Buffalo Sabres: Can Zemgus Girgensons be the fourth-line center?
In 2021-22, Cody Eakin was the Buffalo Sabres dominant puzzle piece as the fourth-line center, often tasked with winning face-offs.
The Buffalo Sabres have a solid roster of forwards heading into the 2022-23 season. And in sports like the NFL, the third-string quarterback may not affect the outcome of a game in most circumstances. But in the NHL, a team is only as good as its fourth-liners since they receive ample playing time.
Further, the fourth line, often referred to as the energy line, is often comprised of specialists who play in short bursts. They only have a few jobs that include hitting, winning face-offs, and sound puck control.
Fortunately for the Sabres, Zemgus Girgensons displays all three traits. And while some fourth-liners wind up as healthy scratches half the time like Anders Bjork and John Hayden, guys like Girgensons can man the fourth line all season long.
What makes Zemgus Girgensons the ideal fourth-liner for the Buffalo Sabres?
If Girgensons stays healthy, he can replace Cody Eakin in the face-off battle on the fourth line. However, he is also a physical player, meaning he would be part of the rotation regardless of whether the Sabres need to prioritize puck control or to establish a physical presence.
His numbers weren’t off the charts in either category, as he won 49.8 percent of his face-offs. But, it was a career-high and you can only expect that number to improve. He also snagged 81 hits in 56 games, which put him on-pace for 119 for an 82-game stretch.
Girgensons also committed just 10 turnovers last season, or 0.18 per game, which averages to 15 over 82-games. Overall, Girgensons is a prototype fourth-line center as he reaches the age 29 mark.
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For a first-round pick, he never lived quite to expectations. But it doesn’t mean he was a perennial draft bust. Girgensons has value in this league. And he shows remarkable fourth-line qualities as the Sabres figure to add more young talent to its top lines.
(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference)