Buffalo Sabres: Owen Power will play better than we’re projecting

Buffalo Sabres defenseman Owen Power had himself a game last night, even if few others did, and it may have foreshadowed something.

Last season, Owen Power only had 35 points, with four goals and 31 assists. This year, if last night’s game served as an indicator, Power should generate plenty more offense than he did in 2022-23. If you remember correctly, Power didn’t get too involved deep in the offensive zone until roughly halfway through the year, but heading into his second full season, expect the 20-year-old to take his game up a notch.

In all situations, Power logged three shots on goal, but his individual Corsi For (iCF) sat at five per Natural Stat Trick, and it’s exactly what we need to see from the former University of Michigan product. Not only is he giving himself scoring chances, but teammates positioning themselves near the crease have a chance to deflect the puck into the back of the net, and that could open up a high-scoring year.

Buffalo Sabres defenseman foreshadows a jump in points total, defensive performance

Per Hockey Stat Cards, the Sabres defensive impact was beyond abysmal, and you don’t need to look at charts and graphs to forge that conclusion. However, Power’s defensive impact, which also sat in the “red,” was minimal, and it was also the fourth-best on the team. Only Zemgus Girgensons, Kyle Okposo, and Tyson Jost outscored Power in the category.

This implies the second-year D-Man will give us a much more complete game than we saw from him last season, when Power often showed us flashes, but he rarely put all the pieces together. That was something you didn’t see last year, but as a rookie, incomplete play was expected.

Sure, it was just one game, but overall, Power is one year older and one year more experienced. This will take him much further if his defensive impact continues to grow and if he lets those shots rip in the coming months.

(Statistics and analytics provided by Hockey Stat Cards and Natural Stat Trick)