Buffalo Sabres: Here's the Herd 2.0
Here's the Herd 1.0 Recap
Last year, March 28th, 2023 is when the article was published. There were nine Forwards/Defensemen mentioned in the article. Of those nine players, only two of them are no longer with the team; Ilya Lyubushkin and Zemgus Girgensons, both of which were the smallest on the list. Four new additions were made that will be included in the new list. Here's a quick refresher on last year's titans, this time with the latest season's height, weight, hits, and blocks:
Dylan Cozens: 6'3 | 195 lbs. | 108 hits | 27 blocks; Rasmus Dahlin: 6'3 | 203 lbs. | 195 hits | 154 blocks; Alex Tuch: 6'4 | 218 lbs. | 72 hits | 82 blocks; Mattias Samuelsson: 6'4 | 231 lbs. | 106 hits | 87 blocks
Owen Power: 6'6 | 218 lbs. | 45 hits | 115 blocks; Tage Thompson: 6'6 | 220 lbs. | 79 hits | 29 blocks; Jordan Greenway: 6'6 | 231 lbs. | 141 hits | 65 blocks
Apparently some of the guys lost weight or somehow shrunk a little in size. Some hit and block counts were impressive, while others were a little... disappointing (I'm looking at you Power, get those hits up!) Overall, we still have a big team.
Now that we've recapped, let's take a dive into the new additions being added to the Herd of titans that have graced us with their presence!
Beck Malenstyn: 6'2 - 194 lbs.
Beck Malenstyn, the guy we traded a second round pick for in the 2024 NHL draft. Supposedly the Capitals did not have any intention on trading him, but Kevyn Adams came in with an offer too sweet to pass up on.
Was it a bit of an overpay? Yes. Did we really need the second round pick? Absolutely not. We have such an elite pipeline of depth and top notch prospects that justifies moves like this. Same can be said about the Savoie trade.
I'm projecting Malenstyn to play on the bottom six, more specifically on the fourth line. However, the move made the Sabres better overall. Malenstyn was 12th in the league last season in hits, with a total of 241. He also had 93 blocked shots. The Sabres and him agreed to a two-year, $1,350,000 AAV contract and he's only 26 years old. In 81 games he had 6 goals, 15 assists, and 21 points.
Sam Lafferty: 6'2 - 205 lbs.
Coming in as a Free Agent, Sam Lafferty signed a 2 year deal with a $2,000,000 AAV. Another very team friendly deal for a bottom six player. Lafferty plays center, and I believe he will be our 4C guy. However, I could also see him playing as the 3C, moving McLeod to the wing if necessary.
Either way, this gives us some great stability down the middle. Lafferty's Faceoff percentage from this past season isn't the greatest, standing at 42.1%. However, back in the 2022-23 season with Blackhawks he had an impressive 52.4 faceoff %.
In 79 games, he had 13 goals, 11 assists, and 24 points. This is followed by 191 hits and 31 blocks. It seems the Sabres will have big bodies rolling down the middle this upcoming season. Who doesn't love a big physical center that can hit? I think Lafferty will be fun to watch along with many others.