In a recent article for The Athletic, Harman Dayal ranked the nine best contracts signed during the 2026 NHL off-season so far. One of the Buffalo Sabres' moves was among the contracts that made Dayal's list.

Dayal gave the Sabres' decision to sign defenseman Olen Zellweger to a three-year contract with a $3.1 million AAV a shout-out in his list. 

"After trading Bowen Byram and Kesselring, the Sabres needed to add some secondary skating and puck-moving to the back end. Zellweger is an excellent budget option to fill that hole. He isn’t nearly as established as Byram yet and his ceiling is likely lower, especially as a 5-foot-10 defenseman, but the upside of his game is tantalizing," Dayal wrote. 

When noting that Zellweger's new cap hit is a very reasonable $3.1 million, it is clear that this has the chance to be a very good deal for the Sabres. There is no question that the young blueliner has plenty of potential, and it also doesn't hurt that the salary cap is continuing to go up.

If Zellweger can continue to develop his game and blossom into a top-four defenseman for the Sabres, this bridge deal could become a complete steal for Buffalo. This is epecially when looking at the kinds of contracts that other NHL defensemen have received this off-season.

In 76 games during this past season with the Ducks, Zellweger scored seven goals and set new career highs with 15 assists and 22 points. With numbers like these, the 2021 second-round pick has shown plenty of promise, and it will be interesting to see if he can hit a new level in Buffalo from here.