It has been another lost year for the Buffalo Sabres. Now they will look to finish out the rest of this season, looking for building blocks for next season. One player that has already stepped up and may be a part of the Sabres future is newly acquired Jacob Bernard-Docker.
Bernard-Docker came over in a trade on March 7th from the Ottawa Senators. The Sabres also aquired Josh Norris in exchange for Dylan Cozens, Dennis Gilbert and a 2026 second-round pick. He was out of the lineup for Ottawa since January due to a high ankle sprain and made his Buffalo debut on March 22nd.
In the three games that he has seen on the ice for Buffalo, he has three points, three hits and two blocked shots. The Sabres have also won two of the three games since he entered the lineup.
In Winnipeg on Saturday the 23rd of March, he provided two assists in an impressive 5-3 win on the road. He also provided two blocks which helped in the difference for the victory against the playoff bound Jets.
Bernard-Docker scored his first goal in a win against the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday night.
In his first game against his former team, he helped tie the game with a wrist shot in the second period. Buffalo would go onto the win game 3-2 at Keybank Arena. It was just his second shot on goal as a member of the Sabres.
He spoke with reporters after the victory against Ottawa, the team he had played for his entire career until the trade to Buffalo. “It feels just unreal to be on the ice, honestly. I've had a tough year kind of prior to this, kind of just grinding and lots of skates by myself and work in the gym. It feels good to be back into games so yeah, it's fun.”
He is a restricted free agent entering this offseason. Depth and physical play has been an issue for Buffalo the entire season. Keeping him on and resigning him could be a move that may provide such depth and physical play. He only made $805,000 with a cap hit .91% of this season.
He would be a reasonable resigning that would not cost much for Buffalo. If he continues to step up Lindy Ruff and company may look to offer him a new contract. With only about a handful of games remaining in the season, he has plenty of time to prove his worth.