One of the questions surrounding the Sabres this offseason, was how left winger Zach Benson would perform in his sophomore season? Thus far it has been a mixed bag.
As 2024 came to a close, Benson had 12 points on the year. Split evenly with six goals and six assists. He averaged 15:03 of ice time on the year, slightly above his total from a year ago.
He is though, down by 9% in faceoffs won on the year and has had a lot of penalty minutes in the short season. Head coach Lindy Ruff has commented he would want to see Benson's time in the box come down as the season progresses.
"Part of his energy and emotion has got be corralled, " Ruff told reporters following a loss to the Montreal Canadians in December.
Benson has settled down though and has not been called for a penalty in the last six games. His highest number of minutes in the last six games was a win against the Chicago Blackhawks. He was on the ice for 15:43 in total.
Benson did have two straight goals in wins against Chicago and the Islanders
The goal against the Islanders came off a wrist shot in the second period and led to Buffalo going up 4-0. It helped Buffalo snap a 13-game winless streak.
The goal the following game against the Blackhawks, allowed the Sabres to go up 1-0 in the first period. Benson's goal came after he took a Rasmus Dahlin pass to the left post.
Last year, in his rookie, he made decent strides. He played in 71 games and had 30 points on the year. 19 assists led the way. He had only 36 penalty minutes on the year, which shows an area of improvement for the second half of this season.
The left winger also tallied 35 hits in his rookie campaign. Thus far for this season he has 24 hits in the early stages of the year.
Benson's best game a year ago, came against the Detroit Red Wings where had a goal and two assists in a 7-3 victory. All three came in a span of five minutes.
Buffalo needs that kind of tenacity and physical presence on the left side of the line from Benson if they are looking to get out of the hole they have put themselves in.
Time will tell if Benson continues his progression towards a top line winger.