When looking at the entire roster, the Buffalo Sabres have some great contracts that are relative to their performance. This includes players like Tage Thompson and Rasmus Dahlin, while also having some real bargains like Alex Tuch.
However, that isn't the case for everyone on the team as there are a number of players who haven't lived up to their average annual value. For some of these players, the Sabres acquired them in trades while other contracts have been given out by the team themselves.
Entering the upcoming season, these are four players who need to improve their performance on the ice to make their contracts not look nearly as bad.
*All contract figures courtesy of Puckpedia
Josh Norris
The worst contract right now on the Buffalo Sabres is probably Josh Norris' contract, which has five years remaining with an AAV of $7.95 million. It is the highest AAV among the forwards and more than $800,000 per year higher than Tage Thompson.
Norris was limited to only three games last season after the Sabres acquired him in a trade with the Ottawa Senators for Dylan Cozens. There is no question that the talent is there, but durability is a concern as he has dealt with numerous issues over his career.
This is a player who could easily make his contract look like an overpay to a bargain, as he has the potential to be a 30+ goal scorer. The question will be whether or not he can stay on the ice to deliver that performance.
Owen Power
Owen Power is another player like Josh Norris, who has the talent to make people view this contract as a bargain. However, right now he hasn't been able to consistently deliver that type of performance.
Power signed a seven-year deal worth $58.45 million in October 2023, and his AAV of $8.35 million is second on the team behind only Rasmus Dahlin. The good news for Power is that he is coming off a career year with seven goals and 33 assists but also had a career-worse in On-Ice Goals Against at 85.
While it is something to correct, it isn't entirely on Owen Power as the Sabres had a career worst in save percentage when he was on the ice at 87.5%. The addition of Michael Kesselring and hopefully improved play by Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen will help Power, and all of these factors will get him off a list like this moving forward.
Jordan Greenway
The Sabres traded with the Minnesota Wild for Jordan Greenway during the 2022-23 season, and he has played in 118 games, including only 34 last season, in Buffalo since that move. During that stretch, Greenway has only 17 goals and 23 assists while averaging 16:10 of ice time per game.
Greenway has essentially been a fourth-line player for the Sabres, and that is why it was surprising to see the Sabres decide to offer him a new contract during the season for two years with an AAV of $4 million. The Sabres likely could get similar production from a younger player in the franchise or even sign a free agent for half of that after the season.
Unlike the other two players, Greenway has shown the player he is and is probably playing at his ceiling, which makes this a contract that will be viewed as an overspend for the entirety of the contract.
Mattias Samuelsson
The last player is Mattias Samuelsson, who has an AAV of $4.286 million and is entering Year 3 of a seven-year contract he signed in 2022. He has been a Top 4 defenseman for the Sabres over his career and averaged over 20 minutes of ice time per game.
However, one of the reasons that this contract is one of the worst on the Buffalo Sabres is that he has proven not to be very durable. This past season he played in only 62 games, which was a career high, and over the past three seasons has averaged only 53 games per season.
Samuelsson's performance the past few seasons has trended down since the new contract and in two of the past three seasons, he has had a Relative Expected Goal % below -10%, including a career-worst -12.5% this past season, according to MoneyPuck.
Entering this season, the Sabres are expected to move Samuelsson down to the third line and pair him with Connor Timmins. This certainly could help his performance, but it is tough to imagine that he can deliver relative to his AAV.