The Sabres are still trying to settle their forward group, and on Monday’s practice sheet, Lindy Ruff made his boldest move yet: he split up the team’s most effective line.
Zach Benson was moved up to skate with Tage Thompson and Konsta Helenius, while Jack Quinn and Noah Ostlund were slotted in with Josh Doan on the next unit. The reshuffle left Buffalo’s top six looking very different, and, as Rachel Lenzi noted, the lines were in “a bit of a blender.”
What makes the switch so notable is how little reason Buffalo had, on paper, to touch that Benson-Ostlund-Quinn trio. Through the first 11 games, it has been the Sabres’ only forward line to log more than 40 minutes together, piling up 115 minutes as a group. The next closest combination, Peyton Krebs, Tage Thompson and Josh Doan, has just 38 minutes together.
The production has backed up the eye test. That line owns the fourth-best expected goals percentage in the NHL at 65.1% among lines with at least 80 minutes of ice time, according to MoneyPuck. It’s the kind of number that usually keeps a coaching staff from messing with the chemistry.
Ruff, though, said the goal is to distribute the offense more evenly. When asked about the decision to put Benson next to Thompson, he pointed to the need for balance.
"I think we've seen that before, and that combination a lot of times has been good for us, and I think we need to spread out that scoring. We can't be so heavy on one line.
I think we can see where we are at; we are a .500 team, and we've got to look for something better."
There’s also recent history to support the idea. In last year’s playoffs, Benson and Thompson worked well together on a line, finishing with a 60.21% CF% and creating 12 high-danger chances while allowing nine against.
Still, it’s a gamble. Breaking up the Sabres’ best unit means asking other pieces to do more, and Buffalo has not exactly been overflowing with offensive punch.
Thompson has five goals already, but his 11.1% shooting percentage is his lowest over the past six seasons. Helenius, meanwhile, has only one goal and one assist, with his goal coming in the opener and his lone assist arriving in the second game against the Montreal Canadiens.
For now, Ruff is choosing the aggressive route. As he put it, the Sabres can’t accept losing, and sometimes that means making a lineup change that comes with real risk. Whether this version holds up against the Sharks or sends Buffalo back to the drawing board for Thursday’s game against the Ducks remains to be seen.
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