Sabres Trade Deadline: Why Greenway Wanted To Stay, Zucker Update And More
Sabres Trade Deadline: Why Greenway Wanted To Stay, Zucker Update And More
Blog Article
TAMPA, Fla. — It took until roughly 48 hours before the NHL trade deadline, but Jordan Greenway and the Buffalo Sabres were able to reach a contract extension. And despite it happening so close to the deadline, Greenway said Thursday he was always confident the two sides could come to an agreement.
“I was, truthfully,” Greenway said. “I wanted to stay here and I was pretty confident we could get it done.”
The final deal ended up being for two years and $4 million per season. Greenway ended up getting a salary that represents a $1 million raise, and both sides got some flexibility with a shorter-term deal. Greenway can hit free agency again at age 30 when the NHL salary cap is projected to be $18 million higher than it is right now. The Sabres get a shorter-term deal to keep their roster-building options open.
Greenway’s reasoning for signing was simple: “I just believe in what everyone is trying to do here,” he said after Buffalo’s morning skate. “The guys, the city, everything about it, I’ve had a tremendous time here. I think we have a good group here, a group that’s building toward our ultimate goal and I want to be a part of it.”
Greenway isn’t the flashiest player from a point production standpoint. His career high is 32 points. He’s also had some injury issues in his career. But in a short time, he earned the trust of Sabres coach Lindy Ruff because of how versatile he’s been and the physicality he plays with.
“Skates well for a big man, defends well,” Ruff said. “He’s a good man and he’s well respected in our room. You need those guys, you need veteran guys. He’s a good guy to follow when it comes to on-ice play and the way he plays the game.”
In December, Greenway had surgery to repair a mid-body injury, but when he’s been healthy, the Sabres have been a better team because of him. Buffalo has 52 percent of the expected goals when Greenway is on the ice at five-on-five. He’s second on the team in hits per 60 minutes of ice time. And he’s one of the few players on the team with legitimate playoff experience.
General manager Kevyn Adams has talked about the difficulty of attracting veteran players to Buffalo in free agency. To have Greenway willing to stick around is something the team had to take advantage of. Considering how poorly this season has gone for the last-place Sabres, it wasn’t a given that would be the case. Now Greenway is focused on being part of the solution, and he knows it starts with this team becoming more consistent.
“That’s probably the million-dollar question,” he said. “It’s a mindset, it’s a mindset from the start of the year into every single day. Elevating our expectations. Buying into our game plan every single night. There’s nights where we do it really well and I truthfully think we can compete with any team. Sometimes we find a way to stray away from that a little bit and we’ll see it on the scoreboard at the end of the game.”