At the end of January, I talked about how Ryan McLeod needed more minutes if the Sabres wanted to be more successful moving forward. Since then, McLeod has increased his minutes and even moved to the second line with Jason Zucker and Alex Tuch. Oh, and the Sabres are 5-1 during this stretch. Here are a few ways in which McLeod has elevated his game and helped make the Sabres a better team.
Forechecking
Forechecking is a huge part of the game of hockey and needs to be talked about more. Fortunately for McLeod, it's one of the strong points of his game. Forechecking allows the offense to generate pressure, which causes turnovers and more chances to score. McLeod is currently 3rd on the team in takeaways, and 6th in deflected passes. He brought this experience from Edmonton as his job was to cause turnovers for more chances and easy goals. Now in Buffalo, he has the opportunity to not only make those plays but contribute more than he did while in Edmonton. McLeod has a career-high in goals with 14 and is on pace for his first 20-goal, 20-assist season of his career. McLeod being able to generate more chances and cause turnovers is the reason he was given more minutes, and arguably he makes the Sabres a better defensive team in the process.
Unselfishness
With McLeod now on the second line with Zucker and Tuch, this arguably makes this second line one of the best in hockey. Zucker has 18 goals, to go along with 26 assists, and Tuch has 19 goals to go along with 24 assists. All of these guys have playoff experience, and most importantly they make the game easier for everyone around them. McLeod’s experience is going to help improve this second line even more now. All three of these players are pass-first guys and are willing to find the open player to make the right play and be successful. As McLeod’s confidence grows, he continues to make the passes necessary to make the offense successful as he is on pace to have between 25-30 assists on the season. The second line contributed to three of the eight goals against the Rangers Saturday night and combined for five points as well.
As McLeod continues to play his best hockey, this can only mean good news for the Sabres. McLeod is in the midst of a career year and is improving the Sabres with every game he plays. As the Sabres attempt some sort of shot at the playoffs, I expect McLeod to flourish and hope to see him still on the Sabres after the Trade Deadline.