Sometimes a young NHL player needs a little time before everything clicks, and Jack Quinn is giving the Buffalo Sabres exactly that kind of payoff.
The Sabres winger, drafted eighth overall in 2020, has gone from promising prospect to one of Buffalo’s most productive forwards. After a solid 2022-23 season that brought 14 goals and 37 points in 75 games, Quinn hit a rough patch the next year. He managed nine goals and 19 points in 27 games, but two significant injuries wiped out the other 55.
Quinn kept moving forward anyway, and the production has followed. In the season after that 19-point campaign, he finished with 39 points in 74 games. Then last season he reached a new level, scoring 20 goals for the first time while also setting career highs in assists with 31 and points with 51 across 82 games.
This year, he’s taken off even faster. Through 14 games, Quinn is second on the team in both goals and points with eight goals and 14 points.
At 25, Quinn still looks like a player whose best hockey is ahead of him. He may never become a superstar, but he looks capable of being a high-end secondary scorer and a regular presence in Buffalo’s top six.
That kind of growth comes with a price tag. Quinn is making $3.375-million, but the expectation is that his next deal could land much higher. With the salary cap ceiling rising, Buffalo should have room to give him a significant raise.
For a Sabres team that has spent plenty of recent seasons building toward the future, the present is starting to look a lot like the future. Quinn has turned himself into a key piece, and the next step is getting paid like one.
In Other News...
Lindy Ruff Just Put A Sabres Leader On Notice
Colten Ellis did enough in net to give Buffalo a chance, turning aside 28 shots in a 2-1 loss to Ottawa, but the Sabres could not make the most of their looks at the other end. The offense again had trouble finishing, and a game that stayed within reach slipped away in the kind of tight contest where one mistake can tilt everything.
Rasmus Dahlin was at the center of that final stretch, and Lindy Ruff did not hide his frustration with the way the Sabres handled some of the late-game choices. For a team trying to tighten up its details and protect leads, the message was clear enough: the margin for error is thin, and the captain's decision-making is now under a brighter spotlight. [Read more 🡒]
Lindy Ruff Calls Out A Sabres Problem Fans Know Too Well
The Sabres three-game winning streak disappeared in a 2-1 loss to Ottawa, and the postgame mood was familiar for a team still trying to find consistency at home. Lindy Ruff did not sugarcoat what he saw, pointing to a performance that fell short in the areas that usually decide tight games, especially when Buffalo is trying to build momentum in its own building.
Buffalo has spent much of this season struggling to create the kind of chances that can turn a close night in its favor, and the Senators game fit that pattern. The faceoff battle was especially lopsided, and Ruffs frustration underscored a larger issue the Sabres have not shaken yet, one that keeps showing up whenever they need a cleaner, sharper response after a win. [Read more 🡒]
Sabres Suddenly Have A Chance At The Scorer They Need Most
Buffalos offensive issues have made it hard to ignore the need for another true finishing threat, and that is why a name like Jason Robertson has suddenly entered the conversation. The Dallas winger has long fit the profile of the kind of scorer the Sabres could use, especially if they decide to be aggressive before the trade deadline and try to add more punch to a lineup that has struggled to generate enough goals.
Robertsons situation in Dallas is what makes the idea interesting, because contract uncertainty has kept his future from feeling settled. For Buffalo, the appeal is obvious: a chance to chase a proven scorer who could change the look of the attack right away, even if nothing official has materialized yet and the path to any deal remains far from clear. [Read more 🡒]