Who do the Buffalo Sabres think Peyton Krebs is?
It's a question that first emerged last season, when Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff moved Krebs up to the first line alongside Tage Thompson and the since-departed Alex Tuch.
While the trio found modest success, the 25-year-old forward's lack of offensive acumen became a serious problem during the team's second-round playoff series against the Montreal Canadiens. He failed to score a single point as Buffalo was eliminated in seven games, and he was ultimately dropped down the lineup as the club unsuccessfully tried to spark Thompson and Tuch vs. the Habs.
Yet, there was Krebs back on the top line at the start of training camp after receiving a four-year, $18 million contract extension from general manager Jarmo Kekalainen over the offseason.
He was moved down to the middle six as the regular season began, but even giving him that role has left the far more offensively gifted Jiri Kulich to receive limited fourth-line shifts.
Make no mistake: Krebs brings value to the Sabres. He's a hardworking, team-first player who's willing to stand up for his teammates and brings a strong compete level to every shift. His contract should age fine in the NHL's current rising-cap era.
Yet, Buffalo's brass continues to operate like he's going to break through as the top-end playmaker he was drafted to become by the Vegas Golden Knights seven years ago. That's just not reality.
Krebs has scored just 134 points (42 goals and 92 assists) in 380 career NHL games, and a career-high 39 of those came last season thanks to the extremely favorable usage alongside Thompson and Tuch.
The 5-foot-11 Canadian should be skating on the fourth line with Sam Carrick and Beck Malenstyn. He should also be one of the forwards being used to replace Tuch on the penalty kill.
In fact, his special teams usage has been especially baffling. He's yet to take a single PK shift through two games — despite the staff asking players like Josh Norris and Jack Quinn to help those shorthanded efforts — but he's been used on the power play? That's backwards. He's a liability on the PP, but he could actually be a useful asset once he gains some experience on the PK.
It's time for Buffalo to give up on the dream of Krebs becoming a highly productive top-six player. He's not going to become a 70-point scorer at the NHL level. He's never been a reliable goal scorer, even dating back to his time in junior hockey, and his passing abilities were seemingly overrated.
The Sabres should be using him in an energy role on the fourth line, while also getting him on the ice as part of the second PK group. It's an area where he doesn't have a ton of experience but, if he's going to maximize his impact over the next four years, it's something he needs to start doing.
All told, Krebs could absolutely be part of a successful Buffalo roster that eventually contends for a Stanley Cup title, but it's not going to happen as a first-line player.
Sabres will have a tough lineup decision to make when Jason Zucker returns
Jason Zucker has missed the start of the 2026-27 season while recovering from offseason sports hernia surgery. Ruff hasn't provided a firm timetable for his return, though the team initially sounded confident it wouldn't become an extended absence.
Once Zucker is cleared, Buffalo may find itself with a tricky decision about who to scratch.
Typically, it'd be somebody from the fourth line, and Carrick is probably the most likely choice, but that'd create another issue: a lack of defensively focused forwards.
The Sabres are already using one top-nine player on the bottom trio (Kulich) and Zucker's return will only further complicate the matter, especially if they refuse to move Krebs to the fourth line.
At full strength, perhaps Buffalo's lines would look something like this:
Left Wing | Center | Right Wing |
|---|---|---|
Zach Benson | Tage Thompson | Josh Doan |
Jiri Kulich | Josh Norris | Jack Quinn |
Jason Zucker | Ryan McLeod | Konsta Helenius |
Noah Ostlund | Peyton Krebs | Beck Malenstyn |
Does Noah Ostlund belong on the bottom line? No. Will the Sabres actually place Krebs where he belongs on that line? Who knows. Moving Zach Benson down there, like they did at times last season, would be a significant mistake.
Sure, injuries tend to allow these things to work themselves out over time, but the situation illustrates why there was so much speculation Kekalainen would use his forward depth to target a roster upgrade elsewhere (Winnipeg Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck?) over the summer.
Instead, the Sabres have watched incumbent No. 1 goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen struggle out of the gate while Kulich resides on the fourth line. It doesn't feel like an optimal use of resources across the board.
It's far too early to make an definitive judgments, of course. But Kekalainen was criticized for his lack of additions during the offseason, and nothing has happened so far to alter those narratives.
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