Sabres Extend Beck Malenstyn

The Buffalo Sabres are finalizing a long-term agreement with one of their bottom-six forwards for the past two seasons accoring to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. This morning, Pierre LeBrun reports that the Sabres are finalizing a six-year, $17.5MM ($2.9167MM AAV) extension with Beck Malenstyn.

As recently as yesterday, the odds of Malenstyn returning to Buffalo increased. Matthew Fairburn of The Athletic reported that Malenstyn was interested in returning to the Sabres; however, he wanted a long-term deal, as this was his best opportunity to secure a lucrative contract in free agency. Malenstyn got his wish, signing on with Buffalo through the 2031-32 season.

Before his stint in Buffalo, Malenstyn signed three separate deals under Washington, all making league minimum salary. He spent time between the Hershey Bears and Capitals from 2017, after being selected 145th overall in the 2016 NHL Draft, up until three years ago, around this time, when the Sabres acquired Malenstyn from Washington in exchange for a 2024 second-round pick that would eventually become Cole Hutson. It was a high price to pay at the time, but Malenstyn was coming off a six-goal, 21-point season in 81 games, the best offensive showing of his career.

He hasn’t reached those heights with the Sabres, but that’s not to say he hasn’t played an integral part of their operation. Over the past two years, Malenstyn has scored 11 goals and 24 points in 157 games, averaging 10:54 of ice time. Additionally, he’s arguably the most physical forward in Buffalo’s arsenal, throwing a whopping 473 hits over that stretch with 138 blocked shots. That’s coming off a two-year contract in Buffalo at $2.7MM ($1.35MM AAV), where he added three points in the Sabres’ 13 playoff games, their first stretch in a long time.

Still, Malenstyn’s biggest value add is something you won’t see on the stat sheet. Although he isn’t as flashy as Connor McDavid or Quinn Hughes, Malenstyn has a case as the fastest straight-line player in the NHL, finishing in the 94th percentile or above in all major speed categories on NHL EDGE.

Unfortunately, as players age, their legs are usually the first part of their body to decline. Given that Malenstyn will only be 28 in the first year of this deal, they’ll have some breathing room. As this contract enters its final two years, Malenstyn will likely need to adapt his game to remain a valuable contributor.