Buffalo Sabres: Can Henri Jokiharju redeem himself after subpar season?

While Henri Jokiharju found himself on the first pairing for the Buffalo Sabres last season, things may look different in 2022-23. 

We saw some good things from Buffalo Sabres defenseman Henri Jokiharju in 2021-22. But he found himself playing second-fiddle to Mattias Samuelsson later in the season, pairing instead with rookie Owen Power on the second line.

And while Jokiharju played the role well, he may now find himself down another rung on the third pairing with Ilya Lyubushkin in the lineup for 2022-23. The clear upside, however, is that Jokiharju, 23, has a lot of hockey left in him. And with Lyubushkin slated to be around for just two seasons, the Finnish defenseman can still show that he deserves to stay in the Queen City for the long haul.

Jokiharju can still become a Top Four defenseman for the Buffalo Sabres, but he must play better in 2022-23

For most of 2021-22, Jokiharju paired with Rasmus Dahlin, who coincidentally toiled through two less-than-stellar seasons under Ralph Krueger. Enter Don Granato, and Dahlin transformed into a Top 20 defenseman in the NHL.

And while it was great to see Jokiharju score nearly 0.33 points per game while averaging a block per game with a career-high in average total ice time, his possession metrics show us more. His Corsi For% (CF%) at even strength was just 48.1%, a 0.4% increase from 2020-21. His Fenwick For% (FF%) was even worse, sitting at just 46.3% with a 1.4% decrease.

It shows that the Sabres efficacy when Jokiharju was on the ice was not that great in 2021-22, and it further tells us that Jokiharju needs to be more effective in helping bring the puck back into the Sabres possession.

Moving to the third pairing could be a blessing in disguise for the defenseman. Most likely, he will team with Jacob Bryson and play in roughly 16 to 18 minutes per contest, between four and six fewer minutes, on average, that he saw in 2021-22.

Lesser playing time may work in Jokiharju’s favor. He also has a chance to be the primary member of the pairing, as opposed to last season when Dahlin, and later, Power, manned the top spot, shunting Jokiharju to one side.

For Jokiharju to have a better outing this year, he simply needs to be more disruptive, which could, in turn, put the puck back into his team’s possession more often. If he gets more aggressive, look for Jokiharju to return to the Top Four as early as 2023-24.

Article Source: Buffalo Sabres Top 25 Under 25, #16: Henri Jokiharju by Kerra  Kerra Mazzariello 

(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference)