Speedy winger added to shore up Buffalo’s penalty killing
The Buffalo Sabres acquisition of winger Eric Robinson on Wednesday was not the impact move that some observers have been advocating with the club struggling to stay in the Eastern Conference playoff race but was more of a band-aid move to shore up the club in a critical area.
Robinson, who was acquired from the Columbus Blue Jackets conditional 2025 seventh-round pick, skated in Boston with the club on Thursday on a line with Peyton Krebs and team captain Kyle Okposo and is expected to make his Sabres debut against the Bruins at TD Garden.
The 28-year-old winger is known for his speed and was used as a primary penalty killer by former Blue Jackets head coach Brad Larsen, but that role has been marginalized by current Columbus coach Pascal Vincent, who has played Robinson only seven games this season. The deal from the Blue Jackets side was a salary dump of an expiring contract with a $1.6 million cap hit.
For the Sabres, who have plenty of cap space, Robinson gives them a penalty killer with Jordan Greenway, Alex Tuch, and Zemgus Girgensons out, and Tage Thompson just coming back from a hand injury suffered by blocking a shot during a penalty kill vs. Boston on November 14.
The issue currently plaguing the Sabres is offensive inconsistency, which covered up for a great deal of their defensive inefficiencies last season. Buffalo’s offensive production has been unable to do that through 26 games and the acquisition of Robinson (who scored 22 goals the last two years) will not help much in that area, but he should be able to provide some help on special teams.
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