The Buffalo Sabres have signed forward Zach Benson to a seven-year contract extension worth $7.5 million per year.Benson, who just turned 21 this spring, has played three full seasons in the NHL and has already cemented himself as one of the Sabres’ core players. He had 43 points in 65 games during the regular season and then had five goals and four assists in Buffalo’s 13 playoff games.Sabres general manager Jarmo Kekäläinen didn’t hide his feelings about Benson at his end-of-season news conference.“I see him as a true core piece that fills all the boxes,” Kekäläinen said. “Maybe not the height, but everything else. I mean, the way he plays, I mean, he’s just a relentless dog on a bone. I can’t say enough good things about Zach Benson. He’s got skill, he’s got hockey sense, he’s got instincts, he’s relentless, he’s a competitor. What a great playoff he had, and again, I’m so excited about the level that he can get to still.”
Kekäläinen backed up those words with a contract similar in length and term to the one Josh Doan signed in the middle of the season. This is an important piece of business for the Sabres, who already lost both Alex Tuch and Bowen Byram this offseason. When discussing replacing Byram and Tuch on Wednesday, Kekäläinen singled out Benson as a key piece to filling that leadership void.“We fill that void in my mind with our young players who play like leaders like Zach Benson and Josh Doan,” Kekäläinen. “They grow into leaders and take that void. Yeah, we’re going to miss some of that stuff and veteran players that have been through a lot. But at the same time, we’re going to grow here as a group, and those individuals showed us already in the playoffs that they’re leaders by example and will take some more responsibility on.”Keeping Benson at that money and term should end up being a value down the line. The point production isn’t eye-popping yet, but he’s just started to scratch the surface of what he can be offensively. From the moment he stepped into the league, Benson has been one of the Sabres’ best defensive forwards. He’s an excellent forechecker, too, and has already shown a knack for getting under the skin of opponents.During Benson’s five-on-five minutes in the playoffs, the Sabres outscored opponents 10-4 and had 60 percent of the expected goals. He was third among the team’s forwards in five-on-five ice time, too.Benson was the No. 13 pick in the 2023 NHL Draft and jumped right into Buffalo’s lineup at 18. Now he’s going to be a fixture in the Sabres’ lineup for the foreseeable future.
