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Buffalo Sabres Agree To Terms With Mattias Samuelsson

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Bad news for the Western Michigan Broncos, as one of their top players won’t be returning for his junior year. Mattias Samuelsson has agreed to terms with the Buffalo Sabres on a three-year entry-level contract. Sabres GM Jason Botterill explained his excitement:

We are very pleased with Mattias’ growth both at Western Michigan and on the international stage. He possesses a unique combination of size, speed and skill, and we look forward to working with him on his next steps as a pro.

The 20-year old defenseman was selected 32nd overall in 2018 and is the son of Kjell Samuelsson, who played nearly 1,000 games as an NHL defenseman and is now a development coach with the Philadelphia Flyers.

While his father stood at a towering 6’7″, Mattias Samuelsson hits the ice with plenty of his own size. At 6’4″ 220-lbs you may expect a bruising, plodding player, but Samuelsson is anything but. The left-handed defenseman has the speed and puck skills to play at the next level, even if his best attributes are still on the defensive side. In 30 games for Western Michigan this season he scored 14 points, but was a finalist for the NCHC Defensive Defenseman of the Year award.

There is likely still some development to be done with Samuelsson, but the Sabres will take over direct control of his path now that he’s under contract. Even if that means he starts in the AHL, you can bet that his name will be on the back of an NHL sweater before long.

Dawson DiPietro Signs With Buffalo Sabres

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The Buffalo Sabres have dipped into college free agency once again, this time signing Dawson DiPietro out of Western Michigan University. The college forward was at Sabres development camp last summer and has some familiarity with the organization, but will now join the Sabres on a one-year entry-level contract. GM Jason Botterill released a short statement on his newest forward:

Dawson was excellent at our development camp last summer, where he was able to showcase his speed and skill. His high-energy, up-tempo style was an important asset for Western Michigan, and we’re excited to add his skillset to our group.

If there’s one thing you notice as soon as you watch DiPietro, it’s speed. The 5’11” forward skates low to the ice and has the ability to tear by defenders in space, which helped him record 12 goals and 29 points this season for the Broncos. The 24-year old will immediately become a candidate for a fourth line role on the Sabres, though they may want to start him in the minor leagues to get a taste of professional hockey.

DiPietro joins Brandon Biro as additions the Sabres have made out of the college ranks this spring, something Botterill obviously learned during his time with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Buffalo Sabres Agree To Terms With Brandon Biro

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The Buffalo Sabres have dipped into the college free agent market, agreeing to terms with Brandon Biro on a two-year entry-level contract. The young forward just finished his senior season at Pennyslvania State University, where he served as captain. Sabres GM Jason Botterill released a short statement on the signing:

Brandon will bring a combination of skill, hockey sense and character to our organization. We’re confident that his four years at Penn State with Coach Gadowsky have prepared him well for the next phase of his development.

Biro, 22, has been a standout for years now at Penn State, scoring at a near point-per-game pace since his sophomore season. The undersized forward will jump into professional hockey hoping that production continues and that he’ll be useful depth for a Buffalo team still looking for an identity.

From Sherwood Park, Alberta, Biro was the AJHL Rookie of the Year a season before Cale Makar burst into the league and took all the attention. While he likely won’t have the same trajectory as that former opponent, there’s certainly hope that Biro can make a mark at the pro level.

Overseas Notes: Canucks Prospects, Suomi, KHL Playoffs

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With the NHL season on pause and almost every other professional league shutting down around the globe, front offices and agents can potentially get ahead on contracts for next season. Rick Dhaliwal of TSN checked in with the agents of some overseas prospects, including Marcus Isaksson who represents Vancouver Canucks prospect Linus Karlsson. The 20-year old forward was acquired last year from the San Jose Sharks, but may not be coming over just yet. Isaksson told Dhaliwal that they will talk to the Canucks but believes it may be better for Karlsson to spend one more year in Sweden.

Nils Hoglander, another Swedish prospect that has wowed overseas will also be talking with the Canucks at some point, though is in no rush with all that is going on. Hoglander, a second-round pick in 2019, took home bronze at the World Junior Championship and held his own at the SHL level despite only turning 19 a few months ago.

  • Eemeli Suomi reached the point-per-game threshold for the first time in Finland’s Liiga this season, coming second in league scoring with 57 points in 57 games. That kind of performance by a 24-year old will always turn some NHL heads, and a report today surfaced linking Suomi to the Buffalo Sabres. While he is currently under contract through 2021, there are ways for Suomi to come to North America if he feels ready to make the jump.
  • After Jokerit voluntarily withdrew from the KHL playoffs over the weekend, another team has decided to end their season before the league does. Barys Nur-Sultan, a team based in Kazakhstan, has pulled out of the Gagarin Cup playoffs as well after government rulings. In response, the KHL has paused their season for one week in order to create a schedule for the remaining teams.

Minor Transactions: 3/8/20

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With 20 teams in action Saturday, there was plenty of playoff implications, which included a big win for the Tampa Bay Lightning over the Boston Bruins in a rough, physical matchup. However, many other teams furthered their quest to get into the playoffs or pick up a higher seed with Carolina, Washington, Nashville, Florida, Philadelphia and Edmonton all picking up key wins. Several teams have made roster moves as teams juggle their lineups. We’ll keep track of all minor moves right here:

  • Late last night, the Anaheim Ducks announced they have assigned defenseman Brendan Guhle to the San Diego Gulls of the AHL. Guhle didn’t see much time in the second half of Friday’s game against Toronto, playing just 14:43. The 22-year-old has four goals and eight points in 30 games for the Ducks this year.  The Ducks have also recalled goalie Anthony Stolarz from San Diego, reports Elliott Teaford of the Orange County Register.  John Gibson is unavailable after suffering a groin injury against Toronto on Friday.
  • The New York Islanders sent defenseman Thomas Hickey to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers of the AHL, according to the AHL transaction page. The Islanders brought up Hickey on an emergency loan Saturday due to the injury to Johnny Boychuk, but have opted to return Hickey after just one game.
  • The Buffalo Sabres announced they have assigned defenseman John Gilmour to the Rochester Americans of the AHL. Gilmour was recalled Saturday as a seventh defenseman after the team learned that Lawrence Pilut would not be able to play Saturday night.
  • The Columbus Blue Jackets have assigned goaltender Matiss Kivlenieks to the Cleveland Monsters of the AHL, according to Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch. Kivlenieks has served as the backup to Joonas Korpisalo recently with Elvis Merzlikins injured. However, Merzlikins served as the backup Saturday, which allows the Blue Jackets to give Kivlenieks more playing time in Cleveland.
  • CapFriendly reports that after recalling Janne Kuokkanen from Binghamton Saturday, the New Jersey Devils have already assigned the forward back to his AHL affiliate. The team did not use him in their game on Saturday against the New York Rangers.
  • The Ottawa Senators announced they have assigned goaltender Filip Gustavsson to the Belleville Senators of the AHL. With Anders Nilsson and Marcus Hogberg both out, the Senators recalled Gustavsson last Monday, but he never got into a game. However, Hogberg is back at practice, meaning he will take over backup duties for Craig Anderson.

Atlantic Notes: Kotkaniemi, Zadina, Sabres

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Jesperi Kotkaniemi hasn’t had the sophomore campaign that he had hoped for. After an impressive rookie season in which the Montreal Candaien scored 11 goals and 34 points, the 19-year-old was hoping to improve on those numbers. Instead it’s been one disappointment after another, which includes a slow start, demotion to the AHL and now a spleen injury.

The Laval Rocket, the Canadiens’ AHL affiliate, announced (translation required) that Kotkaniemi suffered a spleen injury and spent Friday night in the hospital. He has been released, but there is no word on how long the young center will be out.

Kotkaniemi started the 2019-20 season with just six goals and eight points in 36 games, prompting the team to send him to Laval in hopes of getting increased playing time there as well as to find his confidence. So far through 13 games, Kotkaniemi has one goals and 13 points.

  • While the playoffs are out of reach for the Detroit Red Wings, the team’s main focus will be on developing their youth. That’s expected to include forward Filip Zadina, who has been out since Feb. 1 with a fractured ankle. MLive’s Ansar Khan reports that Zadina returned to practice Saturday and should be ready to return soon. “I just want to get stronger and get better and get back in the lineup,” Zadina said. “I just need to be a little more patient and get healthy 100 percent, get myself in shape and feel ready to go. Right now, I just want to (spend) most of the time on the ice and in the gym to get stronger.” Head coach Jeff Blashill said it won’t be Sunday, however.
  • The Athletic’s John Vogl (subscription required) looks into the future possibilities this summer when the Buffalo Sabres hit free agency. The scribe breaks down the team’s potential salary cap situation, cautiously estimating that Buffalo should have $21.5MM in available cap room. The team is in need of a second-line center, two right wingers and a left wing. With the right wing market likely to be the strongest at free agency, the team could focus on a player like Mike Hoffman or Tyler Toffoli to fill a need, but the team is unlikely to find help at the other two positions without making trades.

Minor Transactions: 3/7/20

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As usual, Saturday is a busy day on the schedule with 20 teams in action including the Panthers who will be retiring Roberto Luongo’s number in advance of their game against Montreal.  There should be plenty of roster movement throughout the day which we’ll keep track of here.

  • The Blackhawks have assigned defenseman Dennis Gilbert to AHL Rockford, per the AHL’s Transactions Page. The 23-year-old played for them on Friday while being up on emergency recall and logged 13:36 of ice time.  He has suited up 21 times for Chicago this season, picking up a goal and two assists.
  • With Lawrence Pilut dealing with the flu, the Sabres announced the recall of defenseman John Gilmour from AHL Rochester. The 26-year-old blueliner has played in four games with Buffalo this season but has spent most of the year in the minors.  After putting up 54 points at the AHL level a year ago, Gilmour has just 13 with Rochester so far this season.
  • The Oilers announced (Twitter link) that they have assigned defenseman William Lagesson to AHL Bakersfield.  With Oscar Klefbom being activated off injured reserve, the odds of Lagesson getting any NHL ice time go down considerably as he already was a regular healthy scratch but he’ll log plenty of minutes for the Condors.  Meanwhile, getting Klefbom back after missing three weeks due to a shoulder issue will certainly help Edmonton’s push for first place in the Pacific Division.
  • The Sharks announced the recall of defenseman Nikolai Knyzhov from the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda.  The 21-year-old signed as an undrafted free agent back in July and has played in 33 AHL games this season, picking up a goal and four assists. The San Jose Sharks later announced they have recalled defenseman Nick DeSimone from the San Jose Barracuda of the AHL. The 25-year-old DeSimone has yet to make his NHL debut. He has five goals and 19 points in 48 games.
  • After being recalled earlier in the week on an emergency basis, the Canucks announced (Twitter link) that they’ve returned defenseman Guillaume Brisebois to AHL Utica.  The 22-year-old has been up three times with Vancouver this season but has yet to see any action with them in 2019-20.
  • The New Jersey Devils announced they have recalled forward Janne Kuokkanen from the Binghamton Devils of the AHL. The Devils picked up Kuokkanen from the Carolina Hurricanes at the traded deadline for Sami Vatanen. Kuokkanen has fared quite well with Binghamton since acquired, scoring three goals and six points in four games. He has 15 goals and 48 points in 56 AHL games. The 21-year-old Kuokkanen has 11 NHL games under his belt, having played seven games with the Hurricanes last season with no points.
  • The Boston Bruins announced they assigned forward Karson Kuhlman to the Providence Bruins of the AHL after the team activated defenseman Connor Clifton from injured reserve. The 24-year-old Kuhlman played in 25 games for Boston, posting one goals and six points. Clifton, has been out since Dec. 29, with an upper-body injury. While offense was never a strong point for the 24-year-old with two goals and two points in 30 games, Clifton did provide some physicality with 85 hits.
  • The Carolina Hurricanes announced they have recalled forward Morgan Geekie from the Charlotte Checkers of the AHL. The 21-year-old center became one of the top forward options on the Checkers squad after the team traded away a number of prospects recently, including Kuokkanen, Julien Gauthier (to the New York Rangers) and Eetu Luostarinen (to the Florida Panthers). With the increased playing time, Geekie captured AHL Player of the Week honors for his performance last week, which included four goals and seven points in four games.

Zemgus Girgensons Questionable For Saturday With A Lower-Body Injury

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  • Sabres winger Zemgus Girgensons is questionable to play in Saturday’s game against Philadelphia due to a lower-body injury that caused him to miss practice today, mentions Mike Harrington of The Buffalo News. If he is unable to play, Michael Frolik would likely draw in after missing the last four games as a healthy scratch which wasn’t what anyone was hoping for when Buffalo acquired him back in January.

Minor Transactions: 03/06/20

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The hockey world is in mourning today after Henri Richard’s death, but the league unfortunately must march on even while grieving. As always, we’ll keep track of the minor moves right here.

  • The Ottawa Senators have recalled Christian Wolanin from the minor leagues, sending Christian Jaros back to take his place. The swap gives them a different option for their trip to the west coast, which starts tomorrow with a game against the San Jose Sharks.
  • The New Jersey Devils have sent both Jesper Boqvist and Josh Jacobs back to the AHL. Boqvist, 21, has played 35 games this season but has just four goals and zero assists. He’ll need to find his game again in the minors if he ever wants to be an impact player for the Devils.
  • Jonas Johansson has been assigned to the Rochester Americans once again, leaving the Buffalo Sabres after two weeks. The big goaltender now has six games under his belt at the NHL level, with many more likely coming in the future.
  • The Anaheim Ducks have returned goaltender Anthony Stolarz to AHL San Diego.  He was recalled earlier this week to serve as the backup while Ryan Miller dealt with the flu but now that he has returned, Stolarz can return to his role as the starter for the Gulls.  Anaheim has also returned defenseman Simon Benoit to San Diego, per the AHL’s Transactions Page.  He was recalled for the second time this season on Wednesday but has yet to see NHL action.
  • With Cody Ceci being activated off IR, the Maple Leafs have loaned defenseman Timothy Liljegren to the AHL’s Marlies.  The 20-year-old got into 11 NHL games with Toronto, recording an assist while logging just over 10 minutes a night in ice time.

Pittsburgh Penguins Pick Up Conor Sheary, Evan Rodrigues

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The Pittsburgh Penguins have picked up a pair of players as the Buffalo Sabres have sent forwards Conor Sheary and Evan Rodrigues to the Penguins for Dominik Kahun, according to TSN’s Pierre LeBrun.

Sheary returns to the only other team he’s ever played for. The 27-year-old played for the Penguins for three years, but was traded back in 2018 with Matt Hunwick for a 2019 fourth-round pick. Sheary has 23 goals over a season and a half, including nine goals and 19 points this season through 55 games. The winger should add some much-needed depth for the team, which has been riddled with injuries up until now.

Rodrigues asked the Sabres for a trade back on Dec. 31 due to his lack of playing time, who has appeared in just 38 games for the team and has been a healthy scratch off an on this season. Rodrigues has five goals and nine points this season and should add some more depth, alongside Sheary, for a team that has been riddled with injuries all season.

Kahun arrives in Buffalo with some more potential and may be the best player in the trade. The 24-year-old has nine goals and 27 points this year after arriving in a trade last summer in Chicago where he had 10 goals and 37 points. He originally signed with the Blackhawks out of Germany. He should give the Sabres a helpful third-line option. Kahun will be a restricted free agent this summer.

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