Sabres Mailbag: Can Lindy Ruff make Buffalo one of NHL's top defensive teams?
Rookie camp is still almost six weeks away, and the Sabres still have a prominent unsigned restricted free agent in Peyton Krebs, but it's not too soon to tackle some short-term and big-picture questions facing this team.
Accountability will be the theme of Lindy Ruff’s training camp this fall.
The Buffalo Sabres called for a tougher approach in April after their previous coach, Don Granato, was fired.
Experienced players lamented that some on the team were too comfortable straying from game plans and echoed that practices need to be more intense.
Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams acquired several veterans who can help with player-driven accountability, most notably Jason Zucker and Ryan McLeod. Both should help Buffalo become a more mature, well-rounded team under a coach who will bring structure and discipline to a group that finished one win short of a playoff berth in 2022-23.
Rookie camp is still almost six weeks away, and the Sabres still have a prominent unsigned restricted free agent in Peyton Krebs, but it’s not too soon to tackle some short-term and big-picture questions facing this team.
Mark asks: Is there a chance the Sabres are still interested in Philadelphia Flyers winger Joel Farabee?
Lysowski: Buying out Jeff Skinner gave Adams the flexibility to add another piece to his roster before training camp or during the season. Buffalo has $8.4 million to spend, according to PuckPedia.com. Some of that cap space will go to Krebs and a small portion must be saved to pay out performance bonuses for players on entry-level contracts, but there’s still a path to acquiring an impact player. For example, Adams can package someone such as defenseman Connor Clifton in a trade for Farabee, who’s a 24-year-old winger from Syracuse with two 20-goal seasons on his résumé. A similar scenario could work with the Winnipeg Jets in a deal for first-line winger Nikolaj Ehlers, who at 28 has seven seasons with at least 20 goals.
The Sabres are open to making this type of move for the right price and if it doesn’t ruin their salary-cap picture for this season and beyond. However, Farabee may concern owner Terry Pegula. After all, Farabee had the same artificial disk replacement surgery that Buffalo would not allow Jack Eichel to have in 2021. Acquiring a young winger with years of contractual control and a track record of post-surgery success is different than allowing your $10 million-per-season captain to become the first NHLer to have the procedure, but it’s still a factor that must be considered when discussing a potential fit.
Blaine asks: Why are these Sabres prospects not physically ready to play in the NHL?
Lysowski: Buffalo isn’t the only team facing that dilemma. Remember, teams in this league are drafting teenagers instead of college players like the NFL. Every player is different. The Sabres’ most recent first-round draft pick, Konsta Helenius, is further along physically. He benefited from strength training with a pro team in Finland the past few years. A team typically doesn’t select an immediate difference-maker unless it is selecting in the top half of the first round and even that draft capital doesn’t guarantee you a player who is almost ready to deal with the physicality of the NHL. It’s a process that you cannot rush. Tage Thompson didn’t grow into his frame until he was 24 years old. Dylan Cozens has yet to do so. This challenge with young players is why some contenders prefer to keep them in the American Hockey League longer or use them as trade chips to improve the NHL roster.
Patrick asks: Do the Sabres believe that Jason Zucker will skate on their second line?
Lysowski: The Sabres view Zucker as someone who will thrive on the second or third line, and it’s likely that his $5 million salary will give him the first opportunity to skate next to Thompson or Cozens. It’s a calculated gamble after a season in which Zucker had 14 goals with the former Arizona Coyotes and Nashville Predators in the regular season. The 32-year-old winger has reached the 20-goal mark only once since 2019, but he produced 27 goals only two seasons ago with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Teammates love his personality and work ethic. Zucker gets to the front of the net and excels at creating offense off the rush. He’s a better fit for a top-six role than Zach Benson at this stage of the 19-year-old’s career.
T. Johnson asks: What will Zucker need to do to earn another contract from the Sabres?
Lysowski: Score. Doing so may outprice him for the Sabres, though, and Buffalo is expecting at least one of its top prospects to be ready for a full-time, top-six role in 2025-26 when it will be necessary to have a few entry-level contracts on the roster to offset the pay raises that JJ Peterka, Jack Quinn, Bowen Byram and Devon Levi will receive as restricted free agents next summer.
Zucker is likely a stopgap to buy time for Jiri Kulich, Isak Rosen and others to become NHL-ready.
Alan asks: Why do previous Sabres general managers and coaches seem to never work in the NHL again?
Lysowski: It’s fair to ask the question since we haven’t heard or seen Tim Murray and Darcy Regier since their tenures as general manager ended. Ralph Krueger and Ron Rolston have not coached in the NHL since leading the Sabres. Each situation must be evaluated separately, though. Murray and Regier preferred to walk away from the spotlight once they were dismissed. Krueger’s stock plummeted based on the 2020-21 season, and Rolston shouldn’t have been hired in the first place.
Many others are still working in the league, though. Phil Housley is assistant head coach with the New York Rangers, Dan Bylsma is head coach of the Seattle Kraken, former Sabres assistant coaches are scattered across the NHL and their former hockey operations staffers are working elsewhere. Jason Botterill is assistant general manager of the Kraken and should get another chance at leading a team soon.
Ben asks: When will Terry Pegula sell the Sabres?
Lysowski: Not anytime soon. Pegula recently invested in expensive upgrades to KeyBank Center and agreed to give expensive, long-term contract extensions to multiple players. His actions across the past few years run counter to what we typically see from an owner as they are preparing to sell a professional sports franchise.
The rumors around town and on social media will persist until fans hear from Pegula that he’s committed long-term to the franchise.
Erma asks: Are the Sabres capable of ranking among the top five in goals against with Ruff as coach?
Lysowski: Such a scenario would require the Sabres to avoid any prominent injuries, receive top-notch goaltending from their young tandem and develop a No. 1 defense pair that can shut down top lines in various situations. I don’t see it happening. This team is still too young and inexperienced. Does it have the potential to get there in future seasons if Ruff remains and the foundation of the roster sticks? Absolutely. The top players on defense are still a bit too green for me to envision this happening soon, though.
The Sabres don’t need to be in the top five in my opinion. There are enough capable goal-scorers. The challenge for Ruff and his coaching staff will be to get this team to avoid the slow start that plagued some of its top players, and the power play must be in the top half of the league. There’s too much skill for Buffalo to be ineffective with a man advantage.
Sabres center Peyton Krebs would fit well as the fourth-line center between Beck Malenstyn and Sam Lafferty or Nicolas Aube-Kubel.Joshua Bessex, Buffalo News
Boogie asks: What’s the holdup with Peyton Krebs’ contract and where does he fit on this roster?
Lysowski: Good question. It’s important to remember that other players in similar situations are still waiting to be signed. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, for example, had to wait until late August for a contract in 2022. There’s still a spot for Krebs on this team. He’d fit well as the fourth-line center between Beck Malenstyn and Sam Lafferty or Nicolas Aube-Kubel, though such a scenario may cause one of the latter two free-agent signings to be a healthy scratch.
Ruff will love Krebs’ tenacity and competitiveness. He still has the skill set and potential to become a solid bottom-six center.
Alex Jones asks: How will the Sabres’ power play and penalty-killing units look on opening night?
Lysowski: This is a fun one. Rather than a prediction, I’ll give you my preferred groupings. The top power-play unit can be Rasmus Dahlin, Thompson, Cozens, Quinn and Alex Tuch. Owen Power can quarterback the second group, skating alongside Byram, Peterka, McLeod and Zucker. Benson would be the next forward in line for an opportunity of someone struggles or suffers an injury.
Dahlin and Mattias Samuelsson can be your top penalty-killing defense pair with Lafferty and Jordan Greenway as the first group of forwards over the boards. Then, Ruff can roll out Byram with Clifton on defense and McLeod with Benson or Malenstyn, depending on the Sabres’ fourth line. Cozens became one of this team’s top penalty-killers last season, but I’d prefer that he focus his energy on even-strength and the power play. Buffalo is also paying its top forwards too much to risk injury.
Ed asks: Whom among the Sabres’ prospects projects as a top-six forward in the NHL?
Lysowski: Based on projected ceiling, Buffalo’s top-six options in the prospect pipeline include Kulich, Helenius, Rosen, Noah Ostlund, Anton Wahlberg and Prokhor Poltapov. There’s no guarantee that a prospect is going to reach their ceiling, though, which is one reason why the Sabres chose to move Matt Savoie in the trade for McLeod.
Jenn asks: Will the power play be better this season, and what do they need to do strategically to score more often on the man advantage?
Lysowski: The Sabres didn’t add anyone this summer who can help in that area, so they’re going to rely on their young players to contribute on the power play after they failed to do so with Granato as coach. Buffalo will need Quinn, Peterka, Benson, Power and Byram to excel for the club to rank in the top half of the league on the man advantage. The Sabres need more shots on goal, a reliable net-front presence and a less-predictable approach. Stop force-feeding the puck to the flanks for one-timers. Plus, Dahlin must be more poised quarterbacking the top unit. His tendency to try to do too much can lead to turnovers and short-handed goals against.
Rick asks: Is it reasonable to assume the Sabres will be a more defense-oriented team with Ruff as coach?
Lysowski: Don’t expect the Sabres to play the way they did under Ruff in the late 1990s. They’ll be fast and aggressive like Buffalo was under Granato but with more defensive structure.
Nick English asks: Do the additions of McLeod, Malenstyn, Lafferty and Aube-Kubel mean less penalty killing for Thompson, Tuch and Cozens?
Lysowski: You may see those top forwards used on the penalty kill in certain situations, but the Sabres will scale back their short-handed ice time to try to maximize their impact at even strength and on the power play. Ruff can do this now that he has the players you mention, as well as Benson and Greenway.
MJ asks: What will be Dennis Gilbert’s role on the Sabres?
Lysowski: Gilbert is currently the Sabres’ seventh or eighth defenseman, so he’ll rotate into the lineup to give them more physicality and another capable penalty killer. There will be an opportunity for him to play more if another defenseman is moved off the roster or an injury occurs.
@principlesrk asks: Did the players’ exit meetings contribute to the Sabres buying out Jeff Skinner?
Lysowski: The writing was on the wall during the final weeks of the season when Skinner was moved to the third line and received little ice time. The turnovers and defensive lapses became too problematic for a team that was too comfortable straying from the coaching staff’s game plan.
Thank you for all the questions this week! As a reminder, you can submit them via X to @LLysowski or by email to llysowski@buffnews.com.
