Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - Despite the offseason, so far, being relatively quiet for the Buffalo Sabres, one of the goals for the organization was to get a number of key depth pieces re-signed into the future. One of those players that's been a key two-way asset for Buffalo over the last two years has been Beck Malenstyn, who put pen-to-paper this offseason on a new six-year contract worth $17.5 million.
Fom the get-go, Malenstyn's first priority this offseason was finding a way to stay in Buffalo for the long-term.
"I had such a great time throughout these two seasons, where we were as a team, the direction we were going, the group in the room. But I definitely took some time, and I started to get feeling a little uncomfortable. You don't really know what the future is going to bring at that point, and you start mentally preparing yourself for, 'Oh, is something going to change?' You don't really know, but as it got closer, we were able to sort it out," said Malenstyn on Tuesday during an appearance on "Sabres Live on WGR. "Had some really good conversations to get to that point, and all-in-all, I'm thrilled to be back, be a part of the city, be a part of this team, and just keep what we've got moving forward."
Malenstyn was acquired during Day 2 of the 2024 NHL Draft from the Washington Capitals, and has produced 24 points (11+13) in 157 games played since the acquisition.
What really impressed Malenstyn over his two seasons with the Sabres has been seeing the growth of the group into a playoff contender.
"The skill that was always there that just maybe needed that one extra year to really turn that page. And that was so much fun this season," Malenstyn said with Brian Duff and Marty Biron. "I think a lot of guys went through a lot of hard times for a lot longer than I had to, obviously just with it being the one year. But you really started to appreciate how hard it was to win, but how good of a feeling it was, and you didn't want to turn that page once we kind of found our recipe."
One of the biggest influences for Malenstyn's return to the Sabres was seeing the passionate Buffalo fanbase come to life during the team's first run to the playoffs in 15 years.
"Everyone said, 'Oh, it's a bigger hockey city than a football city,' and have you seen the Bills fans? I don't think that's true. These guys are crazy. Seeing the passion that our city had rallying around us, coming down the stretch there and into the playoffs, it was just so much fun to be a part of, so much fun to play in," Malenstyn said. "Every small community was rallying behind our neighborhood we live in, you had kids running around in jerseys. It was just really exciting to see."
Heading into next season, there will be a bit of a different look to the complexion of the roster with the likes of Jordan Greenway, Alex Tuch and Bowen Byram gone. Malenstyn has been around long enough to know that roster changes such as this are just part of the business of hockey.
"I had a lot of fun playing with 'Greener', I thought we had great chemistry on the penalty kill, we could get things rolling quite often. Those guys are going to be missed - 'Tuchy', Bo - these are huge pieces to our team that aren't going to be there anymore, but it's the job of the group to step in and fill those voids, which isn't necessarily going to be easy but it's a great challenge to keep our group moving in the right direction," Malenstyn said.
