Buffalo Sabres: 3 players that fell under expectations this year
As the 2021-22 NHL Season continues to wind down, we will look at three Buffalo Sabres who did not enjoy the type of year they hoped for
The Buffalo Sabres saw plenty of surprises in 2021-22. Players like Jeff Skinner, Rasmus Dahlin, and Tage Thompson revitalized their NHL careers in head coach Don Granato’s first season with the team and performed above expectations.
Even Jack Eichel did his part for the Sabres, gifting them two key contributors when general manager Kevyn Adams shipped him to Vegas. And Eichel’s contributions to the Sabres may not be over just yet, depending on how Adams spends the draft picks he acquired in the trade.
We also saw the likes of Owen Power enter the NHL and give Sabres fans an early look at what’s coming next season. And still, guys like Kyle Okposo and Victor Olofsson proved in 2021-22 that they were no afterthoughts.
But unfortunately, there are a few Sabres who performed below expectations. In the following slides, some names will catch you off-guard, but others, you will probably find yourself agreeing with.
Two of the names listed had a solid pay day coming their way, only to drastically underperform. Another two of these players had worked their way through the Sabres system as early-round draft picks.
Another was in his first season with the franchise and was expected to become a solid contributor. However, that did not pan out. The burning question is, with so much young talent in the AHL ranks and with six defensemen aged 25 and under, will the Sabres even consider bringing back the following players?
The short answer is, they might bring back one of them. It’s easy to predict the other two will end up somewhere else in the NHL next season. Let’s meet the following players who underperformed this season.
Will Butcher
It’s clear that Will Butcher, Colin Miller, and Mark Pysyk are the odd men out in the Sabres defensive rotation. It’s also likely one of them will stick around to provide much-needed depth for 2022-23.
Butcher has never been a viable player in the league. And over the past two seasons, he has just 60 NHL appearances with 37 coming during his first season in Buffalo as of April 16th, 2022.
The former New Jersey Devil has lacked productivity, with a career-low eight points this season. He’s also averaging his lowest amount of average ice time since he first entered the league in 2017-18. Butcher has also lacked aggression, logging just 11 hits and 32 blocks.
Throughout his career, Butcher has displayed two-way traits, recording 44 points his rookie season before tacking on 30 in Year Two. He also, between 2017 and 2021, recorded between 0.375 and 0.543 points per game. This season, Butcher has just 0.216 per game.
The Sabres paid Butcher $4.1 million this season and he has little to show for it. His contract expires following the season and you can expect the organization to let him walk.
Casey Mittelstadt
Mittelstadt appeared in 41 games last season and logged a respectable 22 points, a drastic improvement over his previous three seasons with the organization. However, Mittelstadt took a step back in 2021-22, with 16 points (four goals) in 34 outings.
Since the Sabres drafted him eighth overall in the 2017 NHL Draft, Mittelstadt has worn the draft bust label. So much that Buffalo assigned him to the Rochester Americans for 36 games in 2019-20 to try and develop him further.
And it’s not like Mittelstadt has not had his fair share of chances. Following training camp, he was projected to make an impact on the team’s top scoring line. That didn’t happen, and while the stagnant center dealt with an injury, Tage Thompson stepped up and simultaneously removed his own draft bust label.
Right now, the Sabres have Mittelstadt locked in until 2023-24, and they are set to owe him a base salary of $2.5 million next year. They can always move him following the season and there will be teams out there looking to take a flyer on the former first-round pick.
Maybe Adams and Granato give him one more shot? But with a plethora of young forwards looking to join the NHL ranks, don’t be surprised if Mittelstadt is fighting for a roster spot if he sticks around.
Rasmus Asplund
You root for guys like Rasmus Asplund. It’s hard to find players who match his work ethic, and everyone in the organization appreciates just how much time and effort Asplund is willing to put into his game.
But in three forgettable seasons with the Sabres, Asplund’s work ethic has yet to translate onto the ice. In 74 games, Asplund has 27 points and nearly 14:30 of average ice time. He’s averaging just 0.36 points per game this season, as opposed to 0.39 in 2020-21.
Asplund has another year remaining on his contact and he won’t take up too much cap space to keep around. But at this point, he has proven he does not belong on the scoring lines.
Could he develop into a solid fourth-liner for this team? Perhaps. His face-off win percentage needs improvement, and he can stand to get more aggressive.
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Adams may further keep Asplund around considering his draft status, much like Mittelstadt’s. But also like Mittelstadt, Asplund is also running out of chances as younger players will undoubtedly try to solidify themselves onto an NHL roster come training camp.
(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference)