Buffalo’s blueline dealing with injuries and growing pains in first half
Buffalo’s blueline dealing with injuries and growing pains in first half
The Buffalo Sabres reached the first-half mark of the regular season last week and still have a sub .500 record, in spite of some slight improvements defensively. We will break down the club position by position, giving a grade on where they stand at the mid-point of the season, as today we look at the club’s defensive corps.
GM Kevyn Adams opted to not expend young assets to acquire a top-four blueliner (such as Brett Pesce or Noah Hanifin, who had one year left before becoming unrestricted free agents), who would have needed to be signed to an extension and chose instead to lock up former top overall picks Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power on eight-year deals and bring in Stanley Cup winner Erik Johnson on a one-year deal and former Bruin Connor Clifton to a three-year contract.
Johnson has been good as a mentor and leader, but does not have a lot left to contribute on the ice other than as a bottom-pairing defenseman and penalty killer, Clifton took most of the first two months to find his way but improved in December and January. That being said, the Sabres needed more of an upgrade on the blueline to successfully transition from a more wide-open offensive club to a more two-way responsible squad.
Dahlin continues to be one of the best offensive defensemen in the league, as well as eating up close to 25 minutes every night, but the 23-year-old has not been able to show enough defensive maturity in his sixth NHL season, even while partnered with his favorite defense partner Mattias Samuelsson.
Samuelsson might be the most important defenseman on the squad, but he takes a lot of punishment blocking shots and being physical, and he has missed six games due to a variety of injuries.
Power has shown some growing pains and head coach Don Granato has shaken up his defensive pairings to find a better compliment for the 21-year-old. Henri Jokiharju has been relatively steady as a right-handed compliment on the top or second pairing, while rookie Ryan Johnson has remained with the club since being called up in early November and being solid but unspectacular in sheltered minutes.
Grade – B-
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