It is going to be different watching the Buffalo Sabres’ fourth line this season. The physicality that lots of teams have will be there with Beck Malenstyn and Sam Lafferty, but those two guys also can skate.
And Nicolas Aube-Kubel is a defensive demon who can be a burner up and down the ice.
Signed to a one-year, $1.5 million deal after playing last season with the Washington Capitals, the 6-footer can fly down the right wing.
New Sabres winger Nicolas Aube-Kubel had six goals and 10 assists in 60 games with the Capitals last season. Paul Sancya, Associated Press
Aube-Kubel’s top skating speed of 23.42 mph last season was rated in the 94th percentile by NHL Edge, the league’s official player tracking system. He was in the 93rd percentile of all skaters with 193 speed bursts over 20 mph.
“Speed was always my main strength,” Aube-Kubel, 28, said this week on a video call with Buffalo media. “The way you are on the forecheck, I bet some ‘D’ men will say I’m hard to play against on that ... I built my game around that speed, and Beck really helped me last year.”
Aube-Kubel had six goals, 10 assists and a plus-4 rating in 60 games for the Capitals in 2023-24. His best offensive season came during Colorado’s 2021-22 Stanley Cup campaign with a career high-tying 11 goals and 22 points.
Aube-Kubel and Malenstyn joined Nic Dowd on the Capitals’ shutdown line and it seems like the duo will be paired with Lafferty in Buffalo. Aube-Kubel is a former second-round pick by Philadelphia, and the Sabres are his fourth team in the last five years.
“They’re looking to get more physical and have more depth, which is basically my role,” Aube-Kubel said of the Sabres. “I’ve started to enjoy that role. This year was really good. I thought back Malenstyn, Dowd and I did a really good job on the fourth line neutralizing offensive lines from the other team and playing more defensively. So I’m pretty pumped to have Beck still by my side in Buffalo.”
Aube-Kubel’s zone starts last season were 91% in the defensive end of the ice, but the Capitals still outscored opponents 26-21 when he was on the ice at 5 on 5. The line of Dowd between Malenstyn and Aube-Kubel had a 16-12 advantage on its foes, despite only having 43% of the shot attempts.
“I enjoyed playing with (Malenstyn) the whole year,” Aube-Kubel said. “He’s a really hard player to play against. That’s something I learned when I played against him in the American League. While playing with him, it’s just not how many shots he blocks, how many little details he plays safe, he just plays the right way. So, it was a pleasure to play with him.
“I’m pretty excited for him to take a next step in his career, and and I’ll be by his side to help him. I think we’re going to do some damage together.”
Aube-Kubel said one takeaway from Colorado’s championship season was the way the Avalanche used their defense to transition the puck to their speed men up front.
“You know it’s hard to match Cale Makar’s speed, but I feel like guys move the puck fairly well in Buffalo if you look at (Rasmus) Dahlin and all the other defensemen,” Aube-Kubel said. “I think that’s what Buffalo did a good job with in free agency. If you look at the guys, they are all really fast players.”
Aube-Kubel said one of his first texts after signing with the Sabres was to Buffalo defenseman Bowen Byram, a former Colorado teammate acquired by the Sabres in March for Casey Mittelstadt.
“It’s fun to have a friend you can get back together with and he said he loved the group there,” Aube-Kubel said of Byram. “It’s crazy because I noticed maybe I’m like third- or fourth-oldest on that team, and I’ve always been one of the youngest everywhere I went. So it’ll be cool, maybe a little new role in the locker room, and I’m really ready to enjoy it and fill those shoes.
“I feel like I was a little intimidated playing with older guys and being new in this league, but I think this year was a big growth for me, being in Washington, being more myself and helping younger guys.”
