BUFFALO – At first, Beck Malenstyn said he felt neither excitement nor disappointment, only shock. The Sabres newcomer was drinking coffee in his in-laws’ living room outside picturesque Canmore, Alberta, when he learned he had been traded.
As a restricted free agent, Malenstyn, 26, needed a new contract from the Washington Capitals. So when their assistant general manager called him during the NHL Draft on June 29, he initially thought little of it. Then after some chitchat, he informed the winger he had been dealt to the Sabres.
“He had me stopped in my tracks,” Malenstyn said following Thursday’s session of training camp in KeyBank Center. “I was stumbling on words.”
The shock he felt lasted about two hours. As he talked to Buffalo’s higher-ups, he said he learned about the team’s future, his role and that “it was going to be an exciting opportunity.”
The Sabres coveted his fast, physical style so much they gave up a second-round pick, the 43rd overall selection that morning, in exchange for him.
“You’re going somewhere where you’re wanted, the future looks so bright here with the pieces they have,” Malenstyn said. “I mean, playing against them there was so much skill in the lineup. It’s great to be in this room. It turned pretty quick from shock to excited, and I’m just happy to be here and get working.”
Malenstyn offers the Sabres a physical presence they sorely needed a year ago. While what constitutes a hit often varies from rink to rink, Malenstyn registered a team-high 241 in 81 games during his first full NHL season in 2023-24. Defenseman Connor Clifton’s 204 hits led the Sabres last season. Winger Jordan Greenway’s 141 hits topped the forward corps.
“He’s a really hard competitor,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said of Malenstyn. “Like, he makes people pay a price. If you’re going to move a puck and he’s near you, he’s going into you hard. And he’s got a really good burst skating, so he can get to you. I mean, it’s one thing to be able to be physical, but he can get to you and he knows how to hit.”
Malenstyn said at his best he plays “fast, physical, hard hockey.”
“The biggest thing (is) putting pucks behind their D, forcing pressure on forechecks and things like that, separating bodies from the puck, and then having the ability when the time comes to make the little play around the net and put it in there,” he said.
Following Malenstyn’s arrival, the Sabres infused more speed and grit into their third and fourth lines. Within days, they had signed Nicolas Aube-Kubel and Sam Lafferty and traded for Ryan McLeod.
Sabres center Tage Thompson has noticed those trios play quick, tenacious hockey.
“You get the puck on your stick and you look up, there’s someone right in your face, and it’s usually one of those guys,” he said. “So that’s the kind of intensity and relentlessness you need, especially in the D-zone if you want to exit early and get to go play offense. That’s just tough to play against.
“I think if you’re on the other side of that, it gets frustrating, and that’s going to be a big goal of ours is frustrating other teams and just kind of breaking their will.”
The 6-foot-3, 200-pound Malenstyn spent the first two days of camp skating at left wing alongside Lafferty and Aube-Kubel on the new fourth line.
Malenstyn knows Aube-Kubel well, having played with him in Washington last season. When he signed July 1, Aube-Kubel called Malenstyn and told him he “found two apartments beside each other.”
“Then he let me know the news that he was going to be coming here as well,” Malenstyn said. “It took a lot of pressure off me. Our wives are very close friends, so for my wife to have a familiar face here is great. Both have young boys. It made it a lot of fun. We’re living close to each other now.”
Not surprisingly, Malenstyn said he and Aube-Kubel enjoy strong chemistry.
“Just excited to bring that same thing,” he said. “Speed, physicality and that suffocating pressure that can create offense on the backside of it.”