Lindy Ruff has an extensive resume in the NHL across 18 seasons with the Buffalo Sabres, New Jersey Devils, and Dallas Stars. When the Sabres head coach says something is the best he has ever seen, fans should take note.
That is exactly what happened on Friday when Ruff was asked about Ryan McLeod playing on the wing in the first few practices of training camp. He mentioned that they have upwards of nine players who could play center and was then asked if this is the deepest center group he has had in a long time. H
"It is the deepest center group ever, like ever," Ruff said with a laugh. "It's hard to take a winger and make him a center, but a lot of times you can take a center and put him over on the wing and he can be pretty effective."
Buffalo Sabres hold a big advantage over teams with how many centers they have
It is sometimes easy to forget just how many players the Sabres have who could line up at center if necessary. That was one of the reasons that it would make sense for Tage Thompson to begin on the wing this season, but the Sabres have had him at center on the top line.
In addition to Thompson, the Sabres have McLeod (who has been playing wing), Josh Norris, Peyton Krebs, Sam Carrick, the three younger players in Noah Ostlund, Konsta Helenius, Jiri Kulich, and even Tyson Kozak and Justin Danforth have spent time there as well.
For the coaching staff, it gives them plenty of options when building out these lines and even being able to make adjustments in-game. If the Sabres put together a line with Ostlund and Helenius, it gives them a left-handed and a right-handed player to take the faceoff without having to make major changes.
This could be a major factor in helping them improve their faceoff win percentage, which was the worst in the league at 45.9%. However, a full season of Carrick should help in this area after he had a 57% win percentage after the Sabres traded for him.
According to Rachel Lenzi with The Buffalo News, the Sabres centers for the second day of practice were Thompson, Norris, Ostlund, and Carrick, with Helenius, McLeod, Krebs, and Kulich on the wings. It will be interesting to see in the preseason and into the regular season how Lindy Ruff and the coaching staff use this depth to their advantage.
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