Sabres report cards: Taylor Fedun

The season is over, and we’re going to rate every player who played more than 20 games this season on their performance the same way we were all graded back in the day - on a report card scale of A to F. We’re taking a look at everyone from Bailey to Rodrigues in our 2016-17 Buffalo Sabres Report Cards.

Age: 28

Contract: UFA (paid $600,000 last year)

Introduction: Much like a previous report card subject, Taylor Fedun was brought to Buffalo to provide some organizational depth on defense, and as a guy who could contribute to both the AHL and NHL clubs when needed. It turned out that the Sabres needed help in that area more than most people thought last year, and so Fedun ended up playing about a quarter-season in Buffalo before finishing the year with an ankle injury.

Key Stat: Fedun finished with the highest Corsi number of any Sabres player last season at 53.7%. While that number was helped by protective minutes and zone starts, it’s still an impressive mark for a guy who was supposed to play in the AHL.

Thumbs Up: As with Justin Falk, Fedun was something of a pleasant surprise in Buffalo last season. He’s a pretty good skater, and he earned himself a bit of time on both the second pairing and the second power play unit midway through the year. In addition to leading the team in Corsi, Fedun also led the Sabres in +/-, finishing at +3, and his seven assists in 27 games played wasn’t to shabby.

Thumbs Down: But as with Falk, the issue with Fedun’s game is that he doesn’t stand out in any remarkable way. He’s a decent skater, passer, and shooter, and has OK size, but no one quality that you can point to and say, “That’s why we have this guy on our team”. If you’re looking for a physical presence on the back end, Fedun ain’t it. He’s at or near the bottom in hits and blocked shots on the team, and while his offensive skills are all decent, there’s not much there to say he deserved a significantly larger role. I think the role played this year as a two-way, depth defenseman is where he fits.

Memorable Moment: If you Google “Taylor Fedun” and search for videos posted in the last year, you get...some pre and post game interviews and nothing else. So here’s a cool video about his recovery from a broken femur in 2012 ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Voting: Using the good old grade school system of A, B, C, D, F, with a grade of A representing a great season, a grade of C being the performance you expected, and F a very poor season, rate Taylor Fedun on his performance this year.