The Buffalo Sabres have officially signed one of their restricted free agents.
The Buffalo Sabres have signed recently acquired forward Beck Malenstyn to a two-year, $2.7 million contract ($1.35 million AAV).
Malenstyn was set for an arbitration hearing, but he and the Sabres have avoided it with this new deal. The Sabres now have two RFAs remaining in Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Peyton Krebs.
Malenstyn, 26, was acquired by the Sabres from the Washington Capitals last month in exchange for the 43rd pick of the 2024 NHL Entry Draft (Cole Hutson). The Delta, British Columbia native is coming off a breakout 2023-24 season, posting six goals, 21 points, 25 penalty minutes, and a whopping 241 hits. Now, he has earned this raise and multi-year deal because of it.
Malenstyn is expected to be a notable part of the Sabres' bottom six next season. He should not only give them plenty more bite and toughness but also offer some decent secondary offensive production in the process.
Overall, this contract is reasonable for Malenstyn, especially after his solid 2023-24 campaign. It will be intriguing to see how he performs for the Sabres from here, but there is reason to believe he could take another step forward in Buffalo.
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