The Buffalo Sabres began to implement a plan under GM Kevyn Adams in the summer of 2022 to be proactive and lock up who they identified as their core players on long-term deals, giving them big money ahead of their prime years, but in turn, saving them cap space down the line.
It began with seven-year deals for center Tage Thompson, and defenseman Mattias Samuelsson, it continued last February with Dylan Cozens, and this week it culminated with the eight-year, $88 million deal for blueliner Rasmus Dahlin and seven-year, $58.45 million contract extension for 2021 top overall pick Owen Power.
“(Negotiations) picked up intensity in the last 48 hours, but we’ve been working at this since the combine,” Adams said on Thursday. Like I said before with Rasmus, the key part of this was we were aligned philosophically. He wanted to be here. It was very clear, and he made it known that he wanted to be here, and he wanted to be here for a long time. It’s just a matter of how you get that done.”
The Sabres now have their top two centers and top three defensemen signed through the rest of the decade, giving them cost certainty with the NHL’s salary cap expected to go up precipitously with the league coming out of the effects of the pandemic. This gives Adams the flexibility to lock up other players, like goalie Devon Levi, and forwards J-J Peterka, Casey Mittelstadt, and Jack Quinn, based on how they progress over the next season or two.
“You have to draft well, you have to develop well, and then when you recognize pieces that you believe are going to help you win, you want to get the guys locked up in their prime years for as long as you can,” Adams said. “Now in saying that, you can't do it with everybody, but you have to start somewhere and we identified these guys as critical pieces.”