Jake McCabe has been a long-standing member of the Buffalo Sabres blue line. The 26-year-old just completed his fifth full season with the club. His career has been a roller coaster ride during his time in Buffalo.

He’s often a player that gets a rough ride with the fanbase. At times it’s deserved, but some often it’s a failure to understand the type of player that McCabe is. Like a handful of players, he’s been miscast with the Sabres throughout his career. He’s been asked to play in a role that is often above his ability.

Deployment

This past season was another example of McCabe being deployed incorrectly. At the start of the season, McCabe and Rasmus Ristolainen were used as the top pair on a nightly basis. A role that neither is suited to play. Like their careers, the performance was up and down throughout the beginning of the season.

In the second half of the year, when they were split up, McCabe started to turn his play around. One of the reasons was because he was utilized in a role that was better suited for him. I went back and looked at games when he played at least 16 minutes (36 games) compared to those in which he played under 16 minutes (31 games). Unsurprisingly his on-ice underlying stats were better when he played 16 minutes or less.

As you can see above, his on-ice shot share (CF%), shot quality (xGF%), and goal differential (GF%) was better when he was deployed as a bottom-pair defenseman. His numbers improved both offensively and defensively with fewer minutes.

• xGF – 2.27 (19-20) vs 1.95 (18-19)
• xGA – 1.95 (19-20) vs 2.14 (18-19)

McCabe’s defensive impacts have been undervalued for the last few years. Over the last two years, he’s ranked 12th among defensemen to play at least 300 minutes in even-strength defense in Evolving Hockey’s expected goals above replacement model (xGAR). He also grades out well in their RAPM model in shot attempts and quality against.

Mental Errors

While McCabe has a history of shot suppression, the other parts of his game hold him back at times. One such area is his inability to exit the defensive zone with consistency. His passing ability is below average and causes him to turn the puck back over to the opponent when he does get control in the defensive zone.

This goal by Marc-Edouard Vlasic in October resulted from this type of situation. McCabe fails to make an outlet pass twice in a row. The second time the Sharks come back and score on the rush.

You can find another example of poor puck distribution here. McCabe turns the puck over at the defensive blue line and J.T. Miller comes back to score a goal against.

This is why, that while McCabe has good defensive metrics, his goal differential has been poor throughout his career. He hasn’t ended a season with a goal differential above 47% at 5 on 5, according to Evolving Hockey. He does a good job of minimizing opportunities against in the grand scheme of things, but it’s the mental lapses that result in the puck going in the net while he’s on the ice. It’s the frustrating plays in McCabe’s career that have given us the impression that he’s an easily replaceable defender and we neglect his defensive impacts.

The American-born defender is best suited as a bottom-pair defenseman that can play up the lineup in a short-term pinch. In the right role, he can be an effective player for the Sabres or another team. It’ll be interesting to see what they do with McCabe in the offseason. He carries some value around the league if they want to move on from him. They have a few players in Lawrence Pilut and Jacob Bryson in the organization that could replace him next season.

Data via Evolving Hockey and Charting Hockey