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Free Agent Candidates for the Sabres |
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All signs point to the Buffalo Sabres having a quiet free agency period this year, as opposed to last season when management went big game hunting for Taylor Hall. It seems as though the Sabres plan for this year will revolve around trying to sign Linus Ullmark and Jake McCabe while supplementing the roster in depth positions to provide veteran leadership. The Sabres are likely to give their young defensemen plenty of opportunities in all situations in order to grow them into prominent roles under Don Granato. The same figures to be true on the forward side as well, with Dylan Cozens, Casey Mittelstadt, Rasmus Asplund, Tage Thompson and others getting the bulk of the minutes this year. The Sabres will also be in the market for a backup to Linus Ullmark, assuming they can get the Swede under contract. If they can’t they’ll need two goalies.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at a smattering of UFA candidates that could provide value in a smaller role for the Sabres to sign when free agency opens at noon tomorrow.
Defense (in no particular order):
1.) Jake McCabe
McCabe has been a steady presence on the Sabres blue line for many years, and while he by no means an offensive dynamo, he is a quality defensive defenseman when not on the injured list. It sounds like the Sabres would like to bring McCabe back although the left-shot defenseman is keen on testing free agency. Injuries have hampered his availability the past few years so it’s entirely possible that he circles back to Buffalo if he can’t garner sufficient interest on the open market.
2.) David Savard
If you want offense, you’re not going to get it from David Savard. His expected goals above replacement xGAR is comically low. However, if the Sabres can’t get Jake McCabe under contract, then Savard could play the role of shutdown d-man/veteran leader on a young Sabres team. Savard provides solid impacts on the defensive side of the puck as well as on the penalty kill. Evolvinghockey.com gives him a projected contract value of 1 year/$1.6m which would work for basically any team in the league. If the Sabres coveted the defenseman, they could slightly overpay to guarantee his services. It still wouldn’t cost that much.
3.) Alex Edler
Edler figures to attract significant interest on the open market despite being 35 years old. It seems incredibly unlikely that he would want to come to Buffalo rather than chase a cup elsewhere in the league, but in terms of veteran leadership, Edler would be a quality candidate. His underlying numbers are also still good. Perhaps interest will be depressed elsewhere because the left-shot defenseman failed to register a goal in 52 games this year. Evolving hockey has his predicted contract at 3 years, $3.8m per year which would take him to 38 years old. That’s pretty rich for an elder statesman like Edler.
4.) Mark Pysyk
You didn’t think I would skip the analytic wonderman did you? The hybrid winger/defenseman has always been something of an analytic darling. Pysyk can play either forward or defense so if he’s your 7th defenseman, you’re also getting someone who can fill in on the forward ranks if needed. This submission is mostly tongue-in-cheek. Mostly.
5.) Jordie Benn
Like many players on this list, Jordie Benn is not going to provide elite offense, although for the Sabres, that’s fine as most of their young defensemen can assume that role. Benn would fill the void of the graybeard on the team while providing good defensive impacts. Benn typically shows well in the expected goals above replacement, although it has dipped for the past two years. It may be that time has caught up with the 34-year-old, or perhaps playing in the run-and-gun northern division simply doesn’t suit his style of play. With a projected cap hit of $875k for 1 year, well, let’s just say this isn’t exactly a high-risk ploy that could pay off for the Sabres.
Forwards:
1.) Mark Pysyk
Joking. Mostly.
2.) Nick Ritchie
News dropped yesterday that the Bruins do not plan to qualify Nick Ritchie. The Sabres would do well to pluck the feisty winger from a division rival and bring him aboard to the Sabres. The advanced metrics on Ritchie are all solid-to-good and his sandpaper element is something that the young Sabres could desperately use more of. Ritchie potted 15 goals this season and according to evolving hockey, his contract could look something like 4 years, $4.4m per. That seems somewhat rich for Ritchie, but the Sabres will undoubtedly have the cap space.
3.) Nick Foligno
I’m not going to spend too much time on this one as it’s widely believed that Foligno is going to join his brother Marcus in Minnesota. The Buffalo-native would fill a leadership void on the Sabres but it appears it’s not to be. He hasn’t signed on the dotted line yet, though, hence his inclusion on this list.
4.) Phillip Danault
Danault figures to have quite a bit of interest league wide as a versatile forward who plays both ends of the ice well. If the Sabres are indeed moving on from Eichel, they should insert their name into the Danault sweepstakes to help fill the void at center ice. The Montreal center’s offensive numbers won’t pop of the page: he had 5 goals and 19 assists in the regular season, and only potted 4 points in 22 playoff games. Still, his two way game would make him a valuable addition to help take some pressure off of Cozens and Mittelstadt should either one of them struggle. The Sabres simply must add some proven center depth if they do indeed trade Eichel. The 28-year-old will likely get somewhere in the neighborhood of $6m per year on a multi-year deal.
5.) Derick Brassard
Brassard could be the kind of depth forward the Sabres thought they were getting when they signed Cody Eakin last offseason. Brassard is several seasons removed from hitting goal totals in the high teens, but he can still provide some offense in a depth role while playing a strong two-way game. The Sabres could easily slide him between Zemgus Girgensons and Kyle Okposo to create a checking line to shelter the young kids from hazardous assignments against the top offensive lines in the NHL. Brassard figures to be an inexpensive option: 1 year, $1.1m, according to evolving hockey.
Goalies:
1.) Linus Ullmark.
Like McCabe, the Sabres would like to hang on to this pending unrestricted free agent. Also like McCabe, Ullmark has suffered with injuries which have limited his availability for the Sabres in recent years. Those injuries may have also limited the size of contract Ullmark could get on the open market. When healthy, Ullmark is a very capable netminder and one that the Sabres have spent years developing. It would be a shame if he walked at this point.
2.) Phillip Grubauer
If the Sabres aren’t signing Ullmark, perhaps they would turn their attention to someone like Phillip Grubauer. The Avs netminder posted a stellar .922 save percentage on a very good Colorado team and despite the team success, it appears he will test free agency. Grubauer figures to be an expensive option and one that the Sabres likely wouldn’t be in the market for unless their talks with Linus Ullmark break down and they’re forced to look elsewhere.
3.) Brian Elliott
Should the Sabres be in the market for a Carter Hutton type journeyman, Brian Elliott might fit that bill nicely. His numbers on a sub-par Flyers team look pretty bad (.889 save percentage) so he would likely come at a discount which could be appealing to the Sabres. While not a starting caliber goalie, he would provide a bit of insurance behind Ullmark at a reasonable rate. This kind of move is probably more realistic than the Sabres signing someone like Grubauer.
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I’ll be around at various points tomorrow to update the moves the Sabres make during free agency. As I previously mentioned, I am on vacation this week so my ability to update in a real-time fashion will likely be hampered as I have plans that involve water tomorrow. Water + cellphone = no bueno. Worst comes to worst, i'll provide an update in the evening
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