The Buffalo Sabres are rolling as they have won eight straight now and will be looking to extend that win streak on their three-game road trip. After practice on Sunday, head coach Lindy Ruff said that Jason Zucker would be traveling with the team, which is an indication that he could make his return on this road trip.
Zucker has played in 21 games this season and has nine goals and nine assists, but has been out since December 8th after suffering an injury against the Calgary Flames. This is notable because since he went on injured reserve, the Sabres haven't lost and have gone on this incredible run.
He has been a big part of this team, and the Sabres are a better team when he is playing. However, his return creates a big challenge for Ruff because he doesn't want to mess up any chemistry the lines have shown over this win streak.
These are three players that could be replaced by Jason Zucker on their line.
Buffalo Sabres shouldn't mess with their top line right now
When looking at the four lines for the Buffalo Sabres, there is a logical spot that he can fit on each line. The question is how much the coaching staff wants to change the other lines to fit Zucker in.
The Sabres' top line, as of late, has been Peyton Krebs - Tage Thompson - Josh Doan, and on the surface, it would make the most sense to replace Zucker with Krebs. The team could then move Krebs back to the fourth line, which is where he has played a majority of the season.
However, this line has been producing as Krebs has scored goals in two of the last three games after having zero through the first 34 games, and Tage Thompson has had 11 points in the past eight games. This might be an option at some point, but as long as they continue to deliver, it is hard to make changes to this line.
Jason Zucker on the second line would bump Noah Ostlund
Noah Ostlund rejoined the Buffalo Sabres at the end of their road trip and has played in six of their eight wins. He has been productive during that stretch as he has had three goals after only three goals in the first 20 games he has played in this season.
The challenge is that this line has been pretty productive, and these three have the third-best xGoals % of lines with at least 50 minutes of ice time at 55.1%. It has been a productive group, and similar to the top line, the Sabres should continue to keep this line intact and not disrupt the chemistry.
Has Jack Quinn done enough to remain in the lineup?
On the third line, the Sabres have gone with Zach Benson - Ryan McLeod - Jack Quinn, and this group has not been as productive as the other lines. According to MoneyPuck, these three have by far the lowest xGoals % of 25.4%, over 20 percentage points fewer than the next line.
To start, the Sabres should have Zucker replace Quinn to see how Zach Benson and Ryan McLeod do but it might force the coaching staff to make some additional changes if it doesn't work. The reason being is that McLeod and Zucker, with Jack Quinn, have the second-best x Goals % of lines with at least 50 minutes of ice time at 56.9%.
In that scenario, the coaching staff needs to find a place to fit Zach Benson into the lineup. This is where it gets tricky and will cause more changes because the likely scenario is moving Benson to the top line and then dropping Krebs back to the fourth line.