There has been plenty of debate in recent days regarding rookie William Carrier, who has been getting some high-profile minutes on the Buffalo Sabres top line alongside Ryan O’Reilly and Kyle Okposo (who might be replaced by Sam Reinhart going forward).
His basic stats summary - played 17 NHL games so far, with 1G, 1A and a +2 on 25 shots and 6 PIM, averaging 9:04 TOI with no specials teams involvement. Carrier certainly provides a lot of jump on that line, crashing the net and retrieving pucks in the corners.
But with those lackluster numbers, there has been some justified criticism of Dan Bylsma’s continued use of Carrier on that line.