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Buffalo Sabres To Name Captain Prior To Regular Season

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The Buffalo Sabres haven’t officially had a captain since just prior to this season when they stripped the title from the injured Jack Eichel prior to an early-season trade to the Vegas Golden Knights. That year-long absence will come to an end soon, though, as newly-extended general manager Kevyn Adams told reporters today that the team will announce their leadership group for 2022-23, including a team captain, prior to the regular season.

As mentioned by The Buffalo News’ Lance Lysowski in the linked story above, veteran winger Kyle Okposo is the leading candidate for the role, supported by rumors over the offseason. Okposo had his best offensive year as a Sabre despite largely playing in a fourth-line role, cracking the 20-goal mark for the first time since 2015-16 and had 45 points, his highest total in a Sabres jersey. Forming solid chemistry with Zemgus Girgensons, also expected to be named an alternate captain as the longest-tenured Sabre, Okposo’s taken on a de facto leadership role and is becoming an integral part of the team’s voice.

While Okposo has been an alternate captain in Buffalo for the past five seasons, Alex Tuch also jumps out as an obvious candidate for the job. Acquired in the Eichel trade, the Buffalo native had 38 points in 50 games as a Sabre this past year and cemented himself as a top-six fixture.

Speaking today on the team’s leadership group, head coach Don Granato said the following:

I’ll just point out our three older, I think our three oldest guys, are Girgensons, Okposo and Craig Anderson. And they do a tremendous job. They have that presence. And they are in it, obviously, as competitors, but they really have a deep care for helping some other guys achieve more. They don’t fear that this guy might replace me. Which is very uncommon. Whether that is an unconscious thought, or a subconscious thought. Sometimes it’s hard for the older players to really, really help a guy who might replace them or take some ice time away from them. And those three guys there, they love it.

Buffalo Sabres Give GM Kevyn Adams Multi-Year Extension

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The Buffalo Sabres have signed general manager Kevyn Adams to a multi-year extension, the team announced Wednesday. Terms of the contract have not been reported or released.

Adams is entering his third season as general manager and 14th season with the organization overall as an executive. First joining the Sabres as a development coach in 2009-10 after announcing his retirement in early 2009, Adams made the jump to the NHL bench after just two seasons. Named an assistant coach for the 2011-12 season, he was behind the bench for the first two seasons of the team’s current 11-season playoff drought. At that point, he was named a director of the team for 2013-14, whose responsibilities included overseeing Buffalo’s youth hockey program.

For the 2019-20 season, Adams made the jump to senior vice president of business administration, taking on a role working much closer with owners Kim and Terry Pegula. With Buffalo firing Jason Botterill prior to the 2020-21 season, the Sabres named Adams general manager in what was a surprising move at the time.

It’s a move that has worked out well, though, as Buffalo’s finally seemed to solidify an upward trajectory in their years-long rebuild. With Adams being dealt a tough hand early in being forced to trade superstar center Jack Eichel, he received a package that so far includes Sabres top-six forwards Alex Tuch and Peyton Krebs, as well as 2022 16th overall pick Noah Östlund. The Sabres also still have a 2023 second-round selection courtesy of the Vegas Golden Knights.

Adams has also had to lock down a good portion of Buffalo’s core, and it’s been so far, so good. He signed All-Star defenseman Rasmus Dahlin to a three-year bridge deal in September of 2021 and got Tage Thompson under contract for seven years a few weeks ago, although the jury remains out on that massive contract.

Owner Terry Pegula gave a statement on the hiring:

Kevyn’s leadership and vision over the past two seasons has proven to be invaluable, and I am confident in his ability to continue to move us forward as an organization. He is respected by players, coaches, staff, and peers around the league alike due to the poise with which he carries himself and the respect he reciprocates to every individual he encounters. He has grown in different roles throughout the organization, providing him unique perspectives that help him perform at the highest level as general manager.

Dallas Stars Not Allowed To Hire Ben Bishop

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Sep 21: It did seem odd that Bishop was joining the Stars while his contract was still in effect. Since he is not retiring, the NHL has told the Stars that they are not allowed to hire Bishop yet, according to Saad Yousuf of The Athletic. He will not be around the Dallas front office until his contract with Buffalo runs out.

Sep 12: Earlier this summer, the Dallas Stars traded Ben Bishop to the Buffalo Sabres. Bishop will not be playing again due to chronic, degenerative injuries, but his contract still has one year remaining on it with a salary of $3.5MM (including a $1MM signing bonus).

Now, just a few months later, the Stars are bringing him back. The Stars have hired Bishop as a player development coordinator, according to Matthew DeFranks of the Dallas Morning News. It is not clear how this will affect his contract with the Sabres yet.

The team has also promoted Sam Lites to director of organizational analysis.

Bishop, 35, was one of the best goaltenders of his generation but struggled with injuries his entire career. The towering, 6’7″ netminder has a career save percentage of .921 in 423 regular season appearances, was a Vezina finalist three times, and went 222-128-36 across parts of 11 seasons. His most incredible performance came in 2018-19 with the Stars, when he led the league with a .934 save percentage in 46 games, including a whopping 32.2 goals saved above average.

In 2015, he led the Tampa Bay Lightning to game six of the Stanley Cup Final, posting a .921 in 25 postseason appearances. Overall for his career, his playoff numbers were even better than the regular season, with a .924 in 52 games.

After trying to make a comeback in 2021-22, after more than a year of rehab, he played just one match for the Texas Stars before waving the white flag and announcing his career was over. While he did not use the word retired at the time, due to his ongoing contract, he will not play again. His time in hockey is not over, however, as the netminder will join a front office and begin the next chapter at a relatively young age.

2008 NHL Draft Take Two: Twelfth Overall Pick

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Hindsight is an amazing thing, and allows us to look back and wonder “what could have been.”  Though perfection is attempted, scouting and draft selection is far from an exact science, and sometimes, it doesn’t work out the way teams – or players – intended. For every Patrick Kane, there is a Patrik Stefan.

We’re looking back at the 2008 NHL Entry Draft and asking how it would shake out knowing what we do now.  Will the first round remain the same, or will some late-round picks jump up to the top of the board?

The results of our redraft so far are as follows with their original draft position in parentheses:

1st Overall: Steven Stamkos, Tampa Bay Lightning (1)
2nd Overall: Drew Doughty, Los Angeles Kings (2)
3rd Overall: Roman Josi, Atlanta Thrashers (38)
4th Overall: Alex Pietrangelo, St. Louis Blues (4)
5th Overall: Erik Karlsson, Toronto Maple Leafs (15)
6th Overall: John Carlson, Columbus Blue Jackets (27)
7th Overall: Jacob Markstrom, Nashville Predators (31)
8th Overall: Braden Holtby, Phoenix Coyotes (93)
9th Overall: Jordan Eberle, New York Islanders (22)
10th Overall: Jared Spurgeon, Vancouver Canucks (156)
11th Overall: Cam Atkinson, Chicago Blackhawks (157)

Beyond Stamkos and Doughty, there really isn’t a better pair of back -to-back selections in this draft than the 156th and 157th overall selections: Spurgeon and Atkinson. In our re-draft, this pair once again goes back-to-back, but now 10th and 11th overall instead. We’ve covered Spurgeon’s story, drafted but unsigned by the Islanders, invited to training camp as a prospect by the Wild, and the rest is history, but now it’s the Blue Jackets turn to find incredible value.

The 2008 draft was a backwards one in Columbus, their first few selections not necessarily panning out as hoped, most notably their selection of Russian winger Nikita Filatov at sixth overall. Filatov was supposed to be an elite point producer Columbus could pair with the likes of Rick Nash and Derick Brassard, but his time in Columbus came to a close after 44 unimpressive games. Towards the later rounds of the draft however, the Blue Jackets found a pair of foundational pieces in Matt Calvert in the fifth round and Atkinson in the sixth. Calvert became a key piece of the team’s bottom-six for eight seasons and Atkinson established himself as the dynamic offensive weapon the organization was looking for with their sixth-overall pick – they just so happened to get him at 157.

Three seasons after Columbus took him, Atkinson made his debut and by the 2013-14 season had become a regular 20 goal and 40 point contributor. In 2016-17, the winger broke out, setting career-highs with goals, 35, and points, 62. Two years later, he eclipsed those marks again with 41 goals and 69 points en route to a playoff appearance and the club’s first playoff series victory. Having played a major role in taking the team to new heights, Atkinson was traded during the 2021 offseason as the team continued its re-tool, landing with the Philadelphia Flyers. Altogether, Atkinson provided incredible value for his spot in the draft, but given his and his team’s success with him at the top of the lineup, going 11th overall in a re-draft makes plenty of sense.

We now turn our attention to the 12th overall selection, which belonged to the Buffalo Sabres. After back-to-back trips to the conference Finals in 2006 and 2007, the 2007-08 Sabres just missed the playoffs, but secured a prime pick. With that pick, they selected hulking defenseman Tyler Myers from the WHL’s Kelowna Rockets. Buffalo sent Myers back to Kelowna for additional development in 2008-09, but the following year Myers made his NHL debut and became an instant regular in the lineup. A 19 and 20-year-old Myers averaged 23:44 of time-on-ice, the second most of his career while contributing 11 goals and 37 assists for 48 points, all career-highs to this day. Those numbers not only made Myers one of the most impactful players on a Buffalo team that made its return to the playoffs, but also lead him to an All Star appearance and the Calder Trophy.

Already, Myers looked to be an absolute steal at 12th overall, cementing himself as a cornerstone player just one season after being drafted. However, Myers was never able to repeat on his rookie success. The 2010-11 campaign saw Myers put up solid numbers once again adding 37 points while averaging 22:27 of time-on-ice. Good numbers for a 6’8″ shutdown defenseman, they still weren’t what he had already shown he was capable of, and they continued to drop over the next few seasons, complimented with injury issues. In February of 2015, Buffalo dealt Myers to the Winnipeg Jets in a multi-player deal that most notably brought Evander Kane back the other way.

Myers would spend parts of five seasons on the Jets blueline, getting somewhat close to the player he had been during his early days in Buffalo, highlighted by a 36-point effort where he played 21:26 per night, now firmly entrenched as a defense-first defenseman. Myers hit the free agent market in the summer of 2019 and opted to sign a five-year, $30MM contract to head west to the Vancouver Canucks. With the Canucks, Myers has remained healthy and been one of the Canucks’ key shutdown defensemen, but hasn’t been able to match the offensive production he debuted with and found once again in Winnipeg.

Given Myers’ lengthy track record as a reliable defensive defenseman who’s shot and size cannot be ignored, his place at 12th overall in this draft is understandable. But, given some of his issues, like his spotty offensive track record and injuries issues in the prime of his career, that slot could be considered a little too high. It’s hard to imagine he’d slide too far in our re-draft, but should he repeat as the 12th overall pick? Or would hindsight give us someone else?  Let your voice be heard by voting in the poll below.

Trade Rumors App users, click here to vote.

Josh Bloom Uncertain For Saturday Night's Showcase Game

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  • An injury update on Sabres forward prospect Josh Bloom, who was hurt in Thursday night’s prospect showcase game against the Montreal Canadiens. According to Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News, Bloom did not practice on Friday and his status for tonight’s contest with the New Jersey Devils is uncertain. While Bloom being sidelined for at least a day of practice and a showcase game is a clear negative, the possibility that he could be available and that his absence is being spoken about in the short-term is a positive, given how the injury played out on Thursday. Bloom had left the game after being hit along the boards, failing to return, now listed with a lower-body injury. The winger broke out for  the OHL’s Saginaw Spirit in 2021-22, contributing 61 points in 67 games.

Waiver Watching: Sizing Up The Goaltender Market

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With training camps on the horizon, there are still some goaltending situations around the NHL that are unsettled.  Accordingly, those teams may be planning on picking up a second goaltender on waivers during the preseason as Montreal did with Samuel Montembeault last season.  With that in mind, let’s examine who might be looking for a goalie and which teams have a netminder that could be of interest.

Potentially Looking

Arizona: The Coyotes have one of their two goalies locked up for three years in Karel Vejmelka but after that, there is nothing but question marks.  Farmhands Jon Gillies and Ivan Prosvetov have some NHL experience but Gillies struggled last season with New Jersey and Prosvetov hasn’t posted a .900 SV% in the last two seasons in the minors.  Cap space isn’t an issue for them so they can look at any of the options available on waivers or take on a bad contract for additional compensation.

Chicago: Right now, Alex Stalock is their backup goalie.  He has missed most of the last two seasons battling his way back from myocarditis and struggled considerably in the minors last year.  Granted, the Blackhawks certainly aren’t in win-now mode but in a perfect world, they’d like Arvid Soderblom to have an uninterrupted year with AHL Rockford.  Currently, he’s third on the depth chart but if there’s a chance to bring in a low-cost second-stringer and push Stalock into the spot of being the one to be recalled if an injury arises, they might want to take it.  The waiver wire could be the chance to add that.

Philadelphia: With Ivan Fedotov being blocked from going to North America this season due to a military commitment, the Flyers are going to have to turn to Plan B.  Felix Sandstrom is currently their second option but he has just five career NHL appearances under his belt.  They’re looking to be more competitive this season so this could be a spot for an upgrade.  Granted, Sandstrom would then need to be waived to be sent back to Lehigh Valley but that would have been the case if Fedotov had been able to play so it’s a risk they might be comfortable with.

Of course, an injury or two during the preseason could add to the list of suitors in the coming weeks as well.

Teams That Could Lose A Goalie

For the purpose of this exercise, the focus is going to be on either young goalies that could be appealing or veterans with some recent NHL experience that could fill a gap.

Buffalo: Malcolm Subban was brought back to be the veteran to partner with Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen in AHL Rochester but he has 86 games of NHL experience under his belt and a deal that’s only $100K above the league minimum.  He has been a full-time backup going back to his time with Vegas which would also bolster his chances of potentially being claimed.

Dallas: Right now, Anton Khudobin appears to be the odd one out again with Jake Oettinger and Scott Wedgewood set to be the goalie duo for the Stars.  Khudobin is now in the final year of his deal that carries a $3.33MM AAV.  It wouldn’t be shocking if he cleared waivers but if Dallas wants to free up a bit of extra money for Jason Robertson’s contract, they’ll be calling Arizona to see what it would cost for them to take that contract on.

Los Angeles: Pheonix Copley has cleared waivers without any concerns the last couple of years but also was on a pricey contract for a third-string option.  Now, he’s on a much more palatable deal ($825K) and is coming off an impressive season in AHL Hershey.  The 30-year-old was the backup for the Capitals back in 2018-19.

Nashville: This is the most interesting one to keep an eye on.  Although Connor Ingram held his own in the playoffs for the Preds, they still went and brought in Kevin Lankinen on a one-year, $1.5MM deal.  That’s a lot to pay a third-string option so it could put Ingram in jeopardy.  However, if they try to sneak Ingram through, there’s a very good chance he’ll be claimed, especially with an AAV that’s below the minimum.  Carrying three goalies is a possibility but generally not ideal so something might have to give here.

New York (R): The Rangers went and brought in Louis Domingue on a two-year contract to be their insurance policy but he might appeal to some other teams as well.  He did alright in the playoffs for Pittsburgh and has 142 games of NHL experience over parts of two seasons.  Both years are one-way which was likely to try to deter other teams from claiming him but with an AAV of just $775K, he may attract some interest.

Seattle: With Martin Jones joining the Kraken as their backup, that’s going to push both Joey Daccord and Magnus Hellberg to the waiver wire.  Daccord was viewed as a possible NHL option not long ago and at 26, there could still be some upside after a strong season with AHL Charlotte.  Hellberg, meanwhile, has been dominant in the KHL the last few years which prompted Detroit to give him a brief look down the stretch last season.  Other teams might want to take a look as well depending on how things go over the next few weeks.

Winnipeg: Mikhail Berdin is the one goalie on this list that doesn’t have any NHL experience but at 24, he’s also the youngest in this group.  If a rebuilding team wants to take a look at a younger backup to see if there’s something there, this is the type of goalie they’d probably want to go for.

Of course, there will be other goalies that will hit the waiver wire in the coming weeks that could be of interest to teams as well depending on what transpires over the preseason.  There won’t be a ton of waiver activity between the pipes – there rarely is – but one or two of these players could be changing teams in the coming weeks.

Examining The Buffalo Sabres’ Financial Future

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When Buffalo Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams signed center Tage Thompson to an admittedly massive seven-year contract extension earlier this week, it raised some eyebrows considering the lack of consistency from Thompson in his career. Speaking after the fact a few days ago, Adams told The Buffalo News’ Lance Lysowski that “we’re also being strategic a little bit, to be honest, about the timeline knowing that there’s other guys potentially next summer where we’re going to be in this situation. We want to make sure we’re being strategic on when and how we put these deals together.”

So, given that Adams is envisioning more breakout campaigns from his young stars in 2022-23, how does the Sabres’ financial picture line up with their rise out of their years-long rebuild and the expected salary cap increases?

There are two players next summer who, depending on their campaigns, could demand significant pay raises over their sub-$1MM deals. Both Dylan Cozens and Rasmus Asplund are restricted free agents in 2023, although Cozens does not have arbitration rights.

Cozens is projected to slot right behind Thompson on the team’s depth chart, battling with Casey Mittelstadt for a spot centering their second line. If he wins that battle and sees increased playing time, Cozens’ offensive production is bound to take a step forward from his 38 points last season.

In any event, Cozens’ ceiling likely isn’t the 35+ goal season Thompson is coming off of, either. His development has been more linear, something that tracks well for the Sabres, at least in terms of certainty in contract negotiations. The team still currently has nearly $40MM in cap space to play with next offseason with the projected salary cap increase to $83.5MM, so any major contract the Sabres hand out now really doesn’t force their hand in the slightest.

It’s later on when things would get tricky, when the team is contending and their breakout stars want to capitalize on what should be a rapidly increasing salary cap at that point. From that point of view, betting on their players is a smart move from Adams at the moment. With the team still so far away from the salary cap, it can’t hurt to take a risk on what could be a team-friendly deal in five seasons. Even if the players don’t quite pan out as projected, those are deals that won’t be taking up nearly as much of their salary cap as they are now when they do become an issue.

Though Adams should be careful not to play with too much fire. Recent reports suggest that the first large salary cap jump could come in the 2024 offseason instead of 2025. That would be a boon to the Sabres, who have four major expiring contracts that offseason: Mittelstadt, Peyton Krebs, Rasmus Dahlin, and Owen Power. If everything goes as expected in terms of their development, that could very well be upwards of $30MM handed out just between those four players. If the Sabres put themselves in a position to give those contracts and still have some breathing room, they could finally construct a roster with the required depth to remain at the top of the Eastern Conference.

Adams: Sabres Quiet In Free Agency This Summer Knowing Youngsters Need Pricey Long-Term Deals Soon

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  • Sabres GM Kevyn Adams told Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News that part of the reason they weren’t overly active in free agency this summer was to give them the flexibility to extend their internal core as their contracts come up. We saw an example of that recently with the seven-year agreement with center Tage Thompson while Dylan Cozens is a year away from a pricey new deal of his own; Rasmus Dahlin, Owen Power, and Peyton Krebs are extension-eligible next summer.  If Adams intends to work out long-term deals with all of those players, they’ll need all the flexibility they can get so their discipline this summer will be worth it later.

Buffalo Sabres Sign Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen

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The Buffalo Sabres have signed goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen to a two-year deal with a cap hit of $837,500, the team announced via Twitter on Wednesday. The Buffalo News’ Lance Lysowski reports that the second year of the deal is one-way, when Luukkonen also becomes eligible for waivers.

Luukkonen split the 2021-22 season between the Sabres and their AHL affiliate, the Rochester Americans, coming up to Buffalo when injuries decimated their goaltending depth this season. Luukkonen battled through some injuries himself, something that’s unfortunately becoming a common theme, but still managed to get into 35 games for Rochester last season. There, he compiled a 15-14-8 record, .900 save percentage, and one shutout.

Those numbers don’t seem that impressive — and they aren’t — but he did have a much better NHL showing, albeit in a brief amount of appearances. Luukkonen actually had a .917 save percentage mark in nine NHL games, recording his second and third career NHL wins in the process.

After the Sabres retained both Craig Anderson and Malcolm Subban while also signing free agent Eric Comrie, Luukkonen is destined for another year in Rochester in 2022-23. It’s not the worst place for him, though, as he needs to show more consistency and solid improvement in the AHL before he’s ready to get a real full-time look in the NHL. With this likely being the last season of Anderson’s NHL career, Luukkonen could very well be ready for that full-time NHL job in 2023-24 during the second season of this new contract.

Buffalo Sabres Extend Tage Thompson

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The Buffalo Sabres have signed forward Tage Thompson to a seven-year, $50MM extension beginning in the 2023-24 season. The contract has a cap hit of $7.143MM and runs through 2030-2031.

General manager Kevyn Adams spoke on the deal:

Tage Thompson embodies the pride we expect from every player who wears the Buffalo Sabres sweater. His success last season is a testament to his unrelenting dedication to his craft and commitment to bettering the team both on and off the ice, which we believe will help us reach even greater heights moving forward. We are thrilled to extend Tage, keeping him and his family in Buffalo for many years to come.

Thompson, who will turn 25 in October, exploded for a breakout campaign in 2021-22. Playing in 78 games, Thompson shattered his previous single-digit career-highs in goals and assists, tallying 38 goals and 30 assists for 68 points. Widely credited due to the coaching of Don Granato and moving Thompson to center, he flourished in what was a promising year for him and the team overall.

He’ll need to keep up that pace now, though. More than $7MM per season is a massive commitment for one season of more than 15 points, but it could end up being a bargain just the same if he improves on those numbers. Any opinion of the deal will solely rely on one’s opinion of Thompson’s ceiling and how much development one thinks he has left.

In any event, Thompson is the team’s number one center for the long haul now. He heads up a deep group of young centers that includes Dylan Cozens, Peyton Krebs, Casey Mittelstadt, and Matthew Savoie, who all have the potential to be long-term, high-end top-nine fixtures for Buffalo.

It also gives the Sabres a degree of financial certainty that they’ve lacked in recent years. Forced to take on contracts purely to get to the salary cap’s spending floor, deals like Thompson’s given to young players instead of bloated free agent deals are a smarter way of managing money as Buffalo exits their rebuild.

Thompson will be 33 when the deal expires, meaning this will take Thompson all the way through his prime, in all likelihood.

ESPN’s Kevin Weekes was first to report Thompson and the Sabres were close on an extension.

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