The key piece in the trade that sent winger JJ Peterka to Utah just before the NHL Draft was defenseman Michael Kesselring, who the Buffalo Sabres are depending on to be an effective physical blueline partner to Owen Power, but the Sabres also will need to get something from winger Josh Doan, who had two impressive seasons in the AHL and a quick start to his NHL career close to his hometown of Scottsdale, AZ, but the 23-year-old struggled in his sophomore campaign and is hoping to recapture his scoring touch. "It's been a couple years now, where I've had a little bit of success here, and it's taken a bit, In Tucson, I kind of found my offensive stride." Doan said on Saturday. "At the end of the day, this league is really skilled, and you're getting an opportunity to produce with no matter who you're on the ice with. I've worked on a lot this off season, watching videos of guys like (Sam) Reinhart, or (Sam) Bennett, for those guys who are good around the net and scoring goals, and kind of taking a queue from them and hope to produce a little bit more this year." Other Sabres Stories Projecting Sabres Trade Cost - Lawson Crouse [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/buffalo-sabres/latest-news/projecting-sabres-trade-cost---lawson-crouse] Six Former Sabres Who Signed Elsewhere [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/buffalo-sabres/latest-news/six-former-sabres-who-signed-elsewhere] The son of Arizona Coyotes legend and current Toronto Maple Leafs Special Assistant to the GM Shane Doan has shown a scoring touch at all levels, with the Chicago Steel of the USHL, in two years at Arizona State University, in two seasons with the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners, and in his brief stint at the end of the 2024 season with the Coyotes, where he scored five goals in 11 games. Last season, his numbers dipped to seven goals in 51 games in Utah. In Buffalo, head coach Lindy Ruff is looking for the 6’2”, 198 lb. winger to step up his physical play and work ethic to create more opportunities for himself. "That's something you got to take pride and something that, as a kid, it was kind of preached to me, is, no matter what happens, you're going as hard as you can, and it's something that I can look back on since I was five or six years old." Doan said. "There's still parts of my game that I wanted to grow in, but that's something that no matter what I'm working on, it is going to be something that's built into me and who I am." Follow Michael on X, Instagram @MikeInBuffalo [https://twitter.com/MikeInBuffalo]
