending on how the Sabres prospects develop over the next year, we could see Buffalo decide to not re-sign Staal if they have confidence in some of the younger players to fill in the second line center role.

But I have a feeling that if he shows consistency and is a positive impact on the team this year, the Sabres would be willing to bring him back for at least one more season.

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Eric Staal has been a quality player throughout his nearly 20-year career, and I think this will continue this season with Buffalo. Not only do I expect to see him put up quality numbers, I expect him to provide consistency on a line with Jeff Skinner which would lead him to have a very nice bounce-back season compared to what Skinner did last year.

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