Free agency is now a little more than a month away from opening up and there are quite a few prominent players set to hit the open market while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign. Here is a breakdown of Buffalo’s free agent situation.
Key Restricted Free Agents: F Sam Reinhart – While Reinhart hasn’t exactly lit up the league since being the second-overall pick in 2014, he has made progress and had a career year in 2017-18 with 25 goals and 25 assists. The first thing that Buffalo needs to decide is whether or not he’s still a part of their long-term plans. If no, then he could be someone they look to move this summer. Assuming they decide he is part of their future, there’s a good chance that they will look to work out a long-term contract as a bridge deal for a 50-point player would wind up still being quite pricey.
G Robin Lehner – Last summer, the Sabres were faced with a decision as to whether or not to make Lehner their goalie of the present and the future. They wound up punting on that call and gave him a one-year, $4MM pact instead so this summer, they are faced with the same question with one extra pressure point; Lehner is one year away from being eligible for unrestricted free agency. His numbers have actually worsened year-to-year since he came to Buffalo but Linus Ullmark isn’t ready for the number one job and there isn’t a prominent starter set to become available on the open market. A long-term pact still seems unlikely but a medium-term one, a move that would buy them some time to find a goalie of the future, would make some sense.
Other RFAs: D Victor Antipin, F Justin Bailey, F Nicholas Baptiste, F Hudson Fasching, G Jason Kasdorf, F Sean Malone, F Daniel O’Regan, F C.J. Smith, F Scott Wilson
Key Unrestricted Free Agents: F Benoit Pouliot – While Buffalo was hoping that Pouliot would rebound in a new environment, that wasn’t the case. Even though his goal total went up to 13, he was still a depth player and didn’t take much advantage when he was moved up in the lineup. After taking a one-year, $1.15MM deal last summer, Pouliot will be looking for a similar pact this time around. If nothing else, he can get some comfort knowing that Edmonton still owes him another $4MM over the next three seasons after they bought him out last June.
G Chad Johnson – After a decent season with Calgary, Johnson returned to Buffalo back in July to the scene of arguably his best year. In 2015-16, he posted a 2.36 GAA and a .920 SV% in 45 appearances but his second stint was nowhere near as strong as he put up the worst numbers of his career. That will prevent him from matching the $2.5MM he received this past season but there should be a few teams that will take a chance on him having a bounce-back season.
Other UFAs: D Justin Falk, D Josh Gorges, F Seth Griffith, F Jordan Nolan, D Zach Redmond, G Adam Wilcox
Projected Cap Space: Even with center Jack Eichel’s new $10MM per year deal kicking in, Buffalo still has a lot of room to work with; they have just under $56MM committed for 2018-19 per CapFriendly. With the cap expected to jump by a few million, that should give them more than $20MM to work with. However, they still have nearly half of their roster to fill out so while they should have enough wiggle room to make a splash, expect to see a handful of bargain signings in the coming weeks and months as well.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Nice breakdown for us Sabres fans. Thank you.