The NHL's free-agency period commenced Tuesday, and the team this THN.com site is centered around, the Buffalo Sabres, took their crack at trying to improve by signing a handful of players to help get them into the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time in 15 years. Unfortunately, the handful of signings in question from the Sabres were almost exclusively an exercise in mediocrity.
The Sabres spent $5-million of their salary cap space on RFA center Ryan McLeod, who had his first 20-goal season in 2024-25. McLeod still has upside, but until he asserts himself as a consistent contributor from year-to-year, the 25-year-old can't be counted on to carry the Sabres. Similarly, Buffalo's new contracts for winger Ryan Johnson (three years, $775,00 per season), center Tyson Kozak (three years, $775,000 per), right winger Justin Danforth, (two years, $1.8 million per), defenseman Mason Geersten (two years, $1.155 million per) and goaltender Alex Lyon (two years, $1.5 million per) for the most part were categorized as investments in the possibility rather than the probability.
That reality, though, does not prevent Buffalo from erring on the side of caution by spending to the cap upper ceiling. The Sabres should be spending every penny of their available salary cap space, but as of Tuesday evening, Buffalo still had $13.76 million in cap space. It sure feels like there's an internal budget that's not the same as the league's maximum budget.
And that's where you can understand why Sabres fans are so disillusioned at the moment. Ownership may be keeping the team in town, but they need to be keeping up with the Joneses. And that's sure not the feeling after a day in which there were still some above-average players available.
For instance, why not take a chance on a star like Winnipeg Jets winger Nikolaj Ehlers? Granted, he doesn't have as much impact in the playoffs than he does in the regular-season, but who's kidding who here — if Ehlers can help[ score the Sabres into the playoffs at long last, he'll be worth the investment Buffalo makes in him.
Similarly, why shouldn't the Sabres take a run at Vancouver Canucks center Pius Suter? There's someone with speed and soft hands who also can contribute offense. The fact that neither one of Ehlers or Suter has been signed yet doesn't take away from their value. It could be an effort and strategy by their represenatives to drum up a bigger market for teams that don't come away with the big fish prizes of free agency.
If that doesn't pan out, the Sabres should be one of the most aggressive, if not the most aggressive team on the trade front this summer. Buffalo GM Kevyn Adams can't be satisfied with the fringe signings he made on Tuesday. He has to keep improving his lineup, right through training camp and well into the season. Because if he sits on his wallet the rest of the way, it will be duly noted by Sabres fans and regular-obeservers alike.
If all Adams does is to change the periphery of the lineup, we'll be able to tell so by the fact he doesn't bring in proven veterans to help out the youngsters. You can only address your third and fourth lines and your third-pair on 'D' for so long before it becomes apparent you're either unwilling or unable to take knives to the more talented area of the roster.
Adams needs to convince ownership that using all of Buffalo's cap space is important. And if at that stage Sabres ownership isn't prepared to do so, there are bigger issues at play in Western New York. Buffalo has to approach the coming season with more urgency than ever, and that means using every dollar in their employ to bulk up the overall skill level as highly as possible.
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