Jack Quinn has had an interesting career with the Buffalo Sabres, from showing great potential to falling back into bad habits. Quinn will be given a grade at the end of the article based on everything he has accomplished throughout this season. Quinn is a restricted free agent this summer, and it will be interesting to see what the Sabres do.
Quinn had solid rookie season in 2022-2023 as he produced 37 points in the 75 games. He was making strides during the 23-24 season, with 19 points in 27 games, when he ruptured his achilles and missed the rest of the year.
Quinn came back this season and started slow; he couldn’t find his place on the team and was frustrated with his playing time. Quinn got red hot at the end of the year, and in his last 12 games, he put up 13 total points. However, Quinn was ultimately frustrated with his spot on the team and the changes.
Is Quinn to blame for his own struggles?
Quinn liked playing under his former head coach, Don Granato, and with Lindy Ruff as the coach this season, nothing for Quinn was guaranteed. Quinn was placed on a solid third line with Ryan McLeod and former Sabre Dylan Cozens.
Quinn was upset with the fact that guys such as Zach Benson and Jiri Kulich were on better lines than him. Considering Quinn had more experience than both, and had a better season than both as well. Kulich was a rookie on the first line, and Benson was a second-year player rotating between the second and fourth line.
With Benson and Kulich willing to learn from Ruff, Quinn quickly saw his playing time going down. His attitude began to change as he voiced his frustrations to Ruff, but nothing changed on the ice. Quinn was missing team meetings and was benched for actions, and all this happening right at the trade deadline.
Quinn wasn’t traded, and he lost both his linemates. As Cozens was traded to Ottawa, and McLeod was promoted to the second line. McLeod had a breakout season and is due for a nice payday, and Cozens struggled at first but flourished in the playoffs with Ottawa.
It was Quinn’s first year coming off a season-ending injury the year, but everyone else who played with him seemed to have good seasons, besides Quinn. Although he set a career-high in points, he had the worst plus-minus on the team, with -18.
Grade: B-
I think Quinn is a solid player, and for a grade, I would give him a B- on the season, but I think his time in Buffalo is up. I can’t see Quinn moving up higher than the third line with all the talent Buffalo has up front. Quinn getting a fresh start elsewhere would be best for both him and the Sabres.