The sense of urgency has skyrocketed for the Buffalo Sabres as they’re stuck at home watching the playoffs for the 14th straight season. With so much desperation in the City of Good Neighbors, it’s time for general manager Kevyn Adams to make a few bold moves and show his least productive players the door, regardless of what fans think of them.
And you’ll see a few surprises on this list, as one player just completed their second season with the big club after fans expected him to make a leap. Another is a defenseman who you probably wouldn’t think has no place in Buffalo, considering more recent events.
But before I talk about them, let me discuss one player whose productivity tanked just one season after he enjoyed a career-best campaign.
Sam Lafferty
I was hoping to see more physical play from Sam Lafferty but he came up short in that column. With just 89 hits in 60 contests, Lafferty failed to deliver and he never made up for it in ice time or offensive productivity, registering just four goals and seven points. Oh, and his minus-15 on the year also didn’t help.
No, points don’t often define players with fourth-line minutes, but Lafferty enjoyed a 13-goal, 24-point season in 79 games with the Vancouver Canucks in 2023-24. He also averaged over two hits per game, with 191, which was roughly the output I expected to see him accomplish with the Sabres.
Compare that number to Peyton Krebs, who finished the year with 10 goals and 28 points, with a plus-1 rating, 326 faceoff wins, and 136 hits in 81 games. Yeah, Krebs averaged over four minutes more ice time, but he gave us the exact outcome we wanted to see. As for Lafferty, he took a massive step back following a career season.
Zach Benson
It might be a shocker to some, but Zach Benson’s done what, exactly, in his first two years with the Sabres? Yeah, he’s been a steady on-ice presence, but he didn’t improve from Year 1 to Year 2, with 10 goals and 28 points in 75 games. He also logged just an 8.3 shooting percentage, and he lacks the imposing presence you see from wingers like Jordan Greenway and Beck Malenstyn.
Now, Benson plays bigger than his size, he can be gritty, and he positions himself well, but his lack of improvement should send a strong signal to Kevyn Adams. What’s even more alarming here is that you can argue Jiri Kulich, 15 goals and 24 points in 62 games, gave the Sabres more offensive output in his first season as a full-timer.
Kulich is someone who will make a jump next season, and as doubt creeps in regarding Zach Benson, I’d like nothing more than to see Adams move him and some assets to a younger team like the Chicago Blackhawks or San Jose Sharks for a more proven player.
Jacob Bryson
Yes, this one might make zero sense, as the Sabres extended Jacob Bryson back in March. And honestly, it’s hard to understand just what the organization sees in a player who’s been a constant liability when he’s gotten a chance to play in a blue and gold jersey.
It was a puzzling move then, especially since you could argue former Sabre Henri Jokiharju outperformed Bryson in every facet. Unless Bryson’s coming back to be organizational depth and only organizational depth, this was a move that hurt the Sabres.
So, let’s hope the Blue and Gold snag a rotation that will insert Bryson in as the seventh D-man in a worst-case scenario if they don’t find a way to show him the door before that via trade. But if they plan on even putting him in regularly on the third pairing, this team’s in trouble considering his lack of offensive output and minus-9 rating a season ago.