With Sabres’ physicality on the rise, Zach Benson fits right in

When there’s action after the whistle, the Buffalo Sabres’ Zach Benson usually finds himself in the middle of it. When there’s a scrum in the opposing crease, even if the 5-foot-10 forward gets lost in a swarm of larger defenders, Benson’s often the culprit.

“He’s a little bit of a rat on the ice,” Tage Thompson said.

That playstyle has consequences; Benson takes a beating every now and then, and he ranks second on the team with 54 penalty minutes. In his second NHL season, though, the 19-year-old has emerged as a high-energy forechecker, a physical sparkplug and one of Buffalo’s more versatile lineup pieces.

“It’s part of my game – I get to the hard areas,” Benson said of his knack for post-whistle commotion. “I make it hard on opposing players. I try and get to the areas that they don’t want to defend.

“Also, if I take a punch in the face, I want to punch someone else in the face.”

It should come as no surprise, then, that Benson has appreciated the uptick in nastiness during Buffalo’s recent games.

After a hit to the head knocked defenseman Jacob Bryson out of Wednesday’s loss in Detroit, the Sabres accumulated a fighting major, six game misconducts and 83 total penalty minutes, their most in a game in more than two decades. Twelve of those 83 belonged to Benson.

In the following game, Saturday’s 4-3 shootout win over Vegas, Jiri Kulich was concussed by a hit from Brett Howden and Peyton Krebs immediately raced over to fight the Golden Knights forward. Ditto for Monday in Boston, when Jordan Greenway dropped the gloves after Nikita Zadorov’s late, open-ice hit on Thompson.

Addressing Saturday’s sequence postgame, captain Rasmus Dahlin said it's a sign the Sabres are coming together as a team.

“Absolutely,” Benson agreed. “It was frustrating earlier in the year when we didn’t really respond to those things, and the last few games we’ve done an unbelievable job. … That’s a real team. That’s a team that loves each other like brothers, and I’m glad that we’ve taken a step in that area.”

That type of response isn’t entirely new, as Benson well knows. He became the villain at Ball Arena during the Sabres’ Jan. 2 loss to Colorado, when he was pushed into Scott Wedgewood – injuring the Colorado netminder – before scoring on a wraparound. Benson’s celebration drew the ire of the Avalanche and the crowd, but Buffalo’s other four skaters quickly came to his defense.

Benson said his contact with Wedgewood was unintentional, adding that “I’m gonna play to the whistle.”

That effort has been evident every shift, even when Benson has gone stretches of the season without scoring. He’s totaled 23 points (10+13) – 11th most on the Sabres – in 60 games this season.

“Obviously everyone’s gonna point out the production,” said the 13th overall pick from 2023. “It’s not the production season I would’ve wanted.

“But I think I’ve been real, real good in the defensive zone. And I’ve gotten a lot of chances, now it’s just about putting it in the net. I’m not worried about my production – I think that’s gonna come.”

Indeed, Benson ranks second on the team with 87 individual high-danger scoring chances, per Natural Stat Trick; his 10 goals are the fewest among the 49 NHL players with as many (or more) such chances. Considering Benson’s nose for the net, his 11.0 shooting percentage – a tick above league average – has room for growth.

A bigger role helps, too. With JJ Peterka (lower body) scratched Wednesday at Detroit, Benson elevated to the first line, alongside Thompson and Josh Norris, and snapped a 13-game goal drought. He also notched a primary assist for his fifth two-point night of the season.

“Thought the best would be to put Benson up there, and I thought he gave us a heck of a game,” said Sabres coach Lindy Ruff.

While Benson brings much more to the table than just scoring, he admits that occasional points buoy his confidence. A promotion to a line with Thompson and Norris, or with Ryan McLeod and Jason Zucker the next two games, makes life easier on that front.

“Playing up in the lineup with those guys, it’s just (about) getting to the right areas and putting the puck on their tape,” Benson said. “You’re playing with elite players – they’re gonna make plays, they’re gonna put it in the net. So it’s really just complementing their game and making sure we’re possessing the puck more than the other team.”

Puck possession is Benson’s forte. The team owns a 58.0-percent share of shot attempts with him on the ice, the best of any Sabres skater. That includes nearly 100 minutes on the power play and 50 on the penalty kill, areas where he’s become a steady contributor.

Benson’s development, as the youngest player on the league’s youngest roster, greatly benefits from the presence and leadership of the Sabres’ veteran forwards. Zucker and Greenway, with nearly 1,200 games of combined NHL experience, have been invaluable resources for the 19-year-old, so their two-year contract extensions were welcome news for Benson.

• Read: In Zucker, Sabres lock up an invaluable veteran
• Read: Greenway talks extension, belief in Sabres’ future

“It’s massive,” Benson said. “Zucks and Greeny are obviously two guys that have been around a long time and two guys that have learned a lot. So I’m super grateful and happy that they decided to stay for a few more years. They’re great players on the ice, but you don’t see what happens behind the scenes, just the words that they throw out there.

“If another team changes their system a bit during the game, they’re the first ones to tell the group, ‘Hey, let’s switch to a 2-1-2 or 1-2-2.’ So, just little things like that, it goes a long way. And having Zucks sitting beside me in the dressing room, taking little tips from him, whether it’s in the intermission or after practice, before practice. So, those are the little things that really add up.”

With those veterans helping lead the way, Benson and the Sabres look to conclude the season on a positive – and physical – note before turning the page to 2025-26.