After two long years, the Buffalo Sabres finally have themselves a legitimate second-line center to play behind Jack Eichel. It only took Kevyn Adams three months to fill this void and he did it without having to give up much.

The cost was the failed experiment at second-line center this past season in Marcus Johansson. Both Johansson and Staal have one more year remaining on their contract. Staal, however, comes in cheaper with a cap hit of $3.25 million. It saves the Sabres $1.25 million in cap space with Johansson’s $4.5 million going out the door. It also saves them $1 million in straight cash with Staal’s 2020-21 salary being $3 million and Johansson costing $4 million, according to Cap Friendly.

Before a single game is played this move looks like a win for Kevyn Adams in his first trade as general manager. He filled a huge need, acquired the better player in the deal, and saved some money in the process.

Bridge Center

I know the numbers are sort of our thing on this site, but it’s important to acknowledge factors that go beyond the data. I’ve mentioned the idea of acquiring a bridge center as opposed to chasing a long-term solution a handful of times over the last few months. It’s an easier road to filling the need down the middle and gives Dylan Cozens some time to grow properly into the second-line center role.

Staal perfectly fits the definition of a bridge center. The 35-year-old only has a year remaining on his current contract and can still play at a high level. He takes the pressure off of the Sabres top prospect and even sets up the possibility of having Cozens start on the wing next season.

This acquisition also takes some pressure off of Jack Eichel. He now has someone behind him that can generate offense and make opposing teams worry about. Staal is also a veteran that can be a leader in the room and assist Eichel off the ice as well.

The Numbers

On the ice, Staal is still a top-six center at his age. He scored 19 goals and 47 points for the Minnesota Wild last season as their top-line center. That’s a 23 goal and 58 points per 82 games pace. Staal is a good 5 on 5 scorer, which is something the Sabres are in need of. Over the last three seasons, he’s ranked top 70 among all forwards to play at least 300 minutes in both points and goals per 60 minutes, according to Evolving Hockey.

He’s still a centerman that can drive play above average in scoring impacts, as you’ll see below in Micah McCurdy’s impact chart.

The good news is that at Staal’s age there isn’t any indication of a decline in his production or on-ice impact. In Evolving Hockey’s expected goals above replacement model, the Canadian-born center remains well above replacement. Over the last three seasons, Staal ranks 27th among all forwards in even-strength offense in the twins’ GAR model.

The interesting part to consider is that Staal put up these impacts as a first-line center. We all know that isn’t the role he’ll play with the Sabres. While the quality of opponent doesn’t impact on-ice performance to the same level of quality of teammate, it’s still worth noting that Staal will go up against weaker competition in Buffalo.

If you want to begin to try to piece together a lineup with Staal on the club, it would make sense to put him on a line with Jeff Skinner. The two have experience playing together from their time with the Carolina Hurricanes.

They played 957 minutes together at 5 on 5, according to Natural Stat Trick. They posted a 52% shot share and 49% shot quality share in their time together. The part that could be a concern is that they posted a 43% goal differential.

However, there were only two seasons (2011-12 and 2013-14) where they played over 249 minutes together at 5 on 5. The underlying numbers are respectable when they play together, but half of the data is made up of small samples of time as linemates.

It may be worth running them out there again with a winger like Tage Thompson, Dylan Cozens, or another forward not on the roster on the right side. Staal is a different player than he was back in 2014. He’s more defensively responsible and has a few traits in his game that would mesh well with Skinner.

He generates offense for his linemates that Skinner can feed off of. Last season in Corey Sznajder’s tracking data, he was above league average in both shots and primary assists per 60 minutes at 5 on 5. His shot contributions are better overall than what Marcus Johansson put up as Skinner’s primary center. He’s more of a shooter which is a better fit for a net-front finisher like Skinner.

While Staal isn’t the fastest skater in the game, he’s still a decent transition center. Again, not to the level of Eichel, but he was one of the better players in Corey’s data in carry-in passing percentage.

That’s an indication that he can enter the zone with possession consistently and can successfully distribute the puck to his linemates at an elite level.

This is a good start for Kevyn Adams in building this roster to be a competitor. It fills one of their most important needs prior to the NHL Draft and free agency. Even if it’s in the short term, Staal should be an impact player for the Sabres next season.

The work can’t stop here for Adams. Even after grabbing Staal, they’re probably in need of another, if not two more centers. Depending on how they intend to use Cozens and the eventual departure of Johan Larsson.

Data via: Evolving Hockey, Corey Sznjader, Hockeyviz.com, and Natural Stat Trick

Photo Credit: Joe Sargent/NHLI via Getty Images