Zach Benson was a breakout star during the playoffs for the Buffalo Sabres and looks like he will be in Western New York. According to ESPN's Kevin Weekes, the Sabres and Benson are working towards a new seven-year contract with an AAV around $7 million.
Benson was a first round pick by the Buffalo Sabres in the 2023 NHL Draft and wasted no time making the jump to the NHL. He would play 71 games in the first season after being drafted and has been a key part of the roster each season since. In three total seasons, Benson has played in 211 games and set career highs this past season with 13 goals and 30 assists, even though he missed 17 games due to injuries.
It was in the playoffs, though, that Benson really emerged which is one of the reasons why the Sabres are moving so quickly to get a long-term deal done for the restricted free agent. He would play in all 13 games and had five goals and four assists while averaging over 17 minutes of ice time.
Buffalo Sabres establishing young core they can build around with Zach Benson being the next piece
While the Buffalo Sabres have questions about Alex Tuch and recently Bowen Byram, they have several key players in place long-term that they can build around as their foundation. That group includes players like Rasmus Dahlin, Tage Thompson, Mattias Samuelsson, Owen Power, and Josh Doan.
All five of them are under contract through the next four seasons on contracts with reasonable AAV. In fact, Rasmus Dahlin is the only player over $8.5 million per year among this group, and Benson should come under that total as well, according to Weekes' reporting.
When factoring in this group alongside younger players who are just starting to emerge, like Noah Ostlund, Jiri Kulich, and Konsta Helenius, the Sabres have to feel good about how this franchise is positioned moving forward. They should be competing for a playoff spot annually, and with a few additional moves a Stanley Cup isn't out of the question.
Zach Benson's contract would take a large chunk of available cap space
While nothing is finalized yet, the reporting is certainly positive and signing Benson to a long-term deal has the chance to be one of the best moves the Sabres make this summer. However, the Sabres won't be able to stop there but will have limited cap space to sign additional players.
If the contract comes in at $7 million, this will leave just under $5 million in available cap space. That definitely won't be enough to bring back Alex Tuch and the focus then shifts to other free agents like restricted free agent Peyton Krebs.
The Sabres realistically could sign Krebs with that as he should be looking at a contract around $4 million AAV. However, that doesn't leave much to re-sign Beck Malenstyn or Logan Stanley or even really consider any outside free agents.
General manager Jarmo Kekalainen does have options to create cap space though and that might mean a trade of Bowen Byram or buying out Jordan Greenway. Both would give him more room to make additional needed moves.
It should be a busy finish to the month of June heading into free agency on July 1st.
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