The Buffalo Sabres recently announced that they re-hired Lindy Ruff as their newest head coach, and as he was introduced to the media and city once again, there were some discussions about his coaching style. Topics like accountability, hard work, and ice time limitations for poor play came up, and as the newest coach was talking, it got me thinking about the roster as it currently sits. With Don Granato being ousted, and it being clear that he was not able to get the most out of his players, there was plenty left on the table for players to be better. With Ruff taking over the reins, there will be some that succeed and others that likely won’t take well to his coaching style.
Owen Power
Ruff has shown a solid track record of making good defenders even better, and the potential to mold Owen Power into a more physical, and offensively productive defender is high. However, as things currently sit, Power had a lot of instances last season where his awareness at both ends of the ice were costly to his team. His speed still needs work, and his physicality is nearly non-existent. Ruff definitely will ask more of him as he still has a lot of potential left in him to bring out, but if Power continues down the trend from last season, he may find himself on the bench more times than others.
Ruff made it clear in his presser that he can and will weaponize ice time to reward and punish players based on their performances, and in a world where Don Granato refused to do that to anyone besides rookies and JJ Peterka, Power will not be exempt from Ruff’s benching policies. This is not to say that it is a sure thing that Power will not succeed under Ruff, it simply is to say that based on last season’s tendencies, he may struggle if things do not improve.
Peyton Krebs
This pick is a little tougher as I can see the positive and negative effects. On one hand, Peyton Krebs may get a bigger role with the team if he finally breaks through and starts producing, but if he continues to stay off the scoresheet, I do not see him moving up the lineup in Ruff’s system. Under Granato, Krebs was taught how to play on the defensive side of the puck and how to be an agitator while being given some slight chances to show off his playmaking abilities. Under Ruff, he will get similar chances, but it will ultimately come down to his numbers and actual production.
As Ruff said in his press conference, he plans on rewarding players who play well with more ice time, and Krebs has the right tools and mindset to be one of those players. One of the biggest factors going into next season, should Krebs even remain on this team and not be traded, is his linemates. Will he get rookie Jiri Kulich on the third line? Perhaps Matt Savoie? Will Jeff Skinner be a regular resident on his wing? Or will he be relegated to the fourth line with Zemgus Girgensons and perhaps some new free agent signing? A lot of possibilities are available for how the season can go for Krebs, but if he does not show his offensive side, I do not see him succeeding in Ruff’s system.
Jeff Skinner
The preverbal elephant in the room as Skinner has found himself in the dog house under one Sabres head coach, and found himself falling down the lineup even towards the end of Granato’s tenure. Skinner still has all the right offensive attributes to be a successful scorer in the NHL, but with the emergence of JJ Peterka, Jack Quinn, and the upward trend of Zach Benson, his place in the top-6 is no longer solidified. Under Ruff, playing on the third line will warrant an understanding that more is expected defensively, and that is not an area where Skinner shines, unfortunately.
If Ruff decides to use Skinner in a purely offensive role and limits his ice time to specific moments, there may be some success to be had, but if he ends up being a third-line winger in Ruff’s system, there will be some struggles. Without knowing exactly how the roster is shaped going into next season, and how Ruff will line up his players it is tough to say for sure how Skinner will play out. However, should the role he was playing towards the end of this season be where he stands now, I do not foresee Skinner playing more than 12 minutes per night; which is tough to swallow for a $9-million cap hit.
Sabres Prospects May Struggle Too
Beyond the roster players, with what little room there is to bring up some prospects to play, there may be some pain points between the top prospects and Ruff. Names that come to mind off the bat are Jiri Kulich and Isak Rosen. Both are fairly one-dimensional prospects this far in their careers and are learning how to be better at their two-way game. Adding this element will only help them gain favor with Ruff in the long run, but if they were to play for him now, they would be buried deep in the lineup.
Related: Sabres’ 2023-24 Team Awards
Beyond the top prospects, some of the other lesser-known ones who could struggle based on their play styles are Alex Kisakov, Victor Neuchev, and Vsevlod Komarov. Kisakov and Neuchev are pure-scoring players with poor defensive and physical tendencies, and Komarov is a defenseman who steps up into more plays than he should. All three are a ways away from playing in the NHL, but if they stick around long enough to be on Ruff’s roster, they better learn to do more than just score.
Ruff Can Get More Out of These Players
Ruff has a history of being a tough coach, and that is exactly what this team needs right now, if that means weeding out some of the weaker tendencies of the roster players while upping the game and challenging the prospects to do more, then I am all for it. All of these players mentioned have the potential to be great under Ruff, but they need to fix some key elements in their games to make that happen. With a new season on the distant horizon, there is a lot to look at, and these players have a lot of work to do.