One question that seems to be on the minds of Sabres faithful is what will happen this season with Peyton Krebs. The center recently signed a deal with the organization; however, he could be on the trading block at any point this season. His performance thus far has not indicated any change to that possibility.
As Krebs is continuing to look for his role on Lindy Ruff's team, it's worth looking at his stats in his first two games. In his first game against the New Jersey Devils while in Europe, Krebs played a total of 20 shifts. He had one hit, one shot and won 33.2% of his faceoffs during the 3-1 loss.
During the game on Thursday night, Krebs played only 11 shifts and lost both faceoffs he took part in
He did have two hits during the game and also was involved in a fight with Peyton Burroughs during the third period after Burroughs had a rough hit against Sam Lafferty.
The fight may show what the Sabres will be looking for from Krebs in the future. His offensive output has not been on par for what they may be looking for moving forward. The highest number of points Krebs scored in a season was two years ago when he had 26 points on the year.
He did however have 108 hits last season and if the Sabres are looking for more physicality at times he may be paired with Jordan Greenway. The fight against the Kings came at a critical point in the game. Although the Sabres would go to lose 3-1, Krebs defending his teammate may be a spark or something the team needs moving forward.
If Krebs cannot find a role, he will be on the trading block sooner than later. How much can the Sabres get for him, will be determined by how he performs the rest of this season. "I'm trying to get the timing of things back as a winger, Krebs told reporters two weeks ago.
His contract currently is a cap hit of 1.65% for the Sabres. If another team wish to add depth at center or on the defensive end, look for them to make call to the 716-area code soon.