Kale Clague
If the Buffalo Sabres weren’t so stacked in the defensive rotation, odds are Clague would be good enough for the third pairing. But odds are greater that he will end up in Rochester with Pilut, Priskie, and Davies comprising the top four.
Like Pilut, Clague is likely another one of the next men up if the injury bug hits the Sabres defensive rotation. But like the aforementioned players comprising Rochester’s projected top four, Clague’s future may very well be somewhere else.
He will seek to impress one of the other 31 teams out there in 2022-23. And once again, if the Sabres are somehow in the wild card race come the trade deadline, he may be yet another bargaining chip.
Clauge is a good hockey player and he has shown he can play for an extended period in the NHL. But the Sabres have too many homegrown players in the system for him to seriously contend for a spot in the rotation.