Buffalo Sabers 2024 Player Report Card: Jacob Bryson

The fourth-year defenseman hasn’t had much success in Buffalo.

Total season stats: 1-7-8 in 36 games

Age: 26

Contract status: RFA at the end of the 2024-25 season

Buffalo D Jacob Bryson has spent his entire NHL career with the Sabres and the results over the last four seasons have not been what he and the franchise were hoping for. Bryson improved his +/- numbers from -24 in 2022-23 to +5 this hockey year. However, his ice time has dropped from 19:02 in his first season to 14:40 in 2023-24.

Former head coach Don Granato, after not giving Bryson as much ice time this season, sent him to Rochester in December to allow him to play more minutes on the ice. Granato probably thought that number 78 wasn’t consistent or talented enough to stay in the NHL and that a stint with the Amerks wouldn’t help him or make much of a difference,

Bryson played 10 games with Rochester and made 3 assists. He also mostly stayed out of the penalty box, but didn’t do anything else of note. Back in Buffalo, he was usually assigned to the Sabres’ second or third defensive line, despite not being healthy.

Jake Bryson is not an offensive-minded defenseman like Rasmus Dahlin or Owen Power and normally stays in the Sabres’ zone. He scored an average of one goal per season. His only one in 2023-24 came on March 9, 2024 against the Edmonton Oilers. With the Oilers leading 2-1 and 8:28 remaining in the third period, Bryson grabbed the puck from Dylan Cozens and backhanded it into the Edmonton net to tie the score at 2.

Bryson told the media after the Sabres’ 3-2 shootout victory that the Blue and Gold were “very good defensively.”

The Sabers can win games whenever they want, if they play consistently on offense and defense. The team’s problem is that they didn’t do it every night. Jacob Bryson, like much of the team, has been inconsistent and in his case, unproductive for too many faceoffs. General manager Kevyn Adams will have to decide at the end of next season whether Bryson can step in or let him test the free agent market.

Seasonal rating: D