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Buffalo Sabres Extend Craig Anderson

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The Buffalo Sabres drew Craig Anderson out of retirement last offseason and after a strong performance, he’s coming back for another go-round. Anderson has signed a new one-year deal with the Sabres, this time worth $1.5MM, twice what he made in 2021-22.

Since the end of the season, Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams has done nothing but speak highly of the 41-year-old netminder, explaining that he was a huge part of the leadership group in Buffalo this year, helping the young team take positive steps. “He gave us a chance to win,” said Adams earlier this week.

Still, though Anderson did play better than expected, his overall numbers were still well below league average. Partly due to the Sabres play in front of him, and partly because of a late-season swoon, Anderson ended the year with an .897 save percentage in 31 appearances.

Different from last year though is that Anderson likely isn’t going to be expected to carry the lion’s share of the goaltending load. Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News still expects the team to acquire a proven NHL goaltender one way or another to pair with the veteran, allowing prospect Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen to start in the AHL once again.

Clearly, there is a desire from Buffalo to be more competitive in 2022-23, but it remains to be seen whether Anderson–who could be the oldest player in the league this season, depending on Zdeno Chara’s decision–can actually continue to give them that status.

He will get a chance to climb even higher on the all-time lists though. Anderson is currently tied with Pekka Rinne for 32nd in games played and could become just the 31st goaltender in history to crack the 700-game mark with 17 more appearances.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Buffalo Sabres Sign Sean Malone

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The Buffalo Sabres are bringing back AHL standout Sean Malone for another year, inking him to a one-year contract worth $750K. The minor league forward was set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer.

Malone, 27, was great for the Rochester Americans this season, scoring 20 goals and 37 points in just 39 regular season games. His strong play continued into the playoffs, when he added another seven points in ten games, giving the young minor league squad a reliable veteran leader in the middle of the ice.

While the Americans were driven by talents like JJ Peterka, Jack Quinn, and Arttu Ruotsalainen, Malone, along with Michael Mersch, Ethan Prow, and others offered a more experienced group to help the on-ice development of the top prospects. That can continue next season now, as he returns on a no-risk one-year deal.

There’s also a chance that Malone earns some time with the big club, though it has been five years now since he signed out of Harvard and he has just two games to his name at the NHL level. One of those actually came with the Nashville Predators, during the year he was away from the Sabres organization. A Buffalo native, Malone came back in 2021 and is now getting a chance to continue with his hometown club, even if it’s mostly for minor league action.

East Notes: Quinn, Devils Front Office, Sabres

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Eyebrows raised leaguewide when the Boston Bruins fired Bruce Cassidy, letting him walk to the Vegas Golden Knights in coaching free agency. Now, they seem to have zeroed in on a replacement. Although he’s been interviewed and/or linked to multiple teams so far, The Fourth Period’s Shawn Hutcheon reports that the Bruins have made former New York Rangers head coach David Quinn their leading candidate for the role. While other names like former Providence head coach Jay Leach had been rumored, they seem to have opted for another “hometown” coach.

While a Rhode Island native, Quinn has extensive experience in the Boston area, spending multiple years as an associate coach and head coach with Boston University. Quinn did not coach this past season after the Rangers replaced him with Gerard Gallant this past offseason, aside from serving as the head coach for the United States at the Olympics and World Championships.

  • The New Jersey Devils seem to have quietly cleaned out some front office names, removing the roles of Patrick Rissmiller (player development coach), Pierre Mondou (amateur scout), and Andrey Plekhanov (European scout) from their website. Rissmiller will leave the only front office job he’s ever known, holding the role with New Jersey since he retired as a player in 2015. Mondou, 66, was let go after nearly 20 years of scouting for New Jersey. Plekhanov had been with the team for four seasons.
  • As the Buffalo Sabres look to finally take that next step forward in 2022-23, the team has announced the dates for their development camp. The session for fringe prospects and rookies will be held July 13-15, with a three-on-three tournament to be held on the 16th.

Kim Pegula “Progressing Well” From Undisclosed Health Issue

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There was some dark news in the Buffalo Sabres community a handful of weeks ago when it was announced that Sabres (and Buffalo Bills) owner Kim Pegula was receiving serious medical treatment as a result of “unexpected health issues.” As it had been a considerable amount of time since that announcement with no update, fans were becoming increasingly concerned with her health status.

Now, via the Sabres, the Pegula family said in a statement today that Kim is “progressing well,” resting, and rehabbing from her health issue, asking fans to continue to respect their privacy. The full statement is as follows:

Kim is progressing well and is resting and rehabilitating from a health issue. We are grateful for the medical professionals providing her care and to everyone for their prayers and well wishes. We ask that you please continue to respect our need for privacy during this time.

Pegula, 53, has been the owner of the Sabres since the 2015-16 season when she was transferred principal ownership of the team from her husband Terry. She was also named team president in 2018-19 and has also served in that role for their AHL affiliate in Rochester.

PHR sends their best wishes to the Pegula family and the Sabres community for her continued recovery.

Ben Bishop Open To Dallas Return In Front Office Role

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After injuries forced him into retirement during the 2021-22 season, it was clear Ben Bishop wouldn’t suit up for the Dallas Stars again. This month, the final year of his $4.9MM average annual value contract was traded to the Buffalo Sabres for salary cap relief entering 2022-23. While not part of the Dallas organization anymore on paper, Bishop has expressed interest in returning to the team in a front-office role, said general manager Jim Nill.

[Bishop] would like to get into some type of management position. His resume, how he conducts himself, he’s a well-spoken man, got a passion for the game. He’d like to continue to be in the game. We’re having some discussions with him about different positions, start to get his feet wet and see what comes of it.

It’s evident that Bishop wants to have a long career within the sport, and he’d apparently like to start it with the team that gave his career a second wind after being shipped out of the Tampa Bay Lightning organization in favor of Andrei Vasilevskiy.

He could learn on the job from another former high-end Dallas netminder — Marty Turco. After a nine-season stretch with the Stars, Turco has joined the team as a senior advisor in the past few seasons.

Carter Hutton Retires From NHL

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A journeyman netminder has hung up his skates today. Veteran Carter Hutton announced his retirement from the NHL today, talking with Tom Annelin of the Chronicle Journal.

Speaking with Annelin today, Hutton had the following to say on his decision:

Honestly, I’ve been preparing myself for hockey to be over in some aspect for a while… The NHL has evolved into a young man’s league. The average age is now in the early 20s, so I know that this job wouldn’t be a lifelong one for me. Ultimately, I suffered an ankle injury in early 2021, which made the decision a lot easier for me. It restricted a lot of the mobility I needed to be as effective as I once was. This, compiled with a few other things helped me decide on retirement.

The news isn’t surprising in any aspect. Hutton appeared in just three games at the beginning of the season with the Arizona Coyotes, earning a 0-2-0 record and .741 save percentage. He spent the majority of the rest of the season injured before he was dealt to the Toronto Maple Leafs ahead of the trade deadline for injury insurance there, but the team loaned him back to the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners. He did spend a few days at Leafs practice, however.

An undrafted free agent, Hutton had a long and arduous path to NHL success. Hutton spent four years developing at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell before signing an entry-level contract with the San Jose Sharks for 2010-11. Hutton was the backup for the AHL affiliate in Worcester that season, posting a .902 save percentage. A restricted free agent, he was left unqualified and settled for an AHL contract with the Rockford IceHogs in 2011-12.

Strong play there got him an NHL contract later in the season and again with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2012-13, when he made his NHL debut at age 27. As an unrestricted free agent in 2013, the Nashville Predators snapped up Hutton in free agency, where he broke into the NHL and never looked back. After stops with the Predators, St. Louis Blues, Buffalo Sabres, and Coyotes, Hutton retires with a career 94-90-27 record in 235 games played (207 starts), .908 save percentage, and 2.76 goals-against average, and 13 shutouts. For an undrafted free agent who wasn’t a full-time NHLer until 28, it’s an improbable and impressive resumé.

Buffalo Sabres Sign Filip Cederqvist

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Today’s newest move isn’t an extension, like the three that have already been announced, but a prospect signing. The Buffalo Sabres have announced that they have signed prospect forward Filip Cederqvist to a two-year entry-level contract.

Cederqvist, who turns 22 in August, was the Sabres’ fifth-round pick in 2019. He was a bright spot in an otherwise dark season for Djurgardens in the SHL, scoring 14 goals and 32 points in 49 games, which was good for second on the team behind former NHL-er Marcus Sorensen. Cederqvist’s impressive 2021-2022 season comes off the back of a strong 2020-2021 campaign, where he scored nine goals and 36 points in 51 games for Tingsryds AIF in the second-tier HockeyAllsvenskan.

Cederqvist will join the Sabres this fall with the hope of winning a spot on their opening-night lineup. The newly-changed NHL-SHL agreement stipulates that prospects drafted outside of the first round have to be older than 24 to be sent to the AHL, so Djurgardens being relegated from the SHL might actually end up being a positive for Cederqvist. The Buffalo News’ Lance Lysowski reports that Cederqvist will be eligible to play for Rochester next season. So Cederqvist will in all likelihood join Rochester later this year with the hopes of continuing the development he’s shown for the past two seasons, with his eye on ultimately making the NHL roster in Buffalo.

Hinostroza And Pysyk Options To Return For Next Season

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  • While many of Buffalo’s pending unrestricted free agents are likely to move on, Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News suggests that forward Vinnie Hinostroza and defenseman Mark Pysyk are candidates to stick around with the Sabres next season. Hinostroza was a decent depth scorer in 2021-22, notching 13 goals and 12 assists in 62 games and if he’s willing to sign for around the $1.05MM he made this season, it would certainly make sense to keep him around.  As for Pysyk, he shifted back to the back end after spending some time up front with Dallas and logged nearly 18 minutes a night in 68 contests.  He made $900K this season and should come in with a similar price tag so if Buffalo wants some low-cost depth that’s familiar with their system, re-signing him would be a worthwhile move as well.

Buffalo Sabres Acquire Ben Bishop

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3:30 pm: The teams have made the trade official, with the Sabres acquiring Bishop along with Dallas’ 2022 seventh-round draft selection in exchange for future considerations.

1:25 pm: With Ben Bishop not expected to play again after several serious injuries, the Dallas Stars have found a way to move his contract. Kevin Weekes of ESPN reports that the Buffalo Sabres are close to acquiring his contract. No details on the return have been released so far.

Bishop has one year left on his contract and carries a cap hit of $4.92MM.

A move like this could help the Sabres get to the salary cap floor, while also helping the Stars get out of long-term injured reserve. While LTIR provides some flexibility, it also can result in negative penalties, as seen this season for the Stars, who will face a bonus overage of $675K.

Bishop is due a salary of $3.5MM this season, meaning the Sabres won’t even have to cover one of the more expensive years of the deal. The contract also includes a 10-team no-trade clause, though that likely isn’t much of an impediment given he isn’t expected to play again.

For the Sabres, who have just over $41MM in salary commitments for next season before any offseason trading, reaching the salary cap floor could be a legitimate challenge. Only Victor Olofsson sits as a restricted free agent expecting much of a raise, meaning general manager Kevyn Adams will need to be busy in the trade market and free agency.

The 35-year-old Bishop is a good start, though it is disappointing for Sabres fans that they’re not getting the goaltender from a few years ago. At one point, Bishop was among the very best in the world, finishing as a Vezina finalist three times and ending his career with an incredible .921 save percentage. That puts him among the very best of all-time, and as recently as 2018-19 he was the league leader with a .934.

Buffalo meanwhile will be looking for a real answer in net this summer, as Craig Anderson, Dustin Tokarski, Aaron Dell, Michael Houser, and Malcolm Subban are all pending unrestricted free agents.

The Dallas Morning News’ Matthew DeFranks was the first to report the return.

Former Sabres Defenseman Larry Hillman Passes Away

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After leaving Toronto, Hillman would bounce around for five seasons, spending time with the Minnesota North Stars, Montreal Canadiens, Philadelphia Flyers, Los Angeles Kings, and Buffalo Sabres. Prior to the 1973-74 season, a 36-year-old Hillman would depart the NHL for the rival WHA, where he spent three seasons, the first two with the Cleveland Crusaders, and finally with the Winnipeg Jets, then of the WHA. All told, Hillman played 789 games in the NHL over 19 seasons, tallying 36 goals and 196 assists along with 565 penalty minutes. Hillman also had a brief coaching career, spending two seasons as the head coach of the Winnipeg Jets, compiling a record of 78 wins, 55 losses and eight ties in two seasons behind the bench for the Jets, still of the WHA.

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