This isn’t about the trade. This isn’t about the return. This is about the new Buffalo Sabre because that matters in the playoffs-or-welp 2024-25 season.

Another one I missed yesterday – Beck Malenstyn is really fast, hits a lot, gets some decent chances, and draws penalties. Have to admit I was kind of stunned to see him garner an early-ish 2nd round pick. pic.twitter.com/EA0pFL5kHY

— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) June 30, 2024

Fuck it, Beck Malenstyn scoring chance reel pic.twitter.com/F8rycjGvYY

— A a r o n (@23sabres) June 30, 2024

Okay yeah I see the bowling ball.

When it comes to Corey’s tracking data, I like to look at the bars as what the player does vs doesn’t since the microstats are the smallest layer that builds up to the other layers of analytics. This is a player that is different than what the Sabres had at least for last season.

My first question after seeing that is what on earth was happening last season in Washington (although you don’t want more of an answer because it’ll just make you angry)? Malenstyn took more 5v5 shots per 60 last season than any Sabre not named Tage Thompson and entered the zone more frequently than every Sabre than Tage Thompson. The only player who dumped the puck in on an entry more than Malenstyn between the Sabres and Capitals was Victor Olofsson.

So not for nothing the question might need to be asked: Was he playing in the right role last year?

Regardless, the results left a lot to be desired in his first full NHL season — his age 25 season.

Seeing inflated results given the lack of quality in the offense column is surely nerve-wracking to see. The bright side there is that it does look like when he does get his shots, they tend to come net-front. And even what appears to be room to have anticipated more goals in his personal shot profile, with some of the deficit likely being attributed to the attempts that were generated by his teammates while he was on the ice. Also, that’s a lot of net-front shots against while on the ice, but that’s also a LOT of point shots too. Again, what the heck were the 2023-24 Washington Capitals?

With the context of Micah’s synthetic goals, it appears his results slot him as a low-third high-fourth line player last season, which does match what I think is the goal for him this upcoming season. The PKing looks okay, definitely not good but not terrible either, so the PK activity that Corey mentioned in his profile tweet gives me shorthanded possession vibes which would be a positive when they are able to retrieve the puck down a man.

In his 81 games last season in Washington, Malenstyn averaged 11:20 of ice time at 5v5 per game per Natural Stat Trick, which would keep him around bottom-6 minutes. With that finishing profile, he showed last season, the first player to come to mind is Peyton Krebs. Of course, his name has come up in trade rumors since the season ended despite having a qualifying offer extended heading into free agency, but if he is around and continues to show a pass-first profile, Malenstyn could be a good player to have on the finishing end of those passes. While not the defensive profile of Nic Dowd and Nicolas Aube-Kubel, who were his most common forward linemates per Natural Stat Trick, this appears to be the framework for a traditional checking fourth line that has offensive flashes if not pedigree. Not to mention he was at 45% on 51 faceoffs last year too.

That fourth line would allow for future offseason moves to be tailored around finding a new partner for Tage Thompson and Alex Tuch or some experienced players to help Zach Benson along in his second season to continue the glitz he showed from time to time in his rookie year.

We certainly are far away from the results of what this trade will come out to, but it’s certainly too early to declare this an automatic lost trade because of the second-round pick that went back to the Capitals. Plus, frankly, the rest of the moves the team makes this offseason could very well determine the context of Malenstyn’s tenure with the Sabres as well, so I guess we should just wait and see.

Photo Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Data via: Evolving Hockey, Hockeyviz, All Three Zones, and JFresh