Sabres sign defenseman Power to 7-year deal

An already important week for the Buffalo Sabres‘ long-term plans became even more paramount Wednesday with the club announcing they signed defenseman Owen Power to a seven-year extension.

Signing Power, 20, to a seven-year deal worth $8.35 million annually comes two days after the club announced they signed fellow defenseman Rasmus Dahlin to an eight-year pact worth $11 million annually. Both the Dahlin and Power contracts would start at the beginning of the 2024-25 season.

Getting both Dahlin and Power, who scored four goals and 35 points in 79 games last season, signed to a pair of long-term contracts also comes in the start of what has a chance to be a franchise-shifting season for the Sabres.

Although they missed the playoffs for a 12th consecutive season, it was still their strongest campaign in recent memory. It was the first time since the 2010-11 season — the last time they made the playoffs — in which the Sabres finished with more than 40 wins and 90 points in the same campaign.

It resulted in the Sabres finishing one point out of the final Eastern Conference wild-card spot — a position that was won by the Florida Panthers en route to their run to the Stanley Cup Final where they ultimately lost to the Vegas Golden Knights.

What the Sabres accomplished created a sense of optimism that they could be among the teams challenging for a playoff spot in what could potentially become a demanding Eastern Conference dynamic that could see teams such as the Detroit Red Wings, Ottawa Senators and Pittsburgh Penguins try to reach the postseason after missing out last season.

Rebuilding in this contemporary landscape has led to a number of teams, such as the Sabres, using the draft to build what they believe is a strong future. Having drafted Dahlin with the No. 1 pick back in 2018, the Sabres used the No. 1 pick in 2021 to draft Power.

The 6-foot-6 Power played two seasons at the University of Michigan before leaving school after his sophomore year to sign his entry-level contract near the end of a 2021-22 season, which saw him finish with three points in eight games while burning the first year of his ELC.

Last year, Power played his first full NHL season which saw him become one of the more influential rookies throughout the 2022-23 campaign. Power gradually developed the sort of trust that saw him average 23:48 in ice time which was second on the Sabres behind Dahlin and was first among all rookies.

Playing in a top-four role while quarterbacking the Sabres second-team power-play unit along with the fact that he also was part of their penalty kill is what allowed Power to make the NHL All-Rookie Team while being a finalist for the Calder Memorial Trophy, an honor that was won by Power’s former Michigan teammate in Seattle Kraken center Matty Beniers.

With Dahlin and Power signed to long-term pacts, it now means the Sabres have eight members of their core under contract for more than three years. It’s a group that includes forwards Dylan Cozens, Jeff Skinner, Tage Thompson and Alex Tuch along with defensemen Connor Clifton and Mattias Samuelsson.