Here’s every NHL team’s player to watch break out this year
By Paul Grant
Buffalo Sabres: Evan Rodrigues
Those poor fans of the Buffalo Sabres. Just when a franchise player arrives (as in Jack Eichel), the front-office and ownership competence issues sidetrack the train practically every time it leaves the station. And let’s not even talk about the goaltending.
So, with Evander Kane and Ryan O’Reilly mercifully (for their sake) shipped elsewhere, theoretically everyone not named Eichel is ready for a breakout season. After all, it can’t be any worse than last season, right? (*Coughs nervously, fidgets with collar.*)
But seeing as we’ve got to pick someone, for this squad we’ve nominated Evan Rodrigues, a former Boston University teammate of Eichel’s who suffered a hand injury last season that limited his play until Dec. 5. After he came back and found his groove, however, Rodrigues scored seven goals and 18 assists in 48 games (albeit in the large part of the season when the Sabres were already out of it).
If Rodrigues can maintain his mojo and keep up his spirits while playing on an awful team, he stands a good chance of rising to the fore with lots of ice time and perhaps a bit of dangle action alongside his old college teammate. Or Jeff Skinner.