Olen Zellweger has gotten his first taste of Buffalo Sabres hockey with a few practices and then the intra-squad scrimmage on Saturday. To begin training camp, Zellweger has played mostly with Owen Power, but Lindy Ruff isn't ready to commit to who will replace Bowen Byram on that pair.
After the scrimmage, Zellweger was asked about his thoughts on playing next to Power. "I think we're both pretty good with the puck, pretty smart. He's a great skater, great in all three zones, so he makes it easy. He's obviously really good on the off side, but it was fun to play the scrimmage together."
Zellweger joined the Sabres after they traded Bowen Byram to the Chicago Blackhawks. Jarmo Kekalainen was able to get a deal done right before the NHL Draft with the Anaheim Ducks, and there is a lot to like about Zellweger.
The former second-round pick has played in 164 games over the past three seasons and has finished with over 20 points in each of the past two. He is a player who moves really well on the ice and should excel in this system with the Sabres. However, does come with some concerns as he fell out of the lineup in the playoffs with the Ducks and was a healthy scratch at times.
Lindy Ruff believes the Sabres have plenty of options next to Owen Power
While the Sabres know that their top pair is going to be Rasmus Dahlin and Mattias Samuelsson, they have decisions that need to be made on the second pair. From there, that will likely decide what the third pair looks like for the blueline to begin the season.
"It's really who is going to with Owen Power," Ruff said. "I think you could argue for one or two different guys that can step in there from [Louis] Crevier, [Conor] Timmins, and you can go [Olen] Zellweger, so we have options."
There is no question that either Timmins or Crevier could play with Owen Power; the best-case scenario for Buffalo is Zellweger winning that spot. If Zellweger plays up to the level he can, the Sabres might not see much of a drop in overall performance from last season.
In that scenario, the Sabres could then have Timmins and Crevier as their third pair, with Zach Metsa rotating in as needed. Those three pairs on paper are more balanced and deeper than what the Sabres had last season.
For Lindy Ruff, it feels like he doesn't necessarily want to commit to anything this early in camp and even before the first preseason game. However, all signs point to Olen Zellweger being next to Owen Power in the first regular season game for the Buffalo Sabres and if that happens, it should be good news for this blueline.
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