Tyler Ennis was one of the key players of the Buffalo Sabres offense for seven years. In one of his first moves as general manager, Jason Botterill traded him to the Minnesota Wild in 2017. Since then he has made his way around the league. After one season with the Wild, he played a season for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Then he split this season between the Ottawa Senators and Edmonton Oilers.

The Edmonton-native continues to be an impact player offensively in a middle-six role. He’s at the tail-end of his career at 30-years-old but would be a decent addition to the middle of the Sabres lineup on a short-term contract.

5 on 5 Impact

Ennis hasn’t produced at the rate he did early in his career, but he continues to be an impactful player in the offensive zone. You can see in Micah McCurdy’s impact chart below that he generates offense from high-quality areas.

Over the last two years, he’s ranked tenth among all forwards to play at least 300 minutes at 5 on 5 in individual shot quality (ixG), according to Evolving Hockey. The reason it hasn’t translated into production is because of his diminishing shooting talent. While he can’t consistently finish, he can create shooting opportunities from quality areas.

As a team that has finished at the bottom of the league in shot quality at 5 on 5 over the last few years, the Sabres need to target players that can get to quality scoring areas on the ice. He still has that good lateral movement in his skating ability, but going to prime shooting areas on the ice has allowed him to remain an offensive threat in the NHL.

The other area of his game that is still strong is his ability to draw penalties. You’ll notice that above in Micah’s chart with a +42 in drawing penalties. That has always been a strong area of his game and he hasn’t lost that ability at this point in his career.

Contract

Ennis made only $800k this season on a contract that he signed believing in himself. He’ll get a pay increase on his next contract, but how much? Evolving Hockey projects a three-year contract with a $3.1 million cap hit as an unrestricted free agent on the open market.

However, that price could go down with the injury he received in Game 3 of their play-in series against the Chicago Blackhawks. The Oilers general manager, Ken Holland stated that Ennis fractured his leg and has some ligament damage near his ankle. He’s expected to be ready for the start of next season, but could result in his cap hit coming in lower than that projected $3.1 million.

It’s possible he doesn’t hit the open market and just returns to his hometown team in the Oilers. Rumors have indicated that both sides have an interest in a new contract.

It would be a fun story for the Sabres to bring Ennis back into the fold. He would be able to provide that depth scoring that they were hoping to get from Jimmy Vesey and a handful of other acquisitions this season.

Data via: Hockeyviz.com and Evolving Hockey

Photo Credit: Harry How/Getty Images