Projecting the 2023-24 Buffalo Sabres lineup 3.0 after re-signings

The Buffalo Sabres made two big re-signings yesterday, bringing back Zemgus Girgensons and Lukas Rousek. Where do they fit in the latest lineup projection?

The Buffalo Sabres took two massive steps forward yesterday when they re-signed Zemgus Girgensons and Lukas Rousek. They have, at the time of this writing, yet to extend a qualifying offer to Tyson Jost, but they still have time to extend one if they are interested in keeping the former first round pick around.

So today, I’ll be releasing two versions of my latest lineup projection – one with Jost, and one without Jost. Who will end up where, and will Rousek or another prospect end up breaking into the lineup? Let’s dive in.

Projecting the Buffalo Sabres 2023-24 lineup 3.0

Forwards Without Jost

• Skinner – Tage – Tuch
• Quinn – Cozens – Peterka
• Greenway – Mittelstadt – Kulich
• Girgensons – Krebs – Okposo
• Rousek – Olofsson

Forwards With Jost

• Skinner – Tage – Tuch
• Quinn – Cozens – Peterka
• Jost – Mittelstadt – Kulich
• Girgensons – Krebs – Okposo
• Greenway – Olofsson

As for the forwards, the first two lines remain even, but things get interesting in the bottom six. Although Girgensons and Rousek re-signed, I can still see Jiri Kulich as the one prospect who will climb up and take Victor Olofsson’s spot, even if in this version, I don’t have the Buffalo Sabres trading him, but this is more of an err on the side of caution.

Without Jost, Greenway gets the call onto the third line, while Mittelstadt also centers the trio. I have the fourth line unchanged from 2022-23 going into the season, but I would expect Rousek to eventually earn a full-time spot on it as opposed to playing as the extra skater, and I would expect that to happen sooner than later. Therefore, Girgensons and Okposo would end up rotating in and out.

As for the version where the Blue and Gold brings back Tyson Jost, the lines are basically unchanged except for the fact Kulich still takes Olofsson’s spot, while the latter bumps down into extra skater territory. Greenway takes over what Rousek’s role would have been, pegged in as an extra skater for a brief time before ultimately taking over for a full-time role once the Don Granato Effect takes hold.

Defensive Pairings

The Buffalo Sabres defensive pairings will still not contain an actual name lining up alongside Owen Power in this projection, though I have recently thrown around some viable candidates. Last night, I wrote about the possibility of them trading for Noah Hanifin. I also outlined an additional three defensemen the Blue and Gold could trade for during or even following the NHL Draft.

So what do I currently think the pairings would look like at the moment? Check them out below:

• Dahlin – Samuelsson
• Power – Defenseman X
• Stillman – Lyubushkin
• Jokiharju

Dahlin and Samuelsson could become one of the game’s best duos this season. And since they are both still in their early 20s, it shouldn’t surprise any of us if they resided at the top of the league for the next decade.

Power will team up with Defenseman X, and again, you can learn more about who that mystery player could be in my most recent articles involving a few name-drops. As for the third pairing, I rolled with physicality, with Riley Stillman overtaking Henri Jokiharju and Ilya Lyubushkin taking up the right-defense spot.

Despite the demotion, I can still see Jokiharju rotating into the third pairing with Lyubushkin. The latter struggled with injuries last season, so seeing him in a timeshare with another RHD makes sense.