Consistency and complacency have been two of the biggest issues plaguing the Buffalo Sabres in the 2023-24 season. Head coach Don Granato’s unwillingness to adapt to given scenarios, and put players in the best position to succeed has hampered both the defensive and offensive parts of the roster. As the offense continues to struggle, they need to find a way to shore up their defense, or they will continue to lose close games.
When a team is up by two or three goals in the third period, a fanbase should not be waiting around for what feels like an inevitable implosion. Unfortunately for the Sabres, this is the case since the young defensive core has not shown a consistent ability to lock down games when things are down to the wire. If they want to show more defensive responsibility, while also giving themselves opportunities to transition to offense, they need to make the following adjustments to their defense pairings going forward.
First Defensive Pair Needs Shakeup For Dahlin
Rasmus Dahlin is the Sabres’ uncontested best defender (as evidenced by his recent All-Star nomination), but he has struggled to find consistency with a defensive partner this season. For most of last season, he was paired with Mattias Samuelsson, and they played exceptionally well together. Unfortunately, this season has not reaped the same kind of rewards for them. Dahlin is last on the team with a minus-14 and Samuelsson is tied for second with a plus-4. Despite these numbers, when Samuelsson and Dahlin have played together this season, one or both of them looks lost on any given night. The chemistry just isn’t there between them right now, and an adjustment needs to be made based on play style.
A bold, but potentially strong move would be to make Owen Power his full-time defensive partner. Both of them have offensive tendencies, but they combine those with defensive abilities that balance one another. Dahlin plays more physical and is willing to throw hits and get aggressive, while Power tends to keep a cooler head and use his size for positioning rather than physicality. When games get down to the last few minutes and Granato is in need of an offensive push, he puts these two together on a regular basis. I say put them together full-time and let them develop chemistry to feed off one another for offensive opportunities, while communicating for better defensive coverage as well.
Second Pair Needs To Be The “Shut Down” Pair
In a more traditional sense of hockey thinking, it would be a great idea for the Sabres to develop their second defensive pairing on the principle of being a “shut down” pairing; or the pair that is designed to stifle any offense, and play a physical game. When putting that type of idea together, the perfect solution at this point would be Samuelsson and Connor Clifton. Both of them have been solid defensively this season as a whole, and they both throw hits in good situations as opposed to trying to step up and make an offensive play. Clifton does have some offensive upside to him, but he is a “hit first” player that focuses on getting possession of the puck and moving it up ice.
Between the two of them, they are a combined plus-8 and are tied for second on the team in plus/minus. Clifton has mostly been relegated to a bottom-pairing role, and Samuelsson to a top-pairing role, so I feel that balancing them both in the middle with second-pairing ice time would be a perfect fit for them. Samuelsson could definitely benefit from a slightly reduced role on this team, and it would allow him to play harder late in games where they need him to be the shutdown defender he is meant to be. Between him and Clifton, the Sabres would have a strong physical defensive pair that they could use as needed, which would give Dahlin and Power the freedom to contribute more fully.
Third Pairing Would Have Defensive and Offensive Balance
The third pair would be a solid and balanced combination of what the first two pairings would be doing. To accomplish this, it would consist of Ryan Johnson and Henri Jokiharju, while Erik Johnson would rotate in as needed. Both Erik and Ryan Johnson are capable defensive defenders, but Jokiharju functions as more of a two-way defender. Where Granato can choose to rotate Erik Johnson in and out would be based on the need for experience or physicality. Erik Johnson is much more physical than Ryan, and the flexibility between these three defenders gives Granato plenty of options to round out his final pairing.
Offensively there is not much scoring talent amongst these three, but there is still enough that they can be used situationally to generate scoring chances or be a reliable pair of defenders in their own end. Jokiharju is having a much better season than he did in 2022-23, and his overall game looks more rounded out and consistent. Ryan Johnson is still young and learning the right way to play in the NHL, so if there are times where he is struggling to keep up, he not only has the perfect mentor in Erik Johnson in hand, but he also has a partner or fill in option so that his gameplay can continue to grow to where the Sabres need it to be.
Rounding Out The Defense Is Key For The Shakeup
Things just have not been going well for the Sabres as a whole, and if they want to regain some chemistry between them, then there needs to be some shakeups and rotations like these to really get these guys going. Staying stagnant and waiting for things to just work is not a recipe for success. Sitting back and “trusting the process” as Granato and general manager Kevyn Adams have so adamantly stated for the entire season is no longer good enough. They need action, and they need something fresh to get the chemistry and the creativity back in this lineup.
Related – Sabres Have Mismanaged Their Goalies This Season
Are these changes going to fix everything? No, they aren’t; but they will be a step in the right direction. Good defending by the players meant to keep pucks from getting to the goalies will only help the goaltenders make easier saves, and will help the offensive players transition better and faster. The Sabres have many other systemic issues that they need to iron out, but starting at the ground level with the defense is their best option. Once they fix this issue, they can move on to the abysmal power play, and finally start scoring like they were last season.
