Jack Quinn or not, the Buffalo Sabres could find some value in signing Paul Stastny as a stopgap for the 2023-24 season for one major reason.
I am a huge advocate for building a team through the draft and prospects pool, but every now and again, one aging name catches my eye. And Matthew Fairburn of The Athletic listed Paul Stastny as a potential late-offseason addition for the Buffalo Sabres.
Ordinarily, I wouldn’t endorse signing such an aging player for a young team, especially since the Sabres already have Kyle Okposo and Erik Johnson as their 35-and-over leaders. But one statistic regarding Stastny jumped out at me more than anything else, and it’s why general manager Kevyn Adams should consider adding the aging forward.
"“He’s 37 years old but still managed to win 57 percent of his faceoffs last season. While he was on the ice at five-on-five, the Hurricanes had 61 percent of the expected goals. ” – Matthew Fairburn, via The Athletic"
While Fairburn admitted that it would be a bit of a chess game as to where Stastny should line up with Quinn missing time rehabbing from an Achilles injury, we can all agree that the Blue and Gold need somebody who can step up and win consistent faceoffs.
Paul Stastny would be an excellent fit for the Buffalo Sabres
For a team figuring to break through and finally earn a playoff appearance in 2023-24, would it hurt to have one more older, more experienced player on the roster who has been there recently? Clearly, Stastny is still an effective player, as outlined by the snippet in the above section, and he’s won at least 54% of his faceoffs since 2018-19.
Last season’s 57.6% FOW% was his best since 2014-15, when he won over 58% of them, so it’s clear that the guy can still play, even if it’s for between 10 and 12 minutes per game. I would also fully endorse putting him onto the fourth with Okposo and Zemgus Girgensons, which would create a fourth line with roughly four decades of experience among the trio.
That will do the Buffalo Sabres very well if Adams signed Stastny to a one-year deal, which would further allow prospects who could man the lower lines in the future like Tyson Kozak and Company to develop their game in the AHL. Once the 2024-25 season rolls around, and the likes of Stastny (if signed in 2023), Okposo, Johnson, and perhaps even Girgensons are gone, then call up some well-developed prospects.
Source: Sabres free agent targets: Bargain forward options to consider with Jack Quinn out by Matthew Fairburn, The Athletic