Season Stats: 82 GP | 5 G | 17 A | 22 PTS
Age: 28
Contract Status: Signed through 2020-21, $4m AAV
Marco Scandella was GM Jason Botterill’s first major acquisition, and was always going to face an uphill battle making the shift from Minnesota’s third pair to the top pair defenseman alongside Rasmus Ristolainen.
On a Sabres defense that struggled mightily throughout the season, Scandella was neither the savior nor the worst of the unit. He provided a steady two-way presence and to some extent allowed Rasmus Ristolainen to go forward and flourish.
His 22 points was good enough for second amongst dmen on the offensively-challenged Sabres – for perspective, this was the first time that the second highest-scoring defenseman in Buffalo had 22 points since… Tyler Myers had that many in 2013-14. Ouch.
Defensively, there’s not much else to say than Scandella tried his best. He was on ice for 23:19 per game, the second unit of the power play and the first penalty kill unit. The Sabres drafting Rasmus Dahlin will come as a big relief for Scandella who will have some pressure off his shoulders next season and can start to really build on his game.
Season Grade: B+
His season highlight has to be this overtime buzzer beater to beat the Detroit Red Wings in February this year.
What grade would you give Marco Scandella this season?
| A | 73 |
| B | 419 |
| C | 123 |
| D | 28 |
| F | 4 |
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