Fourth-year defenseman hasn’t been too successful 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-man Jacob Bryson has spent his entire NHL playing career with the Sabres and the results these past four season are not what he and the franchise hoped for. Bryson improved his +/- numbers from -24 in 2022-23 to +5 this hockey year. However, his ice time dropped from 19:02 during his first season to 14:40 in 2023-24.
Former head coach Don Granato, after not giving Bryson that much ice time this season, sent him down to Rochester in December to allow him to play more minutes on the ice. Granato probably thought No. 78 wasn’t consistent or talented enough to stay in the NHL and a stint with the Amerks would either help him or not make much a difference,
Bryson played 10 games with Rochester and made 3 assists. He also mostly stayed out of the penalty box but did little else noteworthy. Back in Buffalo, he was usually assigned to the Sabres’ second or third defensive line, when he wasn’t a healthy scratch.
Jake Bryson is not an offensive-minded defenseman like Rasmus Dahlin or Owen Power and normally stays in the Sabres’ zone. He has averaged one goal per season. His lone one in 2023-24 came on Mar. 9, 2024 against the Edmonton Oilers. With the Oilers leading 2-1 and 8:28 left in the third period, Bryson picked up the puck from Dylan Cozens and backhanded it into Edmonton’s net to tie the score at 2.
Bryson told the media after the game, a 3-2 Sabres’ shootout victory, that the Blue and Gold had been “very good defensively”.
The Sabres can win games when they want to, if they play consistently on both offense and defense. The team’s problem is that they haven’t done that every night. Jacob Bryson, like much of the roster, has been inconsistent and in his case, unproductive for too many matchups. GM Kevyn Adams will have to decide at the end of next season whether Bryson can step up or else let him test the free agent market.
Season Grade: D