The Sabres have signed restricted free agent center Peyton Krebs to a two-year, $2.9MM contract, the team announced Tuesday.
Krebs, 23, was Buffalo’s only late-summer RFA holdout but will be in training camp when it opens Wednesday if the contract is registered without incident. His deal will keep him with the Sabres through 2025-26 and cost $1.45MM against the salary cap.
The 17th overall pick of the Golden Knights in the 2019 draft, Krebs appeared in just 13 NHL games with Vegas before being traded to Buffalo in November 2021 as part of the Jack Eichel blockbuster. Early on, it looked like Krebs wouldn’t have any issues developing into a core top-nine piece for the Sabres. He immediately stepped into a full-time role as a middle-six winger, recording 22 points (7 G, 15 A) in 48 games after the trade, averaging 14:45 per game. His 0.46 points per game finished ninth on the team.
After the breakout, Buffalo moved Krebs to his natural center position for the last two seasons. With the shift came a steady decrease in offense. Last season was especially difficult for Krebs, who scored just four goals in 80 games and added 13 assists for 17 points. His 0.21 points per game were his worst since becoming a Sabre, and he received his lowest usage at 12:30 per game.
Krebs isn’t skilled in the dot, winning 44.5% of his 1,352 career draws. However, he has had positive relative shot attempt impacts at even strength since being shifted to center, and his 47.8% share of expected goals is fine for a rebuilding team.
After the Sabres’ bevy of free-agent signings and trade additions geared toward overhauling their bottom-six forward group this summer, there isn’t a clear fit for Krebs in the lineup at first glance. He doesn’t have the offensive track record to break into the top nine on a team desperate to end its 13-season playoff drought. Therefore, he’ll have to knock one of Nicolas Aubé-Kubel, Sam Lafferty, or Beck Malenstyn – Buffalo’s projected fourth line – to the press box.
The easiest candidate for him to unseat will be Lafferty, who projects to open the season as the Sabres’ fourth-line center but is also historically subpar in the dot. Aubé-Kubel and Malenstyn made up two-thirds of an extremely effective fourth line for the Capitals last season and likely won’t be separated. But even pushing Lafferty to the role of 13th forward will be challenging for Krebs. Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams made a significant financial commitment to Lafferty in free agency, inking him to a two-year, $4MM deal in July.
Buffalo has $7MM in projected cap space with a full roster of 13 forwards, seven defensemen, and three goaltenders after signing Krebs, per PuckPedia. The Calgary native will be a restricted free agent with arbitration rights when his contract expires after the 2025-26 season.
Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet was first to report the terms of Krebs’ deal.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Bummer, he stanks
Good for him. And, perhaps, better for the Sabres. First, it eliminates a possible distraction. Second, he’s still young enough to have plenty of room for development/improvement. Third, it’s a manageable contract for both term and $.
Kevyn Adams has been in numerous trade discussions. It is not a lock that Krebs – or virtually any player for that matter – is going to be on the team long term. This contract allows the team to proceed at a prudent pace.
Love those Mike Peca era jerseys.
He’s now signed. He can be traded at anytime down the road.