The Buffalo Sabres' lineup to open training camp ahead of the 2025-26 NHL season looked pretty much as expected aside from one player: Mason Geertsen stepped in as the fourth-line left winger in the absence of the injured Jordan Greenway.
Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff and general manager Kevyn Adams have often expressed their desire for the team to become tougher to play against over the past few years. In most cases, their roster-building decisions didn't match those public comments.
Buffalo's lack of grit was on full display in February when superstar Tage Thompson took an elbow to the face from New Jersey Devils forward Stefan Noesen. Nobody on the ice stepped up to defend the franchise cornerstone, a group that included alternate captain Mattias Samuelsson. It was another dark day for an organization that still remembers the collective lack of response when goalie Ryan Miller was run over by the Boston Bruins' Milan Lucic in 2011.
Ruff's decision to give Geertsen an opportunity to earn a full-time role with the Sabres to open the new campaign sends a much-needed message about the importance of sticking up for teammates.
What Mason Geertsen's role reveals about the Buffalo Sabres' new identity
Buffalo's decision to sign Geertsen to a two-year, $1.55 million contract on the first day of free agency in July didn't even register on the NHL Richter scale.
That's not necessarily a surprise, of course. The 2013 fourth-round pick of the Colorado Avalanche has spent most of his professional career in the AHL, gaining his only 25 games of NHL experience with the Devils during the 2021-22 season.
Giving him a second year on the contract signaled the Sabres had legitimate plans for the 30-year-old Canadian, though. He was more than a run-of-the-mill depth signing.
Geertsen is versatile, with the ability to play defense or wing, but most importantly he brings a physical, aggressive, team-first element Buffalo has been without for years.
His numbers from that short stint with New Jersey tell the story. The 6-foot-5 enforcer didn't register a single point and recorded just 12 shots on goal, but he posted 77 penalty minutes and 58 hits.
In past years — really at any point during the team's active 14-year playoff drought — the Sabres would have used a prospect to fill the Greenway void. A player like Isak Rosen or Noah Ostlund would have been asked to play that defense-first role.
That's not the best way to help a young player develop, though. Those niche, low-minute spots in the lineup require a lot of patience. Fourth-line players may only get a few shifts per period, and often none when trailing in the third period. Prospects are better off getting big minutes in the AHL.
In Geertsen's case, not only is he built for that type of role, but he also gives Ruff flexibility should an injury arise during a game. He can shift back from the fourth line to the third pair in a pinch.
Yes, his willingness to fight when needed is part of the equation too, but merely the intangible effect of having a hard-hitting player who's willing to implement an eye-for-an-eye mentality will keep opposing teams honest every time he's in the lineup.
That's something that hasn't been consistently true for the Sabres in a long time.