Last week, the Buffalo Sabres held onto their own in Tage Thompson and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. Will they add anyone from the outside?
The Buffalo Sabres roster appears to be filled, but that doesn’t mean they won’t surprise us with a last-second free agent. At forward, the Sabres look as though they are especially set, with a clear-cut outlook on the first two lines, with at least two locks for the third.
The defensive top four appears to be set with Rasmus Dahlin, Mattias Samuelsson, Owen Power, and Ilya Lyubushkin, while Henri Jokiharju and Jacob Bryson are also favorites to remain in the rotation. You also have Casey Fitzgerald and Lawrence Pilut vying for a spot as extra skaters.
But with only a little more than a handful of NHL games between them, do the Sabres stick with Fitzgerald and Pilut, and perhaps even Kale Clague? Or do they outsource and lock in more experience?
Will the Buffalo Sabres sign one more player to the roster, most likely to compete for a spot in the defensive rotation?
Earlier, we talked about the possibility of PK Subban coming along. The 33-year-old Subban remains in the market, and his brother, Malcolm, is also in the Sabres system. Anton Stralman is another to watch. At 35, he remains an effective player with 23 points (eight goals), a career high 8.4% shooting percentage, a career-high 100 blocks, and 99 hits in 2021-22.
Stralman also logged over 21 minutes of average total ice time, and he would be an outstanding puzzle piece on the lower lines and as an extra skater at this point in his career. Overall, he remains an effective player and though he is older, Stralman‘s age and experience makes him yet another good mentor for the group.
Can I see another free agent coming to Buffalo? The answer is most likely no. But if I were to project one position group general manager Kevyn Adams may go after, it would be the defensive rotation. And if that is the case, either Subban or Stralman make the most sense. Especially since they are both RHD, something the Sabres could use.
(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference)