With a rising salary cap and NHL teams having money to spend, the Buffalo Sabres should be preparing for a wild offseason. The latest example is the contract handed out by the Minnesota Wild to forward Michael McCarron, which was a six-year contract with an AAV of $3.3 million.
The reason the Sabres need to take note of it is that they have a few players who have made a similar impact and could be considered a comparable player. Most notable is unrestricted free agent Beck Malenstyn.
McCarron was a former first-round pick by the Montreal Canadiens and has played nine seasons in the NHL, with his time being split between the Nashville Predators and Minnesota Wild after being moved at the trade deadline. However, over his nine seasons, he has had double-digit goals and assists only once, with both happening during the 2023-24 season.
While the AAV isn't unreasonable, the term is certainly notable as he is going to be 31 this season and is now under contract for six seasons.
Buffalo Sabres are going to have a tough time giving Beck Malenstyn a similar contract
Beck Malenstyn, while he may not have been a top-line player, certainly was a crucial part of the team's success. He was a consistent fixture on their fourth line and was productive, scoring a career-high seven goals while adding seven assists over 81 games.
He did a great job winning puck battles and forechecking for the Sabres and led the team in hits with 282. The role that Malenstyn played is very similar to what McCarron brought to the Wild, but the Sabres are probably not in a position to come up to $3.3 million even if they are comfortable with six years.
This is where the challenge is for Jarmo Kekalainen as he weighs his options this summer. There certainly is the big decision on Alex Tuch, and if they bring him back, they have almost no room to bring back any of their other free agents, which includes players like Malenstyn.
AFP Analytics has Beck Malenstyn's next contract at three years with an AAV of $2.64 million, which seems more than reasonable for what he provides this team. However, if McCarron is the new standard this summer, the Sabres are going to find themselves in an even more challenging cap situation than initially expected.
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