The Buffalo Sabres’ cap picture looks a lot better than it did a year ago, and that’s showing up in the rankings. Dom Luszczyszyn of The Athletic moved Buffalo up to No. 7 in his annual list of NHL teams using their salary-cap space most efficiently, a nine-spot jump from last summer.
That rise comes with a pretty clear message: the Sabres have built a strong under-30 core, led by Rasmus Dahlin and Tage Thompson, and their financial outlook is trending in the right direction. Jeff Skinner’s buyout figure is also set to drop significantly in 2027, which only helps the long view.
Still, Luszczyszyn’s model found a couple of soft spots. Buffalo doesn’t have any contract it considers truly crippling, but the two lowest marks went to Beck Malenstyn’s six-year, $17.5 million extension and the remaining five seasons of Owen Power’s seven-year, $58.45 million deal.
“If Owen Power can take a real step next season, the Sabres should be rolling,” the NHL analyst wrote Wednesday. “If there's one nitpick, it's Beck Malenstyn's new contract.
Giving term to a fourth liner is rarely ideal. That and a bunch of dead money is what keeps the Sabres out of the top five.”
Malenstyn was always going to cost more than his role might suggest, whether Buffalo kept him or another team paid up. He’s a fourth-line player, but he brings energy, plays for the group and helps on the penalty kill. With Alex Tuch gone, that part of his game should matter even more.
At $2.92 million per season, the number looks steep for a niche piece right now. But in a few years, in a cap environment that keeps climbing, it may not look nearly as heavy. And while his offensive numbers may never stand out - outside of maybe a run at the league lead in hits - the Sabres can justify the deal because he fits a specific job and does it well.
Power is the bigger swing. He’s a smart, dependable defenseman who cleans up a lot of problems in Buffalo’s own zone, but he’s still not the elite blue-liner the Sabres were hoping for when they took him No. 1 overall in the 2021 NHL Draft.
That gap is what makes the conversation around him so complicated. Power is good. The expectation was much higher.
There is still room for a jump, though, and Buffalo has seen that kind of growth from another defenseman before. Mattias Samuelsson had never scored more than 14 points in a season before breaking out with 13 goals and 28 assists in 2025-26.
Power had a career-high 40 points in 2024-25, with seven goals and 33 assists, before falling to 29 points last season. He should get a better chance to produce when the new season starts, especially after the Sabres traded Bowen Byram to the Chicago Blackhawks.
That move should open up more offensive usage for Power, including a full-time role running the second power play unit.
If he makes that leap, the contract conversation changes fast. His $8.35 million AAV would suddenly look a lot more reasonable if he starts delivering closer to first-pair production. The problem is that the two-way surge Buffalo has been waiting for hasn’t shown up yet since he signed the deal in 2023.
Power’s name has surfaced in trade chatter over the years, with some NHL insiders suggesting he could be a “change of scenery” candidate. But moving him would carry major risk for the Sabres.
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