The Top 25 Under 25 is a collaboration by members of the Die By The Blade community. It was a combination of staff writers and over 200 readers that ranked Buffalo Sabres players under the age of 25 as of August 1, 2024. Each participant used their own metric of current ability and production to rank each player. Staff votes counted equally with reader votes.
The Top 25 Under 25 is a collaboration by members of the Die By The Blade community. It was a combination of staff writers and over 200 readers that ranked Buffalo Sabres players under the age of 25 as of August 1, 2024. Each participant used their own metric of current ability and production to rank each player. Staff votes counted equally with reader votes.
Peyton Krebs
Drafted: 2019 – 1st Round (17th Overall)
Position: Center
Born: January 26, 2001 (23 years old)
2023-24 Stats: Buffalo Sabres (NHL) – 4-13-17 in 80 GP
2023 T25U25 Ranking: 12
2022 T25U25 Ranking: 5
Peyton Krebs’ slow steady decline down the T25U25 rankings is not really a surprise given his performances. Since his trade from the Vegas Golden Knights during the 21-22 season (part of the youknowwho package), his offensive numbers have only continued to decline.
He’s been used all over the lineup and the lack of defined role on a struggling team can go both for him and against him. On one hand you could argue that not being settled in a specific position and still being pretty young – even though he mostly has been fourth line center for the last two seasons – keeps him from showing off his hockey smarts and good feet. However, and this is the narrative that seems to be dominating the script, this could also mean that the coaches simply do not know where he fits in best and his diminishing ice time (12:30 a night) last season is a symptom of that.
Krebs’ camp was extended a qualifying offer at the end of the season but the RFA has yet to sign it. Word has it that the Sabres are looking to add him to trade packages, but there has not been much action there. The club do reserve the right to match any offer sheets for the player should they come in, but there hasn’t been anything brewing there either.
An offer of less than about $1.5M AAV would require no compensation, something in the range of from $1.5M AAV to $2.3M AAV would get a 2025 third-round pick, and a 2025 second-round pick for an offer in the range of $2.3M AAV to $4.6M AAV. With their cap space, Buffalo could manage that under the cap easily, especially as it’s not looking likely General Manager Kevyn Adams will be able to make a splashy trade this summer.
For his part, he’s still calling Buffalo home.
So, what about the player himself? What really is his ceiling at this point, and will it be fair to gamble that he will not hit another level elsewhere? Is he a player that new returning head coach Lindy Ruff can tweak to unlock some hitherto unseen potential?
Adams acquisition of Ryan McLeod and Sam Lafferty seems to be pointing more towards his vision of a 13th forward. Lacking a killer shot and his pass-first mentality already bring him down a couple of notches, and you would suspect that the fourth line really is who he’s going to be. The league is littered with such journeymen, it’s going to come down to the team’s leadership as to how much more patient they would want to be. You might have a Curtis Lazar on your hands, when you’re expecting him to eventually turn into a Sam Bennett.
The T25U25 ranking of 15th seems to show that the fanbase is rather pessimistic about his chances.
2024 Buffalo Sabres Top 25 Under 25
#25: Adam Kleber
#24: Tyson Kozak
#23: Maxim Štrbák
#22: Prokhor Poltapov
#21: Aleksandr Kisakov
#20: Viktor Neuchev
#19: Vsevolod Komarov
#18: Nikita Novikov
#17: Anton Wahlberg
#16: Isak Rosén