3 Sabres Players Who Might Struggle Under Lindy Ruff
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.
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.
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.