The Sabres make a smart long-term investment with Josh Doan extension

As the Buffalo Sabres enjoy their best stretch of hockey since the days of Ryan Miller, they’ve begun to reward the players that are making this season such a success. On Wednesday, the Sabres signed forward Josh Doan to a seven-year, $48.65 million contract extension that will kick in next season.

Buffalo acquired Doan, along with defenseman Michael Kesselring, from the Utah Mammoth this past offseason in exchange for forward JJ Peterka. Doan’s performance this season has made the trade a win for the Sabres, as he’s put up 15 goals and 20 assists for 35 points in 49 games. Buffalo general manager Jarmo Kekäläinen, who took over for the fired Kevyn Adams in December, made this extension his first major order of business. We’ll see which other players he identifies a long-term fits for the Sabres.

On Thursday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, hosts Tyler Yaremchuk and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton discussed Buffalo’s decision to extend the 23-year-old forward.

Tyler Yaremchuk: Josh Doan is actually outperforming JJ Peterka this year, and he gets rewarded. It’s a seven-year extension that comes in with an AAV (average annual value) just a touch under $7 million. I know some people were doing the whole “fire the agent, why would you agree to that contract right now?” If you’re Josh Doan, 23 years old, you have a good fit in Buffalo, I think sometimes we as outsiders overlook your fit, you already live there, you don’t need to move your stuff, you’re comfortable. If it works, and they’re sitting here offering you almost $50 million guaranteed, yeah, you take the almost $50 million guaranteed to stay in a good environment.

Carter Hutton: I think sometimes from the outside, it’s such a comparable market. It’s something that I dealt with as a player. You go in and you’re like “Well he’s getting that, I want to get that.” But then it comes down to the individual, and you have to understand that something that is very important in this situation is his dad is Shane Doan. Shane Doan is one of the best people around the game, and he’s getting advice from someone who’s gonna be like, $50 million or $55 million or $60 million, at the end of the day it doesn’t matter. Now you’re in a situation where you’re playing with Tage Thompson, you’re playing with Alex Tuch. If they can get Tuch signed, this could be their first line for the foreseeable future.

You can catch the full discussion and the rest of Thursday’s episode here…