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Loading…The 26-year-old Buffalo Sabres right-shot defenseman sits in rare air, with a 96.6 overall that places 7th among 327 rated defensemen league-wide. That makes him the highest-rated player on the Buffalo Sabres roster.
The standout tool is play driving (96), backed by offensive creation (91); power-play production (62) is the part of his game that grades lowest.
Over 8 rated seasons since 2018-19 he has averaged 92.5, peaking at 99.7 in 2024-25; last season's 97.1 was down 2.6 points.
At $11M through 2031-32 before unrestricted free agency, the model rates the deal Underpaid: his expected value is $14.5M, so the Buffalo Sabres save roughly $3.51M a season against his production.
His cap hit is the largest on the Buffalo Sabres NHL roster and uses 10.6% of the $104M ceiling; the club currently has $2.43M in cap space.
| Component | Rating (0-100) |
|---|---|
| Offense | 91 |
| Defense | 86 |
| Play driving | 96 |
| Finishing | 68 |
| Power play | 62 |
| Penalty kill | 64 |
| Season | Team | GP | Overall | WAR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-26 | BUF | 77 | 97.1 | 1 |
| 2024-25 | BUF | 73 | 99.7 | 1.1 |
| 2023-24 | BUF | 81 | 98.9 | 1.3 |
| 2022-23 | BUF | 78 | 98 | 0.9 |
| 2021-22 | BUF | 80 | 89 | 0.3 |
| 2020-21 | BUF | 56 | 85.3 | 0 |
| 2019-20 | BUF | 59 | 81.2 | 0.1 |
| 2018-19 | BUF | 82 | 90.8 | 0.3 |
Other BUF defensemen by rating: Owen Power (80.6), Olen Zellweger (80.5), Matt Grzelcyk (45.2), Mattias Samuelsson (43.1). See the full Buffalo Sabres cap sheet.
How we rate players: each skater's overall is a percentile (0-100) built from offense, defense, play driving, finishing, power-play and penalty-kill impact against players at the same position; goalies are rated on goals saved above expected. Contract value compares the cap hit with the salary the model expects for that level of production, age and position. Figures are updated as new games and signings arrive.