After acquiring defenseman Brandon Hickey from the Arizona Coyotes last month, the Sabres had until August to sign the Boston University product before he became an unrestricted free agent. Per The Athletic’s John Vogl, Buffalo has gotten a deal done, signing Hickey to a two-year entry-level contract.
The 22-year-old blueliner could have been an unrestricted free agent if he waited until Aug. 1. With the belief that they couldn’t sign him, Arizona sent him along with Mike Sislo to Buffalo for winger Hudson Fasching. Buffalo felt they could ink the four-year college veteran and now they have.
Hickey put up solid numbers at BU as he tallied six goals and 14 points this past season. At 6-foot-2, he provides Buffalo with some size and while he’s a better defensive player, is considered to have the skills to develop into a solid two-way player. He has already played with several Sabres’ players while at Boston University, including Jack Eichel, Evan Rodrigues and Daniel O’Regan.
Hickey likely will start the season with the AHL Rochester Americans and along with some of their other defensive prospects like Lawrence Pilut, Taylor Fedun, Zach Redmond and Matt Tennyson, the team should have quite a few talented pieces in their system.