The cool thing about the Buffalo Sabres adding three top-six forwards in Evander Kane, Ryan O’Reilly and Jack Eichel is that not only does it immediately legitimize the Sabres top two lines, but it also pushes the other forwards down to a level more in line with their individual capabilities. And the depth that the organization now has is especially evident on the fourth line.
The Sabres lacked true top-line talent the last few seasons and in turn were really thin at the lower levels of the depth chart to the point where the last two seasons, especially the last one, Buffalo relied upon borderline NHL’ers to play fourth line (and even third line) minutes. Last night's 6-1 shellacking at the hands of the Minnesota Wild was a microcosm of the last two seasons.
While the Buffalo Sabres were dressing a lineup against Minnesota that featured as many as 10 players ticketed for Rochester, the Wild were gearing up for the regular season and dressed most of their opening night roster in their final preseason game. "It was two teams at two different levels," said head coach Dan Bylsma after the game.
This huge discrepancy in talent trickled down to the Amerks as well. They opened up their preseason by getting walloped by the Binghamton Senators 8-2. The baby Sens had a team that was also fortified by having a parent club playing most of their opening night roster.
Tonight's home game against the Columbus Blue Jackets will be the Sabres last of the preseason and what hits the ice tonight will constitute much of their opening night roster, injuries not withstanding.
Which brings us to the fourth line.
The Sabres opened up their preseason in Minnesota and on the ice to start the game was
Johan Larsson flanked by
Marcus Foligno on the left and
Nic Deslauriers on the right. The line got on the scoreboard late in the first period on a beautiful breakout lead by Larsson, a textbook attack that had Foligno with the shot on goal while both Larsson and Deslauriers crashed the net, and Deslauriers pouncing on a juicy rebound.
Larsson had been a player that had piqued Bylsma's interest since the Sabres new coach started going over his roster in early summer. He had seen Larsson on tape but not at ice level and he was curious as to what other coaches and scouts had to say about his game. “They liked him a lot,” Bylsma said of Larsson last week. “They thought he played a hard, kind of a sandpaper, gritty game. They scouted him as such. That’s what he’s going to bring to the table. Hard to play against, and that’s what he’s got to bring for our team."
The coach played Larsson a lot in that Minnesota game and he came away impressed with what the 23 yr. old, former second round pick (2010, 56th overall) of the Wild had to offer. "[Larsson] played an awful lot for us," said Bylsma after the game. "He took 19 draws for us, a lot in key situations, and we depended on him a lot in this game. Penalty kill, on face offs and in between (Foligno and Deslauriers,) I thought he did a good job." Larsson finished the game with an assist and a team-high plus-two rating in nearly 18 minutes of ice time.
It wasn't all that long ago that the team had Larsson in a depth role yo-yoing between Rochester and Buffalo as he was unable to transfer his game to the NHL-level. In Rochester he had upped his production to 40 points (15+25) 44 games and was a noted pest, but every time he got the call to Buffalo last season he struggled. It wasn't until after the trade deadline that Larsson finally passed through the NHL threshold.
After the deadline, Larsson got the call and started out on the fourth line and within a couple of games had played his way up to the top. In his final 17 games centering the top line he scored five goals and added eight assists. “I got the opportunity to play with good players, so that helped,” said Larsson of centering Matt Moulson and Tyler Ennis to finish the season. “I got a little more ice time, and the confidence came. It was rolling.
“It helped me a lot, gave me a lot of confidence than I can play in this league at that level. It was kind of huge for me having that in my head.”
Larsson has turned himself into a bona fide top-nine forward with enough upside to stake a claim to a top-six role or in the very least be a solid top-six fill-in. Although the fourth line is below his skill-level, it shows just what kind of depth GM Tim Murray has with his forward group.
For Larsson, top-nine might not be that far away as Bylsma is still not all-in on Sam Reinhart in that role. Bylsma has Reinhart playing center and wing and is looking for linemates that the 19 yr. old can mesh with. Reinhart, unlike Larsson, can be sent to the AHL without clearing waivers so it's an option should the organization deem it so. And Larsson, unlike a highly touted second-overall pick like Reinhart, has had to pay his dues while constantly overcoming failures and inconsistencies. Which is exactly what the AHL is for.
Foligno is another player who might be playing in a role that's a notch below his talent-level, although to this point in his career, fourth-line duty on the wing seems like a spot-on place where he can develop further.
Visions of a young Cam Neely danced through Sabreland when Foligno hit the NHL with a vengeance back in March, 2012. The 6'3" 226 lb. powerfoward served notice during his first NHL stint by scoring six goals and adding seven assists in his first 14 NHL games. He was on a line with Tyler Ennis and Drew Stafford and they almost single-handedly propelled the team into the playoffs that season.
That kind of success was rather unfortunate for Foligno as he forgot the type of player he was.
Foligno was drafted in the fourth round (2009, 104th) as a hard-working powerforward who was relentless on the forecheck, could lay out a bone-rattling check and drop the gloves while also having enough offense to project out as a top-nine winger. But it would seem as if he lost his aggressiveness while trying to channel John LeClair after his successful debut.
For the next two seasons, Foligno was trying to find his way in what turned out to be an especially difficult environment. He played exceptionally well for Rochester when the NHL locked out their players in 2012 scoring 27 points (10+17) in 33 games before the league started up again in January, 2013. From then, tumult ensued. Head coach Lindy Ruff was fired, Ron Rolston was promoted and the purging of the core was beginning in earnest.
Eventually Rolston was fired and gritty head coach Ted Nolan replaced him.
Nolan had his deficiencies, but he managed to help more than a few players find themselves during a very difficult time for the franchise, and Foligno was one of them. For Foligno, it's no surprise that Nolan, who once coached a Buffalo squad known as "the hardest working team in hockey," got him back to creating opportunities through hard work on the ice. Foligno went from scoring 19 points in 74 games in 2013-14 to scoring 20 points in 57 games last season. It's a figure that projects out to 12 goals and 17 assists over an 82 game schedule which is solid production for a 24 yr. old, bottom-six player.
In the first trade of his own volition, Murray traded two players and two picks to the Los Angeles Kings for two "heavies." One of those players was Deslauriers.
Deslauriers was drafted by Los Angeles in the third round (2009, 84th) as an offensive-minded defenseman. During his third season with the Kings AHL affiliate in Manchester, Monarchs head coach Mark Morris was approached by Kings special assistant to the GM, Jack Ferreira, with the idea of switching the 6'1" 230 lb. Deslauriers to wing. The move worked.
According to Jon Rosen of LA Kings Insider, Delauriers' play down low at forward really impressed the coaching staff. Deslauriers had all the physical attributes of an NHL'er while Rosen aslo pointed out that in Deslauriers, "there’s also a good deal of inherent talent."
It was a move that benefitted everyone in the Kings organization, including Deslauriers. “I think [it took] the first 20 games to adapt being a forward, and now I help the guys on the back end a little bit when there are some guys that get called up," he told Rosen just prior to his trade to Buffalo.
And what's good for LA is good for Buffalo too.
Deslauriers packs a punch while playing an aggressive game with a crazed look on his face. He can work the wall and outwork an opponent. He can drive the net and wreak havoc in the crease while also having enough finish and puck skills to be a regular contributor. He's fearless in his game and fearless when he drops the gloves, but he's not a goon.
Last year was his first full season in the NHL and he gathered 15 points (5+10) in 82 games while playing third and fourth line minutes. Deslauriers has totaled only 99 NHL games playing forward so he's still adapting to the position and he still has upside.
It's a brave new world for the Sabres this season as forward depth has placed everyone up-front in a role that's at least equal to their skill level.
A Larsson/Foligno/Deslauriers fourth line has the potential to drive the opposition crazy and also has enough talent to contribute regularly. Bylsma knows it. While making his media rounds just after being hired, he mentioned both Larsson and Deslauriers by name saying, "Deslauriers had a great year on the third/fourth line and Larsson is a guy who in the last 30 games, [after] I'd talked to a couple of coaches, is tough to play against. He was a gritty player, played a hard game and they had to watch [him] when he was on the ice and take note of him."
Add in Foligno and you have a young, aggressive fourth line that teams will need to watch and take note of, like they found out in Minnesota two weeks ago.
Building the Buffalo Sabres 2015-16 roster:
LW, Evander Kane C, Ryan O'Reilly RW, Tyler Ennis
LW, Zemgus Girgensons,
C, Jack Eichel RW, Jamie McGinn
LW, Matt Moulson C, Sam Reinhart RW, Brian Gionta
LW, Marcus Foligno C, Johan Larsson RW, Nic Deslauriers
D, Rasmus Ristolainen D, Zach Bogosian
D, Josh Gorges RHD, Cody Franson
D, Mark Pysyk D, Mike Weber
G, Robin Lehner
G, Chad Johnson 
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