Watching close friends and former teammates win the Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche didn’t cause Tyson Jost to question his love for hockey.
Neither did the Minnesota Wild’s decision to place Jost on waivers in November after he totaled zero goals and three assists in 12 games to start this season. The business of hockey can be cruel. Drafted 10th overall by the Avalanche in 2016, Jost was traded three months before they won their first championship in 21 years. Then, he was forced to start anew again when he was claimed by the Sabres.
“I've always loved the game of hockey, and I never lost that at all,” he told The Buffalo News following practice Friday. “But there's times when you're coming to the rink, and you just feel like there's a cloud over your head or a weight on your shoulders. It can be really difficult.”
Even on the most difficult days, Jost held onto the passion that he developed as a kid on an outdoor rink in St. Albert, Alberta, where he’d skate for several hours at a time while his mother, Laura, or grandfather, Jim, watched from nearby.
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Jost trusted that his best was yet to come. At 24 years old, he had played 354 regular-season games and 44 in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. A difficult few months wouldn’t define his career. And since arriving in Buffalo, he’s proven through 22 games that he can become an important part of the Sabres’ plan to build a consistent winner.
In Jost, the Sabres found a skilled forward who has helped stabilize coach Don Granato’s bottom-six. Jost has four goals and nine points while averaging 13:35 of ice time. He’s a key cog in the club’s penalty kill and earned the trust of the coaching staff to be on the ice to protect a lead late in games.
“It’s kind of crazy looking back, but everything happens for a reason,” he said. “God's got a plan. So, I'm happy it worked out this way. And you’ve just got to trust that everything will work out. I was trusting it would. I mean, I work so hard. I care so much and want to do so well. Obviously, I still have a lot of work to do, but I'm happy that things are starting to come to fruition here.”
Jost ties it at 2-2 #LetsGoBuffalo #GoJetsGo pic.twitter.com/x7vSoAwI2r
— Buffalo Hockey moments (@SabresPlays) January 13, 2023
Jost has been a bright spot during the Sabres’ recent skid. Over the past four games, Buffalo has 71.2% of the 5-on-5 shot attempts (62-25) when Jost is one the ice in 5-on-5 situations. His speed and skill have helped his linemates, Casey Mittelstadt and Victor Olofsson, play some of their best hockey at even-strength this season.
The Sabres were searching for a way to get Mittelstadt and Olofsson to produce at 5-on-5 the way they have on the power play. Granato tried different combinations until he found a solution with Jost. At 5-foot-11, he plays a hard, direct game that’s helped the group possess the puck in the offensive zone. His tenacity has been a fine complement to Mittelstadt’s playmaking and Olofsson’s heavy, left-handed shot that’s produced 16 goals through 40 games.
Olofsson has three goals and four points in his last four games, while Mittelstadt has five assists in his last five games.
Jost parked in front of Capitals goalie Darcy Kuemper and scored on a re-direct to tie the score in the third period of the Sabres’ overtime win over Washington on Jan. 3. When Buffalo trailed by a goal Thursday night, Jost collected a turn-around pass by Olofsson in the slot and beat Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck with a quick shot to tie the score 2:50 into the third period.
“He's smart, he has some experience, and he competes,” Granato said. “Those are just some of several attributes, and he’s hungry. He sees this as a valuable opportunity for him to stay here, to make an impression and be part of this team and this organization. And he has enough hindsight now through his career with a few hundred games to know how to do that. He’s been a great addition. …
“For him, through his career, the position he’s been in, he’s been forced to play to not make a mistake and conservative. We’re trying to push him out of that. and I think he’s been enjoying that. We’re seeing growth from him day by day.”
The message has resonated with Jost, who had never heard a coach speak about playing fearless until he arrived in Buffalo. The Sabres haven’t made a waiver claim as impactful as Jost in years, and it’s one that could benefit them beyond this season. Jost is a pending restricted free agent with arbitration rights. The Sabres will only need to extend him a qualifying offer this summer to retain him for the 2023-24 season.
Yet Jost has been around long enough to know that he can’t get too comfortable. He wants to keep "earning" the trust and ice time from Granato.
"It's awesome coming out and having that love for the game, and it's always been there," Jost said. "But now, it's just nice to be free and play free and play with confidence. It's just really refreshing."
Another roster move
Peyton Krebs was loaned to the Rochester Americans ahead of the Sabres’ game Saturday in Nashville so Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen can start in goal and Jack Quinn can return to the lineup after sitting out twice this week.
Krebs won’t report to the Amerks. Like Quinn’s loan to Rochester on Thursday, it’s a paper transaction to allow the Sabres to keep Luukkonen, Eric Comrie and Craig Anderson on the roster. Luukkonen is 8-2 with a .902 save percentage in his last 10 appearances and he’s 6-1 with a .914 save percentage in his last seven.
The Sabres don’t want to waive Comrie or Anderson and risk losing either for nothing, but Luukkonen has earned more starts through his play in the crease. General Manager Kevyn Adams plans to creatively create room on the roster for Luukkonen to start regularly. However, Granato said the Sabres’ top priorities – winning and development – will influence their roster decisions in the coming days.
“The message we want to send is we’re in it to win the next game, so when we feel it conflicts with that, decisions will be based (on) winning,” said Granato. “The other tier right under winning is we know we have to get better. To win more games in the future, you need to keep getting better and better. That’s by design why we have one of the youngest teams in the league. …
"Development, we feel, is hugely impactful to winning more consistently. We have four guys that don’t need waivers. At this point, we’ve shifted day-to-day with that thinking of Quinn and Peterka stepping back as a developmental opportunity. When will we feel that’s not a development opportunity? That’s when we’re going to have another decision to make. ...
"So, we’ll keep going day-to-day but not lose sight of our number one priority, winning, and number two being that development and maximizing development will help us win more."
Quinn and Peterka will draw back into the lineup against the Predators, while Zemgus Girgensons won’t be available because of a non-Covid illness.
Musty, McCarthy ranked
Hamburg’s Quentin Musty and Clarence Center’s Gavin McCarthy were listed Friday as the No. 11 and No. 39 North American skaters, respectively, on NHL Central Scouting midseason rankings for the 2023 draft.
Musty, a 6-foot-2 winger, has 12 goals and 48 points in 32 games with the Sudbury Wolves on the Ontario Hockey League. McCarthy, a 6-foot-2 right-shot defenseman, has four goals and 18 games with the Muskegon Lumberjacks of the United States Hockey League. He’s committed to attend Boston University, where his brother, Case, is a defenseman with the Terriers.
Now a senior, Case McCarthy has appeared in 90 games for the Terriers since he was drafted in the fourth round by the New Jersey Devils in 2019.
