In some recent articles, I hit hard on how the Sabres needed to make one more trade for a top-six forward or, if they felt a prospect like Jiri Kulich was ready to roll, to call one up. But there’s another option on the table, and it involves signing one more free agent that, somehow, is still available as of Monday morning.
Daniel Sprong, someone I said months ago that Kevyn Adams should sign, is still out there, waiting for work. While it may be farfetched for some to call Sprong a “top-six” talent since he’s averaged just 11:44 of average total ice time over the past two seasons, he still scored 39 goals across those 142 games.
If the Sabres signed someone like Sprong, there’s a good chance that he would end up in the Blue and Gold’s middle-six should Zach Benson play well enough in camp and in the preseason to snag a role on the top-six. Still, imagine a team with the depth-scoring capacity that someone like Sprong would bring on the third line alongside Jason Zucker (or Benson) and Ryan McLeod.
I’ve long been impressed with Sprong, even if following his 21-goal season with the Seattle Kraken in 2022-23 made me skeptical. It could be a fluke for all we know if Sprong had one good year since there are countless NHL players who have done the same.
But he arrived in the Motor City in 2023-24 and put forth a repeat effort, finishing the year with 18 goals, 25 assists, and 43 points across 12 minutes of average total ice time. Signing someone like Sprong at this point in the summer would give the Sabres three strong lines with scoring potential with a hard-hitting fourth line that will be a polar opposite from what we have seen in recent memory.
Whether the Sabres add one more forward via trade, promotion, or signing, it’s something we will find out as the 2024-25 season draws nearer. While there are no wrong answers here, if Adams landed a legitimate top-six scorer from another team, felt Kulich could reach the next level, or signed someone like Sprong in foresight, he would ideally make one final move to enhance the team’s standing at forward. The only wrong answer is to do nothing.
