Sabres Bench $5 Million Man Ryan McLeod and Recently Extended Louis Crevier

The Buffalo Sabres are currently paying Ryan McLeod $5 million a year to eat popcorn in the press box.

According to Daily Faceoff and The Athletic, both McLeod and defenseman Louis Crevier are healthy scratches for Friday night's matchup against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

McLeod was supposed to be a major piece of the puzzle. Buffalo traded highly touted prospect Matt Savoie to the Edmonton Oilers to get him, locking him in through 2029. Instead, he has exactly one goal and three points through 15 games. At his current production rate, he is earning roughly $1.6 million per point.

Crevier’s situation is somehow just as baffling. The Sabres handed the 25-year-old a four-year extension in October after acquiring him from the Chicago Blackhawks in the Bowen Byram deal.

Handing a guy a multi-year contract in October and healthy-scratching him by November is the NHL equivalent of buying a boat and immediately realizing you get seasick. Crevier logged a team-low eight minutes in Wednesday's 2-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators and has just one assist all year.

Buffalo is sitting at 7-5-3, which is respectable, but scratching two guys you just heavily invested in is the kind of roster management that makes you question the front office's master plan.

Bettors looking at Friday's game against Columbus need to adjust their lineup projections. Jiri Kulich and Conor Timmins are drawing in to replace the scratched duo, giving the Sabres a different look against a Blue Jackets team coming off a tight win over the Dallas Stars.

Kulich returning to full action after dealing with a blood clot is a genuinely great story, but the pressure is entirely on the guys in suits. If Buffalo drops a very winnable home game to Columbus, the noise around McLeod’s massive contract is only going to get louder.