2022 Player Report Card: Cody Eakin

Today in our 2022 Buffalo Sabres player report cards series is forward Cody Eakin.

Total Season Stats: 69 GP | 4 G | 8 A | 12 PTS

Age: 31

Contract Status: Under contract through 2021-22 ($2.25 million cap hit)

At this point with Cody Eakin you know what you’re getting. A gritty veteran forward who will provide leadership, win faceoffs, be decent on the penalty kill and throw in a point or two here and there. If that was the expectation for the Sabres when they added the fourth line forward, then they got what they asked for.

This last season he saw a slight uptick in playing time as he slotted in anywhere on the bottom six and got some added exposure to the penalty kill, averaging 13:35 a night. His faceoff success rate of 56.1% rose slightly from the 54.3% last season, but both marks led the Sabres. His hits/60 and blocks/60 were not unreasonable numbers, in the top ten for Buffalo among forwards.

Could be the cut, could be the colour.

When it comes to hockey hair, the players think @CodyEakin50’s (@BuffaloSabres) flow is the best in the league. #NHLPAPlayerPoll pic.twitter.com/TT5nBNoAkK

— NHLPA (@NHLPA) April 27, 2022

Eakin’s contract is up and don’t expect him back. Don Granato, despite using him quite a bit last season, is not necessarily a fan of his. With a number of younger forwards sitting in Rochester waiting to make the step up, it seems natural for the Sabres to replace him with J.J. Peterka and Jack Quinn this fall.

That said, he is well liked in the locker room by his teammates, and Kevyn Adams might take a swing at giving him a one-year deal to continue to bring that veteran leadership to a very young roster.

Plus you have to give him credit for coming up with the idea for the Sabres to dress up in Flint Tropics uniforms — jerseys, shorts, headbands, the works — looking like Will Ferrell clones from the basketball movie Semi-Pro. That aside, there’s not much else to say.

Grade Cody Eakin on his 2021-22 season