Jack Quinn has not been impressive or spectacular, to say the least so far this season. The young winger has only recorded 17 points in 36 games played (eight goals and nine assists). With how he finished last season before he sustained an injury that ultimately cut his season short, he was expected to take another step this season. Well, things have not gone according to plan, however, he has seemed to start slowly getting his game together as of late.
Quinn started the season with only four points in his first 24 games, then Lindy Ruff benched him, and things have been different ever since. He has played 12 games since he was benched for five games straight and has recorded 12 points in that time frame (six goals and six assists). The Sabres’ record in those games? 5-5-1. Nothing that jumps out at you, but that record is better than losing 13 games straight.
Quinn Big Second Half Coming
The recent play of Quinn should have Sabres fans very optimistic about what is to come, he looks more confident with and without the puck on his stick. We have not seen this type of Quinn since around this time last season. Ruff has tried everything to get him going. He had tried changing his linemates and putting him in different situations on the ice but nothing seemed to work until recently.
Thursday night, the Sabres shut out a division rival in the Ottawa Senators 4-0. Ruff decided to mix things up for the game and had Quinn not playing on the third line but with Zach Benson and Peyton Krebs. Ruff may have found something with that line as they had the second-highest expected goals for percentage at 30.80 (per Natural Stat Trick). The only other line higher than them was the Jason Zucker-Dylan Cozens-Tage Thompson line. It’s a very small sample size; however, I have confidence that line can carry over their strong play into the next stretch of games.
I have said in previous articles multiple times that if the Sabres want to really string together some wins in the second half of the season, Quinn needs to get going, same with one of his counterparts, Cozens. If you guys are familiar with my work, you’d know that I like to back up my arguments with any type of stats and underlying analytics, but lately, I’ve just had a strong feeling that Quinn and Cozens will turn the corner and help the Sabres get back into the mix.
Quinn’s Confidence Growing
People need to understand that Quinn is only 23 years old. He’s shown some flashes this season and in previous seasons of what he can be and what his potential can reach. Now, it’s all about consistency and putting together a complete game night in and night out. With every pass, every goal, every second, Quinn is improving as a player. Given how bad his start was, there were some conversations about him being traded. But the Sabres have still kept faith in the youngster and so far, it seems to be paying dividends.
Related: Sabres’ Seeing a Season of Struggles from Quinn & Cozens
There’s more to Quinn getting his confidence back than just himself. He’s still trying to find his game again. Of course, we all know that he’s at his best when he has the puck at the circles in the offensive zone ready to shoot. But that’s easier said than done. One positive sign we’ve seen from him lately is, over his last 12 games, we’ve seen him be a little tougher on the puck, which we haven’t seen from him all season. Quinn is the type of player that if a playmaker can feed him the puck, he will find the back of the net. For the last couple of seasons, it has been Cozens, and if everything continues how it’s going, we could see Krebs be that guy for him.
With Quinn having the hot hand as of late, the Sabres can absolutely get back into this thing. Can Quinn keep up the consistency we’ve seen from him as of late? Let me hear your thoughts because I sure think he can continue to produce night in and night out!
