Sabres sign Peyton Krebs to four-year contract
Another arbitration hearing between an NHL team and eligible restricted free agent has been avoided, as the Buffalo Sabres have signed forward Peyton Krebs to a new four-year contract.
The deal, which will carry a salary cap hit of $4.5 million on an annual basis, will take Krebs through his age-29 season and make him eligible to reach unrestricted free agency upon its expiry.
Krebs was the No. 17 overall pick in the first round of the 2019 NHL Draft by the Vegas Golden Knights, and he played 13 games with the Knights between the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons before getting dealt to the Sabres as part of the return for 2015 No. 2 overall pick Jack Eichel.
The Calgary, Alberta native reached the end of a two-year bridge deal that paid him an average of $1.45 million per year after this most recent season, which proved to be the best of his young NHL career.
Krebs remained healthy for a full 82-game slate for the first time, and he set career-highs in all three major offensive categories, tallying 12 goals and dishing out 27 assists for a total of 39 points despite not seeing an uptick in time on ice per game (13:46 compared to 13:56 the year prior).
The 25-year-old’s contributions were part of the reason that Buffalo snapped the longest Stanley Cup Playoff drought in the NHL by going 50-23-9 and taking the top seed in the Atlantic Division. Krebs then posted 6 points in 13 postseason games as the Sabres knocked the Boston Bruins out in the first round before falling to the Montreal Canadiens in the second.
Now, in his first summer at the helm, general manager Jarmo Kekalainen is looking to set Buffalo up to become a playoff mainstay. The veteran executive landed an impressive haul from the Chicago Blackhawks for defenseman Bowen Byram and replaced Byram’s skill set on the blue line by swinging a deal with the Anaheim Ducks to land a far cheaper Olen Zellweger.
The Sabres will rely upon progression from young players like Noah Ostlund, Konsta Helenius and Beck Malenstyn to offset the departure of long-time scoring winger Alex Tuch, who went to the Washington Capitals in a sign-and-trade.
