Ek's Note. I couldn't be more excited than to welcome back Sabres writer extraordinaire Hank Balling! Sabres fans will remember Hank from the early 2000's. Thrilled top be welcoming him back! I will have a rumor update later this afternoon...
As the saying goes: if at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try, try, try, try, try, try, try, try, try, try, try, try again. That’s 14 “tries” for those counting at home, a number which represents the current 14-year playoff drought of the Buffalo Sabres. If the organization hopes to avoid throwing a year-end Quinceañeraparty to celebrate a new NHL record streak of futility, they willneed to optimize every aspect of the team. This series aims to project the opening night roster lineup barring injury or trade, and today we’re starting at the bottom with the fourth line.
Sabres General Manager Kevyn Adams’s stated goal during the 2023-24 offseason was to rebuild the bottom-six following the departures of noted NHL All-Star Zemgus Girgensons and captain Kyle Okposo, and to that end, Adams added Nicolas Aube-Kubel, Sam Lafferty and Beck Malenstyn to remake the team’s fourth line. Aube-Kubel and Lafferty both had mediocre seasons last year and are now gone. Malenstyn also had a somewhat disappointing season, but he is still here.
Malenstyn, now 27, is a 6’3” 208-pound winger whom the Sabres brought aboard from the Washington Capitals in order toadd some physicality and penalty kill ability to a team that desperately needed it. When viewed through that lens, Malenstyn accomplished what he was brought here to do: he was second on the team in hits. Interestingly, number one in the hit department for the Sabres was Connor Clifton who was jettisoned to Pittsburgh as part of the Conor Timmons trade, and number three in hits was Dylan Cozens, who is now in Ottawadoing more of his “interesting” things in their defensive zone.
Anyway, back to Malenstyn. An unavoidable part of discussing his tenure in Buffalo will always be the second-round pick that Kevyn Adams spent to acquire the BC native from the Capitals, whether rightly or wrongly. Sure, the hit rate on a second rounder might not be great, but one would still hope to get more out of that second-round asset than a winger whoscores 10 points in 76 games like Malenstyn did last year. As for the positives: He’s good defensively. He hits. He plays the penalty kill. He falls less than Zemgus Girgensons. Beck Malenstyn, everyone.
Next up, we have center Peyton Krebs, formerly one of the key pieces of the Jack Eichel trade to Vegas. It’s fair to say at this point that Krebs hasn’t lived up to his status a first-round pick of the Vegas Golden Knights in terms of offensive production and playmaking ability. After being traded to Buffalo, Krebs was routinely put between Zemgus Girgensonsand Kyle Okposo which obviously does not lend itself to scoring a lot of goals, but even still, when given a chance higher up in the lineup, the production has not been there. That said, he did set a career high in goals (10) and points (28) last season – a tally that tied him for 11th on the team along with Zach Benson.
Krebs unfortunately doesn’t fare very well in evolving hockey’s defensive GAR models; he’s essentially a wash. He does rate highly in stirring the pot with the opposition despite his diminutive size, and his 136 hits were fourth on the team last year. He would be a perfectly cromulent fourth line center in the vein of Curtis Lazar if only he could raise his faceoff percentage above last year’s 49%.
Finally we have right wing Josh Doan, formerly a second-round pick of the dearly departed Arizona Coyotes (rest in peace, kachina jerseys). Doan was acquired by the Sabres as part of the Peterka trade that brought the Sabres their much-coveted RHD in Michael Kesselring. Doan, the son of former NHL star Shane Doan, brings physicality and and size at 6’2”, and will look to build offensively on the 19 points in 51 games he posted in Utah last season.
An AHL all star last season, Doan’s underlying metrics make him something of a breakout candidate for the blue and gold this year. A good season for him would be something close to Krebs’s production from last year.
Overall, it’s hard to dislike this fourth line. There’s a good blend of size, speed and at least a chance for some offensive upside. The only major knock is the lack of a faceoff ace here, although that’s not a huge deal as Krebs is right around 50%. This definitely looks like an improvement over last season’s fourth line.
Extras/Reserves: Justin Danforth, Tyson Kozak
*** Just a quick personal note – I’d like to thank Ek for bringing me back into the fold here at Hockeybuzz. I had a blast during my first stint, and I expect this time around to be no different. ***
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