The Buffalo Sabres have signed one of their last remaining restricted free agents for the summer. This player has mainly played a depth role with the Sabres in his time with the team, but after last season, earned himself this nice contract. With the news of the Peyton Krebs contract extension, he will be staying in Buffalo with a four-year deal. The deal will carry an average annual value of $4.5 million. Let’s discuss what this means for the player and the team.
Credit Image: © Alex Cave/ZUMA Press Wire
KREBSY’S BACK 😤
We have signed forward Peyton Krebs to a four-year contract with an AAV of $4.5 million.
Details → https://t.co/Gtk0Fa2HP7 pic.twitter.com/0C5JxLclfH
— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) July 13, 2026
A Peyton Krebs Contract Extension Was Needed
A $18 million dollar contract extension seems steep for Peyton Krebs on paper until you dive a little deeper. He has never hit 40 points with the Sabres. However, he can play literally wherever in your lineup. This past season he spent time on most every line for the Sabres.
That included a long stretch where he played on the left wing with Tage Thompson and Alex Tuch. On that top line he did not look out of place. Sure the production could have been higher, but he works his tail off. Thompson and Tuch repeatedly told reporters how much they enjoyed playing with him. And lastly, Krebs is one of the more tenascious players on Buffalo’s roster, he will not miss a scrum while he’s on the ice.
The Concerning Part of a Krebs Extension
While Krebs is a nice utility piece for Buffalo, it likely feels like he will get bumped out of the top-nine forward group this offseason. There’s other promising young players in Buffalo like Noah Ostlund, Konsta Helenius, Zach Benson, and Jiri Kulich that have all seeminly jumped him in the depth chart.
Krebs seems like a bit of a depreciating asset in Buffalo, however, is someone goes down with injury. Buffalo is hedging their bets that he’ll be able to jump right in and fill those shoes quite will. Time will tell if giving a player like that $18 million is a smart decision or not. But for now, the Sabres pay one of their hardest workers, won’t be bad for morale come training camp.
Main Photo Credit: Ron Chenoy – Imagn Images
