Sabres Lock Up Peyton Krebs for $18 Million After His Best NHL Season Yet

The Buffalo Sabres and Peyton Krebs won’t be seeing an arbitrator anytime soon. The two sides agreed Monday on a four-year, $18 million contract extension that keeps the 25-year-old forward in Buffalo through the 2029-30 season. The deal carries an average annual value of $4.5 million and was finalized just before Krebs’ scheduled arbitration hearing on Aug. 1, which was the last day of this summer’s hearings.

Krebs entered the offseason as a restricted free agent and had filed for arbitration. If the two sides couldn’t find common ground, the Sabres would have picked either a one-year or two-year deal with an arbitrator setting the salary. Instead, they worked out something longer term after Krebs posted the best numbers of his NHL career.

Career Year at the Right Time

The Calgary native played all 82 regular-season games in 2025-26. He set career highs across the board with 12 goals, 27 assists and 39 points. His plus-13 rating was solid, and he racked up 201 hits, which was second-most on the Sabres and 22nd in the entire league. Only seven NHL players finished the season with at least 35 points and 200 hits. Krebs was one of them.

His versatility made him a key piece for Buffalo. He bounced between center and wing all year, starting in a bottom-six role before finishing the season on a line with Tage Thompson and Alex Tuch. When Krebs and Thompson shared the ice at even strength, the Sabres outscored opponents 35-22. That’s not nothing. And Krebs has some serious wheels too — his top skating speed of 23.28 mph landed him in the 92nd percentile league-wide, and he ranked in the 90th percentile for bursts between 20 and 22 mph.

Playoff Production in Buffalo’s Return

Buffalo made the playoffs for the first time since the 2010-11 season, and Krebs showed up. He put up two goals and six points across 13 postseason games as the Sabres got bounced in the second round. That kind of production in the playoffs probably helped his case at the negotiating table.

Krebs was originally taken 17th overall by the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2019 NHL Draft. The Sabres acquired him as part of the Jack Eichel trade in 2021, and he’s been a fixture in the lineup ever since. Over 378 career games between Vegas and Buffalo, he has 42 goals and 133 points. The last three seasons alone, he’s played at least 80 games each year and has been in the lineup for 243 of Buffalo’s 246 possible regular-season contests.

With this extension done, the Sabres can check off the final item of their restricted free agent business for the summer. Krebs is locked in, and so is their roster for now.