‘I wanted to be here for a long time’ | Benson discusses contract, winning in Buffalo

Zach Benson’s life has changed quite a bit in the last 12 months.

The 21-year-old forward seemingly blossomed into a household name overnight. That’s in large part due to his clutch performance in the Sabres’ inspiring Stanley Cup Playoff run, posting five goals and nine points in 13 games after a 13-30–43 line in the regular season.

But life is also vastly different for Benson now in other ways – for starters, he drives a Porsche.

“I don’t know. It’s a waste of money, I already regret it,” Benson said on Daily Faceoff’s “Morning Cuppa Hockey” podcast in August.

Those impulse purchases are now plausible for Benson, who on June 24 inked a seven-year contract carrying an average annual value of $7.5 million. Not only was the transaction simply pen put to paper for one of the Sabres’ pending RFAs, but a commitment by the organization to Benson, locking up the hard-nosed forward as an important component of Buffalo’s young core.

“I think everyone’s fired up for that. … It’s nice to see your teammates sign and get the money that they deserve,” said Tage Thompson, who at times shared the ice with Benson, particularly last spring. “It’s a lot of hard work that goes in that not everyone sees, and Benny in particular is just one of those guys that loves the game.

“I’ve always said if you love the game, it’ll love you back. He’s that to a T, I would say. He’s always looking to get better.”

For Benson, hockey’s not his only love – the city of Buffalo is, too.

“I wanted to be here a long time. I kind of made that clear (in contract negotiations), and I love it here,” Benson said after the Sabres’ first practice of training camp. “I love the guys in the room. I think we’ve got lots of potential, and I think we’re all excited for this year.”

In all the same ways Benson has affirmed his commitment to Buffalo, Buffalo has delivered that right back. Led by general manager Jarmo Kekäläinen, the Sabres’ front office knows that the team needs Benson as part of its long-term plan, and the numbers back it up. After all, the 2025-26 Sabres (regular season and playoffs) posted a 12-2-3 record when Benson scored a goal and a 32-3-4 spread when he notched a point.

“He's such a talented player,” Kekäläinen said. “We always talk about having the instincts and the hockey sense for the game and the heart to compete, and he has all of those.”

“When you have a guy like that, not only is he going to get better every year and make that deal look like a steal, but he makes the players around him better, forces guys to find another level,” Thompson added. “We’ve got a lot of guys like that.”

Benson wasn’t the only young weapon Kekäläinen locked up since taking the reins in the front office midway through last season. Josh Doan signed a seven-year, $48.65 million extension on Jan. 21, while Beck Malenstyn and Noah Ostlund inked six and eight-year deals, respectively, this summer.

That, coupled with existing contracts for Buffalo’s core players, puts the team in a pretty good spot as you flip ahead on the yearly calendar. Thompson is signed through 2030, Owen Power through 2031, Rasmus Dahlin through 2032 and the trio of Benson, Doan and Ostlund through 2033 and beyond.

“I think it’s awesome. They’re a big part of our club, like the way we play, like where we got to but (know) that the job isn’t done yet. They want to be part of finishing the job,” said coach Lindy Ruff. “Everybody’s role inside of our team, from Malenstyn, you look at Ostlund, you look at Benson, you look at Doan signing those deals. They want to be here. They feel this is a good hockey club that’s moving in the right direction.”

Benson hit the 200-game mark this past season, trailing just behind Malenstyn’s 262. Doan has 144. Ostlund has just 68 NHL games under his belt.

The message the organization is sending – not just to its own players, but to the rest of the league – is that this team isn’t going anywhere.

“You can really see it in the locker room, too. (The young players) are not here to see and learn, they want to take over,” Dahlin said. “They're big personalities, so they help our group off and on the ice. … They are going to here for a long time, so I'm very happy that they signed long term.”

Of course, any group will experience turnover – that’s evident with the departures of Bowen Byram and Alex Tuch, both well-established players who doubled as leaders in the locker room. There is a silver lining to that, though, according to Thompson.

“There is a door that opens, and that’s a pretty big door opening for a lot of young guys in our group that are really hungry to take it,” Thompson said of the opportunities for leadership. “I think it’s great that there’s that opportunity for some guys to step up, and I think there’s limited spots for the amount of guys we have that are looking to take that jump, so that internal competition is going to be great for our group.”

One of those voices that could ring louder than the others is Benson’s, who has quietly been admiring and soaking in information from the leaders he’s long looked up to. He is ready to step up – not just to be a leader, but to be one that pulls his team further along than they ever have been.

“Obviously, you want to be trusted, and you want to have that responsibility to make that next step and help this team ultimately win the Stanley Cup,” Benson said. “That's the end goal. So, I think as a group, we're all excited and fired up to get going.”