3 former Sabres who Kevyn Adams should not bring back in 2024-25
Fans of the Buffalo Sabres should have a blast projecting who Kevyn Adams will sign in NHL free agency, but they shouldn’t support the potential return of a few players.
There are a couple of free agents who were former Sabres that many fans of the team would like to see return. Sam Reinhart is one of those players who would excite a contingent of the fan base, and if he returned to a much more talented Sabres team following a stint in Miami, he would be the missing piece to fuel a playoff run for a team that’s enjoyed little success for over 13 seasons.
But there are also former Sabres whom general manager Kevyn Adams must take a hard pass on. While they could bring value to the Blue and Gold, interest of space in the lineup or the fact that they played their best seasons with primarily one franchise would give them a buyer beware label.
You may welcome one (or all three) of these players back to the City of Good Neighbors, but as it stands, Buffalo is better off pursuing other options in free agency this summer.
Brandon Montour, D
Adding experience to the blue line would be a hit-or-miss, something we learned last season when Kevyn Adams brought in an intriguing product in Connor Clifton and an experienced former Stanley Cup Champion in Erik Johnson. The results, at best, were so-so. You can even say neither lived to expectations, and that alone makes it a risk to try again on another seasoned veteran.
Plus, the Sabres also have a solid group of defensemen already, and the unit is young enough to build chemistry that would last for the rest of the 2020s. Bringing in a player like Montour, despite his 106 points and 24 goals across his previous 146 regular season games, puts such chemistry at risk.
There also wouldn’t be much room to add Montour if Adams does, and should, elect to keep rolling with his young players, plus Clifton. Sure, Montour would be another physical player who has scoring potential, much like Bowen Byram, but an older version.
Yet while the Sabres should be looking to add seasoned vets, they still need to prioritize their younger talent already at or will be at the NHL level full-time. Montour won’t help that cause, especially if the Sabres plan on moving Ryan Johnson to the big club between October 2024 and April 2025.
William Carrier, F
You may not remember William Carrier, as he played in just 41 contests for the Buffalo Sabres during the 2016-17 season. During that time, he scored five goals and eight points while logging 112 hits and an average total ice time of nine minutes.
He’s since recorded between the single digits and 12:35 of average total ice time for the Vegas Golden Knights, where he’s been a staple since the 2017-18 season. Carrier is a great role player and routinely brought a physical edge, at times landing over 200 body checks per season.
The Sabres need a player like Carrier, but the issue is similar to the reason I’m not keen on another pending free agent from Vegas, Jonathan Marchessault. We know how good Marchessault is as a Knight, and we also know how solid yet unspectacular he was, for the most part, elsewhere.
The same goes with Carrier, who played a sound role during his limited appearances with the Sabres in 2016-17. While he hasn’t seen a ton of ice time at any point, Carrier is someone who has thrived for most of his career with one team in the same role, so could he go elsewhere and play a strong, defense-first role as a winger?
Buffalo would be better off bringing back restricted free agent Peyton Krebs and unrestricted free agent Zemgus Girgensons and dropping someone like Jordan Greenway to the fourth line before rolling with Carrier.
Tyler Myers, D
As mentioned earlier, the Sabres probably wouldn’t roll with a blueliner in free agency unless they wanted to snag one more with experience. Like Brandon Montour, Tyler Myers brings not just experience but 16 seasons worth. And recently, he’s been part of one of the NHL’s finest teams, the Vancouver Canucks, so he would also bring a winning mentality to the Queen City.
Heading into his age-34 season, Myers also wouldn’t mind playing exclusively third-pairing minutes, most likely alongside Connor Clifton, where they would forge a hard-hitting duo. That would work well for a team that still needs to add an edge to their overall game, but as with Montour, it’s not worth bringing someone like Myers on at the expense of most likely Ryan Johnson.
While Myers would do an excellent job at blocking pucks, landing body checks, moving the puck, and creating plays - the latter of which Johnson does well - Myers would give the Sabres between one and two seasons of service, and that would likely be it.
Meanwhile, Johnson, while not the same physical player as Myers, already developed well this past season. From the first time he stepped onto NHL ice against the Toronto Maple Leafs, he proved he was ready. If he regressed, leaving Johnson in the AHL and bringing in someone like Myers would be a good idea, but that hasn’t been the case.
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(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference)