The Buffalo Sabres lost a tough one to the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday night.
If Sabres fans are looking for some scapegoats, Josh Norris and Ryan McLeod seem like logical candidates.
They have both been poor this season, and that continued on Wednesday. They were meant to be key contributors to Buffalo’s continued success and build off last season, but neither Norris nor McLeod has found their groove yet.
It’s tough to know whether they’ll turn things around, but right now it’s clear that both Norris and McLeod are issues for the Sabres.
“This was a rough night for the Josh Norris–Ryan McLeod–Jason Zucker line,” The Athletic’s Matthew Fairburn wrote after Wednesday’s game. “During their five-on-five minutes, the Sabres had just two shots on net and earned 37.5 percent of expected goals. Zucker was playing in his sixth game of the season after offseason hernia surgery, so he gets a slight pass for not quite looking like himself. But Norris and McLeod should be making a bigger impact considering their combined salary of nearly $13 million.”
Josh Norris Problem
Norris is actually the highest-paid forward on Buffalo’s roster. He’s not playing like it.
Even just having your highest-paid forward on the third line isn’t ideal, but it’s even worse when he struggles like this.
“The Sabres are also being outscored 10-5 in Norris’ five-on-five minutes this season,” Fairburn writes. “In the last eight games, Norris has been on the ice for one five-on-five goal for and five against. He’s Buffalo’s highest-paid forward but isn’t bringing a lot to the table on offense. He’s been held without a shot in a game six times this season and has only four multi-shot games in 15 games. Norris has also played 10:40 and 9:12 in the last two games, his lowest ice-time totals this season. So Ruff has noticed the way he’s playing.”
The hope for the veteran head coach Lindy Ruff will be that leaving Norris off the ice more often will light a fire under him. But only time will tell if that works.
Ryan McLeod Problem
As you’d expect with McLeod and Norris on the same line, the underlying stats aren’t good for McLeod, either.
“On the tying goal, McLeod lost track of Shane Pinto right off a defensive-zone faceoff,” Fairburn writes. “Pinto was wide open in front of the net to get an easy rebound goal. The Sabres have been outscored 10-4 during McLeod’s five-on-five minutes this season. Once a defensively reliable third-line center, McLeod has made too many mistakes in his own end.”
Buffalo is a bit dinged up, and so the Sabres likely can’t go fully away from these forwards right now. But the Sabres will need Norris and McLeod to pick things up, or they could hold Buffalo back from matching the magic of last season.
Sabres Have $13 Million Josh Norris, Ryan McLeod Problem