It’s never a bad idea to start thinking ahead, right?
Enter: the 2024-2025 Buffalo Sabres blueline.
There’s plenty of time, but as it stands right now – August 9, 2023 – the Sabres have only a few defensemen locked up past the upcoming 2023-2024 NHL season, which means that for at least some players, it’s going to be a big season as they hope to play for a nice big contract. For Kevyn Adams, it likely means there are some players he’ll look to lock up over the coming months, so it all doesn’t hit at once next summer.
Currently, the Sabres have just two NHL defensemen under contract for the 2024-2025 season: Mattias Samuelsson ($4.285 million) and Connor Clifton ($3.33 million). At the lower level, Ryan Johnson, Nikita Novikov and Vsevolod Komarov are all under contract at under a million dollars each.
The biggest name not (yet) locked up is, of course, Rasmus Dahlin. Dahlin is in the final year of his contract and will earn $6 million this coming season. Adams has already said that he’s starting to work on contracts for both Dahlin and Owen Power, who will earn $916,667 this season and will be due for a sizable raise at the expiration of his entry-level contract.
Henri Jokiharju, Jacob Bryson and Riley Stillman will all be restricted free agents next summer. Erik Johnson is on a one-year contract, while Ilya Lyubushkin is in the final year of his deal, too. Beyond that, guys like Kale Clague (RFA), Joseph Cecconi and Jeremy Davies (UFAs) are typical one-year contract players who will hit free agency next summer.
Prospects Albert Lyckåsen and Mats Lindgren have to be signed by June 1, 2024. Other defensive prospects like Gavin McCarthy, Nowin Panocha and Maxim Strbak have several years to sign (2027) and likely aren’t the priority at this point, or even next summer, but it’s still something to keep in mind.
Food for thought: some of the NHL-caliber defensemen who could be free agents next summer include Brady Skjei, Tyson Barrie, Nikita Zaitsev, John Klingberg, Shayne Gostisbehere and Brandon Montour.
So – let’s open the discussion.
Assuming both Dahlin and Power are signed, there’s your top pairing. Samuelsson plays on the left side, Clifton on the right. What ideal pieces are you bringing in to fill the rest of the Sabres’ blueline? Are you re-signing guys like Bryson and Jokiharju, bringing someone up from the AHL ranks, or hoping to land a free agent?