Zach Benson has given Lindy Ruff another reason to lean hard into Buffalo's young core.
The Sabres are pushing toward a long-term extension with Benson after a playoff run that changed the tone around his future in Buffalo.
According to Kevin Weekes, the framework being discussed is a 7-year deal worth more than $7 million per season. That's not depth-player money. That's core-player money.
And it tracks with how the Sabres now view him. Benson isn't just an agitator who gets under skin. He's become a winger who can drag a game into the kind of chaos Buffalo wants.
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He's still only 21, but the pressure minutes didn't scare him off this spring. They seemed to bring out his best shift-to-shift hockey.
In 13 playoff games, Benson scored 5 goals and tied Tage Thompson for the team lead. That's the kind of jump that forces a front office to move fast.
Buffalo is paying for impact, not just promise with Benson
The stat that really jumps off the page is the edge he played with. Benson piled up 64 penalty minutes in the postseason after taking 42 in 65 regular-season games.
That edge wasn't empty noise either. He scored the goal that gave Buffalo breathing room in the third period of Game 6 in Boston, the win that ended a 19-year wait for a playoff series victory.
He also buried a game-winning power-play goal in Game 4 against Montreal. Big moments found him, and he didn't back away from them.
Buffalo's record with Benson in the lineup tells the story another way. The Sabres went 44-14-7 with him and just 6-9-2 when injury took him out.
General manager Jarmo Kekalainen has already framed Benson as part of the club's foundation, and that matters here. Once management says a player checks every box, the contract usually follows.
Benson was drafted 13th overall in 2023, and Buffalo looks ready to remove any summer drama before it starts. For a player who mixes skill, bite, and playoff nerve, this is the price.
Should the Sabres lock Zach Benson in for 7 years right now?
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