BUFFALO, N.Y. \u2014 Lindy Ruff is going to have some decisions to make when the Buffalo Sabres start training camp in the fall.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a chance Buffalo\u2019s roster will look different between now and then, but as things stand, the Sabres have 14 forwards (with Peyton Krebs still to sign), seven defensemen and three goalies. There will be competition for roster spots, uncertainty around what the lines look like and a camp battle to replace Bowen Byram\u2019s minutes on the blue line. Alex Tuch and his 19 minutes a night are gone from the forward group, too.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a 23-man roster,\u201d Sabres general manager Jarmo Kek\u00e4l\u00e4inen said last week. \u201cWith the players we have right now, it\u2019s going to be a heck of a battle in training camp, and there\u2019s going to be some disappointed players that are probably NHL players but can\u2019t fit on the 23-man roster. That creates another challenge, but I think it\u2019s a good challenge and a great problem to have.\u201d<\/p>\n
Looking at the Sabres roster as it\u2019s constructed, it\u2019s easy to see another trade happening to loosen the logjam at forward. There are still some questions to sort through. Here\u2019s an early, rough sketch of some forward lines along with some of the questions I\u2019m pondering.<\/p>\n
Zach Benson \u2014 Jiri Kulich \u2014 Tage Thompson
Noah \u00d6stlund \u2014 Josh Norris \u2014 Josh Doan
Konsta Helenius \u2014 Ryan McLeod \u2014 Jack Quinn
Jason Zucker \u2014 Peyton Krebs \u2014 Beck Malenstyn<\/p>\n
Extras: Sam Carrick, Tyson Kozak, Justin Danforth<\/p>\n
1. Is Thompson a center or a winger?<\/p>\n
Tage Thompson finished the playoffs skating on the wing, and it helped get his offensive game going. But he spent most of the season as a center. Ruff has gone back and forth on this over the last two seasons, and the answer has a domino effect on the rest of the lineup. If Thompson plays in the middle, Buffalo\u2019s center spine looks a lot stronger. But keeping him on the wing might keep him fresher throughout the season and even prolong his career as he approaches 30. If he is at center, I wonder about pairing him with a playmaker like Noah \u00d6stlund, who is capable of taking some of the defensive responsibility off Thompson\u2019s plate.<\/p>\n
2. Is Kulich ready to pick up where he left off?<\/p>\n
Ruff has brought up how effective the line of Zach Benson, Kulich and Thompson was at the end of the 2024-25 season on multiple occasions. Kulich\u2019s missing most of last season with a blood clot issue makes him a bit of an unknown going into next season. But of the three rising young forwards (Kulich, \u00d6stlund, Konsta Helenius), he makes the most sense as a center. He can control a game with his skating and looks much more comfortable when he\u2019s doing so from the middle of the ice. The chemistry he showed with Benson and Thompson was encouraging. If he\u2019s ready to go at the start of camp, Kulich could be a top-line player. The Sabres also have the depth to ease him back in if he needs that time.<\/p>\n
3. Is there room for Kulich, Helenius and \u00d6stlund in the top nine?<\/p>\n
The playoffs showed Helenius and \u00d6stlund are more than ready to handle being full-time NHLers. They are impactful offensive players who compete hard and understand how to play away from the puck. They aren\u2019t bothered by big moments or intense games. They are also the type of players who belong in the top nine. The same could be said of Kulich. His health is a bit of a question mark, but if he\u2019s 100 percent, Kulich should factor into that top-nine mix as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think they\u2019ve all proven they\u2019re NHL ready,\u201d Kek\u00e4l\u00e4inen said. \u201cThey still have to earn their spot in training camp. Together with the coaching staff, we\u2019ll decide who gets on the opening night roster.\u201d<\/p>\n
If all three players end up on the top three lines and the Sabres don\u2019t make another move, Ryan McLeod, Jason Zucker or Jack Quinn would need to be pushed down the lineup. Zucker is probably the most logical given his age and the skills he could bring to a fourth line. But the reality is the Sabres are likely going to need to make another trade to make the pieces fit.<\/p>\n
4. Where does Krebs fit?<\/p>\n
Krebs elected for arbitration over the weekend, which means he\u2019s no longer eligible to sign an offer sheet. His arbitration date will be sometime between July 20 and Aug. 1, and the date of that hearing will be the deadline for Krebs and the Sabres to reach a contract. Otherwise, the arbiter will decide the dollar figure on Krebs\u2019 next contract, and the Sabres will determine the length.<\/p>\n
Krebs\u2019 arbitration award could come in north of $4 million. That\u2019s the type of money to pay a player who is in the lineup every night. Krebs has also been an every-night player for the Sabres the last two seasons and spent a good chunk of last season playing on the top line. Krebs, Beck Malenstyn, Sam Carrick, Tyson Kozak and Justin Danforth will be in a group of players competing for time on the fourth line. But of that group, Krebs is the one who can play up the lineup in case of injury.<\/p>\n
5. Is there another move coming?<\/p>\n
Many Sabres fans are wondering about Patrick Kane as the veteran lingers on the free-agent market. But the obvious question is: Where does he fit? The Sabres still have about $8.6 million in cap space, according to PuckPedia. So they can make another move if they want to. But in the version of the lineup I put together, Carrick, the team\u2019s best faceoff man, is pushed out entirely, and Zucker is on the fourth line. That\u2019s nice depth to have, but it also doesn\u2019t leave any room for someone like Kane, who is only useful as a top-nine forward. Kek\u00e4l\u00e4inen could make another trade to free up roster space at forward. The alternative is that one or two of those forwards could end up getting waived at the end of the preseason.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BUFFALO, N.Y. \u2014 Lindy Ruff is going to have some decisions to make when the Buffalo Sabres start…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":752476,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[1809,385,99],"class_list":["post-752475","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-buffalo-sabres","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/752475","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=752475"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/752475\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/752476"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=752475"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=752475"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=752475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}