VLADIMIR SOBOTKA - Left Winger - 31 - $3.5MM Cap Hit - UFA in 2020-2021
LAST UPDATED 6/28/19
Shipped to Buffalo as a cap dump in the now-infamous Ryan O'Reilly trade, Sbotka is very much a "he is what he is" player at this stage of his NHL career. As recently as 2017-18, Sobotka had a solid 31 point campaign for St. Louis, but that was largely fueled by high ice time he was given instead of any actual skill on his part. He's not a skill player, as his season in Buffalo showed, and instead relies on his grit, energy, and determination to stay in an NHL lineup. He has a strong defensive reputation and has shown himself to be an asset on a penalty kill. He doesn't have incredible size, and sometimes struggles to win board battles, but that's not for a lack of effort. He's versatile and a huge asset at the faceoff dot, but his skill there has declined since his earlier days in St. Louis. Isolated impact metrics are down on Sobotka, showing his 5v5 offensive impact as a severe negative and his 5v5 defense as also bad. While that conflicts with his defensive reputation, his sharp decrease in ice time since arriving in Buffalo indicates that coaches are starting to trust these advanced metrics more with regard to Sobotka. Sobotka still can be the effective, energetic bottom-6 shutdown player he once was, but he needs to provide some more offense and refocus his defense if he wants to get there. As of right now, he's more of a 13th forward for a contending team rather than an everyday option.
Shipped to Buffalo as a cap dump in the now-infamous Ryan O'Reilly trade, Sbotka is very much a "he is what he is" player at this stage of his NHL career. As recently as 2017-18, Sobotka had a solid 31 point campaign for St. Louis, but that was largely fueled by high ice time he was given instead of any actual skill on his part. He's not a skill player, as his season in Buffalo showed, and instead relies on his grit, energy, and determination to stay in an NHL lineup. He has a strong defensive reputation and has shown himself to be an asset on a penalty kill. He doesn't have incredible size, and sometimes struggles to win board battles, but that's not for a lack of effort. He's versatile and a huge asset at the faceoff dot, but his skill there has declined since his earlier days in St. Louis. Isolated impact metrics are down on Sobotka, showing his 5v5 offensive impact as a severe negative and his 5v5 defense as also bad. While that conflicts with his defensive reputation, his sharp decrease in ice time since arriving in Buffalo indicates that coaches are starting to trust these advanced metrics more with regard to Sobotka. Sobotka still can be the effective, energetic bottom-6 shutdown player he once was, but he needs to provide some more offense and refocus his defense if he wants to get there. As of right now, he's more of a 13th forward for a contending team rather than an everyday option.
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