When news broke that winger Jack Quinn would miss at least four months, it opened up the possibility of the Buffalo Sabres adding another forward.
While Jack Quinn’s injury opened a void in the Buffalo Sabres lineup, it doesn’t mean they need to panic and add a forward during the remainder of free agency, nor do they need to trade for one. In my most recent lineup prediction, I highlighted this by pulling Casey Mittelstadt to the second line, while bumping fourth line center Peyton Krebs to the third.
Tyson Kozak, whose strengths would happen to remedy weaknesses in the Sabres lineup, could step in on the fourth line at least until Quinn returns. Some may scoff and claim “Kozak isn’t NHL ready,” but with his skill set, coupled with the fact he would mainly play alongside the experienced Kyle Okposo and Zemgus Girgensons on the fourth line, the 20-year-old will be okay.
The biggest question is, who would play winger on the third line? Jordan Greenway, Tyson Jost, and Lukas Rousek would battle for it, though with Greenway’s ties to Don Granato coupled with the fact the Sabres gave up a second round pick for the guy, I’d expect him to take one spot, as I also outlined in my latest projection.
Buffalo Sabres would be fine without adding another forward
Given the way Lukas Rousek played this past season when given a chance at the NHL level, I’d give him the edge over Jost, who could fill in as an extra skater and a rotational piece for Okposo, who will likely play on a pitch count this season. Following his incredible rookie year in Rochester, Jiri Kulich is another one who could sneak his way onto the roster, though I’m projecting he spends at least the first portion of the season in the AHL at this point.
Then there is Victor Olofsson, who is the wild card in this scenario. While it’s still possible the Sabres move him, even if it’s for a late draft pick, Olofsson still carries value as a scorer, and that’s something that we can’t ignore.
While general manager Kevyn Adams looked into and even got close to signing a forward last week, it’s also something that we can chalk up to him doing his due diligence. Here is what he had to say on the issue:
"“Got close on one of them, didn’t happen. But they weren’t things that I was willing to compromise and chase to overpay or anything like that.” – via Buffalo Hockey Beat"
This tells me that while Adams considered, again, the due diligence factor, it also shows me that, as with the goaltenders, he’s happy with the forwards he has. If that wasn’t the case, he would have gladly paid what he needed to, or more, as he did with the Connor Clifton signing.
Overall, there is more than enough talent up front both on the Buffalo Sabres, and in Rochester, for Adams to put much stock into signing a forward. Even if Quinn had an injury to keep him sidelined for the entire season, it wouldn’t change my viewpoint on the matter.
Guys like Lukas Rousek showed us he can handle the NHL game, while Jiri Kulich and Tyson Kozak have given us plenty of reasons to believe they too would be just fine. Casey Mittelstadt showed us he can be more than an effective stopgap, and Peyton Krebs can play on more than just the fourth line. Tyson Jost also showed us several times last season that he can be an effective player.
Source: Sabres notes: Amerks close to hiring assistant coaches; Buffalo open to adding another forward by Bill Hoppe, BuffaloHockeyBeat.com