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Buffalo Sabres Top 25 Under 25: T-#13 Brett Murray

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 600 readers that ranked Buffalo Sabres players under the age of 25 as of August 1, 2022. Each participant used their own metric of current ability and production to rank each player.

Next up in the 2022 Top 25 Under 25 series is left winger Brett Murray who continued to be a key part of the setup at Rochester with another strong showing, and was able to get some playing time up in Buffalo as well, featuring in 19 games and averaging nearly 13 minutes a night, including some time on the second power play unit as well. With the Amerks last season he showed that he belonged, scoring 15 goals with 17 assists in 52 games played, and picked up six points (3G, 3A) during Rochester’s playoff run as well.

The question on Murray is whether he will be able to get all the aspects of his game together and show he can be a consistent bottom six forward. To that end the Sabres have signed him to a league minimum $750,000 one-year deal for the upcoming season as another chance.

He has size going for him, but it comes at the cost of pace, and in the modern game that along could sound the death knell for a player’s career. However, Murray has shown in fits and starts that he could still be a useful member of the Sabres squad.

Murray scored his first Sabres goal last season and will forever have the memory of a Rick Jeanneret call for that milestone.

It’s hard to say what exactly the ceiling for Murray is. At best he’s a consistent bottom six forward who can pot about 10-20 points a season. At worst, he’s a career-AHLer. The Sabres are giving him every opportunity to show that he deserves a longer contract, but if the youngsters coming up from Rochester settle in quickly then finding playing time in Buffalo might become very difficult for the 24-year-old.

For now though, he’s big and works hard, and those are qualities the Sabres need.