Headlines

Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Sabres Rumors

Taxi Squad Shuffle: 1/24/21

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

It appears as though there will be daily movement this season between the active roster and taxi squad. Although some major names may be highlighted in separate articles, this is where you’ll find the majority of shuffle news each day.

  • The Dallas Stars announced they have recalled forward Tanner Kero from their taxi squad after placing forward Joel Kiviranta on injured reserve. The 28-year-old Kero hasn’t made an NHL appearance since the 2017-18 season, but could get onto the ice depending on the injury status of Jamie Benn, who is a game-time decision. Kiviranta, who was listed as day-to-day Saturday after getting injured in practice, will have to sit out at least three games.
  • The Detroit Red Wings announced they have recalled forwards Givani Smith and Taro Hirose from the taxi squad. Smith has been up and down between the NHL and taxi squad, while Hirose was recalled three days ago to the taxi squad from the AHL. Both are expected to make their season debuts on Sunday. Detroit also have re-assigned forward Riley Barber to the taxi squad. UPDATE: The Red Wings have reversed course, announcing they have sent Hirose and Smith back to the taxi squad after their game with Chicago ended.
  • The Philadelphia Flyers announced they have loaned defenseman Derrick Pouliot from the taxi squad to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in the AHL. The team also announced some salary cap moves, sending forward Connor Bunnaman and Samuel Morin to their taxi squad.
  • The Buffalo Sabres announced they have swapped young players as the team has sent forward Dylan Cozens to the taxi squad and recalled Casey Mittelstadt, who is expected to make his season debut Sunday. Cozens scored his first career NHL goal Friday, but head coach Ralph Krueger made it clear before the season that he intends to ease his young players into the lineup. The team has also activated forward Kyle Okposo from injured reserve. He has missed the team’s first five games with a lower-body injury.
  • Las Vegas Review Journal’s David Schoen reports that the Vegas Golden Knights have activated defenseman Nicolas Hague off the taxi squad and moved center Cody Glass to the taxi squad, a similar move from two games ago as the team continues to balance their salary cap with rotating between five and six defensemen.
  • The Washington Post’s Samantha Pell reports that with two forwards (Alex Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov), a defenseman (Dmitry Orlov) and a goaltender (Ilya Samsonov) out due to COVID-19 restrictions, the team was able to recall two players, including forwards Brian Pinho and Connor McMichael (as well as goaltender Craig Anderson), via the emergency recall exception rule and not count against their cap. McMichael is the most interesting of the two as the 2019 first-round pick will make his NHL debut Sunday.
  • The New Jersey Devils announced they have assigned forward Jesper Boqvist to the taxi squad and they have recalled forward Nicholas Merkley, who is expected to make his season debut Sunday. Boqvist has appeared in four games for New Jersey, failing to register a point. Merkley, acquired from Arizona in the Taylor Hall trade last season, had a goal and an assist in four games last year with the Devils.
  • The Columbus Blue Jackets already placed Brandon Dubinsky on LTIR earlier today, but the team also made a few other moves to get under the salary cap, according to The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline. The scribe writes that both Alexandre Texier and Liam Foudy have been assigned to the taxi squad, but as paper moves to maximize their LTIR pool. The team has also recalled Emil Bemstrom and Stefan Matteau from the taxi squad.
  • The New York Rangers announced they have recalled forward Colin Blackwell from their taxi squad and is likely to make his Rangers’ debut. The 27-year-old signed with the Rangers as a free agent after posting three goals and 10 points in 27 games for the Nashville Predators last season.
  • The Calgary Flames made their standard game-day transaction, recalling Derek Ryan and Oliver Kylington from the taxi squad. Ryan has appeared in three games with no points, while Kylington has yet to make an appearance for Calgary this year.
  • The Minnesota Wild announced they have recalled goaltender Andrew Hammond from their taxi squad with the status of Cam Talbot being day-to-day. In order to keep three goaltenders on the roster, the team has assigned netminder Hunter Jones from Iowa of the AHL to the taxi squad. Hammond has not made an appearance yet for the Wild.
  • With the Bruins off, CapFriendly reports that Boston has shuffled forwards Jack Studnicka and Trent Frederic plus defenseman Urho Vaakanainen to their taxi squad, continuing their near-daily movement.  Steven Kampfer was reassigned to AHL Providence from the taxi squad to create room for Vaakanainen’s placement.
  • Avalanche defenseman Conor Timmins was in the lineup for their game today against Anaheim, meaning that he has been recalled from the taxi squad.  The 22-year-old has played in four games so far with Colorado this season, logging a little under 13 minutes per game.
  • Pierre Engvall and Jason Spezza were both in the lineup for the Maple Leafs against Calgary today, meaning they were promoted from the taxi squad.  To get back into cap compliance, Travis Boyd was sent to the taxi squad.
  • After scoring in his Canadiens debut on Saturday, Montreal has returned Corey Perry to the taxi squad, per CapFriendly.  The veteran will likely be recalled in time for their next game against Calgary on Thursday.
  • The Ottawa Senators have returned winger Micheal Haley to their taxi squad, per CapFriendly.  He was recalled for Saturday’s game against Winnipeg and played 7:39 while getting into a fight.

Snapshots: Ullmark, Tryamkin, Thornton

at CDT | by 1 Comment

The Buffalo Sabres have been taking the ice without Linus Ullmark for the last two games and this morning the goaltender explained why. After Monday’s morning skate, Ullmark received news that his father had passed away in Sweden. Carter Hutton took the net that evening, but captain Jack Eichel awarded Ullmark with the game puck after a 6-1 victory. He expressed his gratitude towards the whole organization for how they’ve come to his support in the days since.

Ullmark plans on traveling with the team to Washington and could be available for Friday’s game against the Capitals. Hutton meanwhile will not be on the trip as he deals with an injury and is listed as day-to-day.

  • The Vancouver Canucks have a very interesting relationship with Russian defenseman Nikita Tryamkin, who is still playing in the KHL despite a long negotiation last year. The 26-year-old defender is still technically a restricted free agent and can only sign with the Canucks if he chooses to return to the NHL. Now, Rick Dhaliwal of TSN gives an update on the situation and spoke with Yekaterinburg executive Maxim Ryabkov, who expressed how much Tryamkin has improved in the last year, even calling him “one of the best defensemen in the KHL.” The 6’7″ behemoth pairs incredible size with excellent skating ability to shut down rushes and move the puck quickly. If he is not signed this offseason, Tryamkin can actually become an unrestricted free agent after the 2021-22 season.
  • The Toronto Maple Leafs had the blender out at practice today following a loss to the Edmonton Oilers that included Joe Thornton’s early exit with an injury. Thornton will undergo further testing to determine the extent of the injury but is expected to miss some time. Interestingly, Auston Matthews also left practice just before it began, though all head coach Sheldon Keefe told reporters including Kristen Shilton of TSN that the star center “wasn’t feeling great.” Adam Brooks, Pierre Engvall, and Alexander Barabanov were all skating with the main group as the Maple Leafs try to figure out their lines moving forward.

Snapshots: Tkachuk, Provorov, Hutton, Pastrnak

at CDT | by 7 Comments

Although his entry-level contract expires after this season, Brady Tkachuk and the Ottawa Senators are not rushing into contract talks. Tkachuk spoke with the media on Wednesday, including The Ottawa Sun’s Ken Warren, and stated that he was happy with the club and not worried about negotiating an extension. “We’re not really talking about (a new contract),” Tkachuk said, “I don’t think that’s the focus for both sides. Our goal right now is to do everything we can to make the playoffs.” Neither side really has much to worry about anyhow. Tkachuk has continually stated that he enjoys playing for the team and living in Ottawa and seems committed to a long-term future with the Senators. And with more than $34MM in projected cap space for next season and few existing long-term contracts to worry about, the club should have no problem giving their young centerpiece whatever he wants in order to ensure a lengthy extension of their relationship.

  • No league discipline is coming for Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov in regards to a net front collision that injured Buffalo Sabres goaltender Carter Hutton on Tuesday. The play in question did look like it was at least partially caused by Hutton’s teammate, Brandon Montour, and there is not nearly enough evidence for NHL Player Safety to state that Provorov was definitively at fault. That hasn’t stopped Sabres head coach Ralph Krueger from publicly stating his disappointment with the situation, though. Krueger tells The Athletic’s Charlie O’Connor that Provorov’s actions were purposeful: “if you look at the way the elbow comes extended, you know what you’re doing.” Krueger believes his team has already been the victims of several bad hits to the head so far this season and is clearly to get some extra attention for the next time such a situation arises. Hutton continued on in the game following the collision, but did not return after the second intermission and is currently questionable for the Sabres’ next game.
  • The Boston Bruins’ scoring woes are one of the early season’s biggest stories, but help is on the way. NHL.com’s Amalie Benjamin writes that David Pastrnak is ahead of schedule in his recovery from off-season hip surgery. Initially expected to return around mid-February, Pastrnak has already re-joined practice as a non-contact participant. Head coach Bruce Cassidy now expects that he could return to action as early as late next week. The reigning Rocket Richard Trophy winner will be a welcome addition to a team that has yet to produce an even strength goal through three games.

Minor Transactions: 01/18/21

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The NHL season is underway and at the top level teams are keeping busy merely by swapping players between the active roster and taxi squad. However, with AHL training camps starting up, there has also been a flurry of activity from the lower levels. There also continue to be players making the move overseas, by both signing and loan. Keep up with all of the action right here:

  • In addition to confirming the previously reported signings of Ryan Fitzgerald, Tanner MacMaster, and Zane McIntyre, the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms have added another netminder, announcing the signing of Eamon McAdam. McAdam, 26, is a Pennsylvania native and a Penn State product, so he should feel right at home with the Philadelphia Flyers’ affiliate. McAdam had been playing with the ECHL’s Jacksonville Icemen to begin the season.
  • The Rochester Americans announced that they have inked defenseman Dylan Blujus to a one-year AHL contract. The former Tampa Bay Lightning prospect is a solid stay-at-home defender who has a +24 rating in 274 AHL games over six pro seasons.
  • The San Jose Barracuda have recalled a number of players from the ECHL’s Allen Americans for the start of training camp, including Sharks prospect Jacob McGrew. McGrew got an early start to his first pro season down in the ECHL after missing all but six games of his final WHL campaign due to injury. The Sharks already trusted McGrew’s ability enough to give him an entry-level contract and after a strong scoring start in Allen, they could let him fight for a top-six role with the Barracuda.
  • After five seasons in the AHL, former Edmonton Oilers prospect Joey LaLeggia is headed overseas. The 28-year-old has signed with he SHL’s Rogle BK for the remainder of the season, the team announced. LaLeggia, who was a standout on defense in the NCAA with the University of Denver, had shifted to forward in the pros. It remains to be seen how the versatile veteran will be used in Sweden.
  • Another name making the move to Europe is 2021 NHL Draft prospect Brett Harrison. The potential first-round pick this summer has yet to play this season and the OHL’s Oshawa Generals have thus agreed to loan him to KOOVEE of the Finnish minor league Metsis, his new club announced. The two-way center will look to improve his draft stock by playing against pros, possibly for the rest of the year.

East Notes: Kase, Reinhart, Varlamov, Frost

at CDT | by 1 Comment

The Boston Bruins will be without one of their top wingers as head coach Bruce Cassidy said that Ondrej Kase is doubtful for Monday’s game against the New York Islanders with an upper-body injury, according to Boston Hockey Now’s Joe Haggerty.

Kase took a high hit against the boards from New Jersey’s Miles Wood during the second period of Saturday’s game. Already with a history of concussions, the forward skated off the ice on his own, but was holding his face.

On a positive note, winger Craig Smith, out with a lower-body injury, is likely to be available on Monday. Smith did make his debut on Saturday, playing 17:07 of ice time and should find himself on the second line. Jake Debrusk is expected to move over to the right side and fill in on the team’s first line as well.

  • The Sabres were missing a pair of wingers in practice Sunday as Sam Reinhart was not at practice and remains questionable after suffering a lower-body injury Friday in a collision against the boards, according to the Buffalo News’ Mike Harrington. Reinhart was skating uncomfortably after going down awkwardly, but still played 21:25. The forward was moved to the top line during the game, giving that line better opportunities. The team was also missing Kyle Okposo, who hasn’t played a game yet this season and remains day-to-day with a lower-body injury.
  • While no update on the severity of the injury, The Athletic’s Arthur Staple reports that the injury that New York Islanders goaltender Semyon Varlamov suffered during warmups is a jaw issue, not a neck issue. The netminder took a shot that went underneath his mask and forced him to leave the ice. Rookie Ilya Sorokin got the start instead with veteran Cory Schneider serving as the backup.
  • With their lines developing chemistry, Philadelphia Flyers head coach Alain Vigneault said he’s not interested in rotating the lines after the injury to Sean Couturier. Therefore Morgan Frost, who was expected to step in for the Selke winner, will take over for Couturier and take over top-line centering duties and will play with Travis Konecny and Oskar Lindblom, according to Philadelphia Inquirer’s Sam Carchidi. “I think Morgan deserves this opportunity to play with TK and Oskar,” Vigneault said. “What went into our decision, also, was that the other lines are building some chemistry. … Instead of shuffling everything (he made just one move). Morgan is considered to be a skilled offensive player. I might as well put him in that role. With TK and Oskar, he’s playing with two pretty good players.”

USHL Gaining Top Players With Canadian Junior Leagues Out Of Action

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The United States Hockey League, USHL, is the top junior league in the U.S. and has been growing as a top developmental destination in recent years. Yet, they have never seen an influx of talent as they have this season. Early on, it was NCAA players whose teams (mostly Ivy League programs) canceled play this year due to the Coronavirus pandemic. However, as the CHL leagues – OHL, WHL, and QMJHL – and other Junior-A Canadian leagues remain out of action, the flow of top players has continued. The USHL season is ongoing and has thus far operated without much delay, making it the greatest beneficiary on the other side of the border from the stalled Canadian leagues. This past week has shown that talented players throughout Canada are running low on patience with their current leagues and are now making the move south.

On Tuesday, the trend really began to pick up steam when the BCHL announced nine departures, four to the USHL including two top players from the powerhouse Penticton Vees. Buffalo Sabres forward prospect Matteo Costantini, who had joined Penticton this season before heading to the University of North Dakota next year, has now joined the USHL’s Sioux City Musketeers. Well-regarded 2021-eligible defenseman Owen Murray is also headed to the NCAA next season as a University of Massachusetts commit, but instead of staying with the Vees this year, he has now joined the USHL’s Green Bay Gamblers.

On Wednesday, Penticton lost another top defenseman, as projected 2021 second/third-round pick Jack Bar left for the USHL’s Chicago Steel and will not return to the Vees next season with Harvard University in his sights. However, the bigger story was the exodus from the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks. Detroit Red Wings 2020 second-round pick Cross Hanas and potential 2021 first-round forward Jack O’Brien, along with two other teammates, all left for the USL’s Lincoln Stars. Lincoln also picked up 2021 defenseman and Boston University commit Charles-Alexis Legault from the BCHL’s West Kelowna Warriors.

The biggest move to date is a major addition for the Sioux Falls Stampede. Forward Cole Sillinger, a consensus 2021 first-round pick, left the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers to head to the U.S. Sillinger recorded 53 points in 48 games with the Tigers last year and may just be one of the best players in the USHL now that he has arrived in Sioux Falls.

The question of course with all of these transfers is whether any of these players will leave if their Canadian teams are able to play this season. These USHL clubs undoubtedly hope they can retain their newfound talent throughout their season and postseason and they almost certainly will if junior play in Canada is unable to return. However, the WHL is already taking steps toward a possible return and other leagues will try to follow. Regardless, this influx of talent is great for the competition level of the USHL this year and its reputation moving forward as it looks to compete for top players with the CHL elite in the future.

Minor Transactions: 01/16/21

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

While there will be plenty of taxi squad activity around the league today, there will be plenty other transactions around the hockey world as well. We’ll keep tabs on those here:

  • The Predators announced that they’ve assigned defenseman Alexandre Carrier to Chicago of the AHL. The 24-year-old played in three games with Nashville last season but spent most of the year with AHL Milwaukee where he had five goals and 32 assists, exactly matching his 2018-19 output but did so in 21 fewer games (55 in 2019-20, 76 the year before).
  • Buffalo has recalled goaltender Ukka-Pekka Luukkonen from his loan to TPS Turku, the Finnish team announced. The 21-year-old is regarded as a potential goalie of the future for the Sabres and he held his own in Finland’s top league, posting a 2.52 GAA with a .908 SV% in 13 games.  He split last season between AHL Rochester and ECHL Cincinnati but should more action in the AHL this year.
  • The Flyers announced (Twitter link) that they have loaned center Tanner Laczynski to Lehigh Valley of the AHL. The 23-year-old is in his first professional season after wrapping up his college career with Ohio State where he had 11 goals and 23 assists in just 36 games last season.
  • Lehigh Valley is also prepared to bring in a trio of minor league veterans on AHL contracts as well. AHL reporter Tony Androck notes that the Phantoms are expected to sign goaltender Zane McIntyre and forwards Ryan Fitzgerald and Tanner MacMaster to one-year deals. McIntyre, who was recently in training camp with the Arizona Coyotes, is a former teammate of Fitzgerald’s with the Providence Bruins. MacMaster is coming off a 30-point campaign with the Toronto Marlies and is looking to prove that he is a dangerous scorer worthy of an NHL look.
  • The AHL’s Colorado Eagles have signed a number of Avalanche prospects to amateur tryout agreements, including goaltender Trent Miner and forwards Jean-Luc Foudy, Sasha Mutala, and Luka Burzan. All four prospects play in either the OHL or WHL and have been out of commission for some time. They’ll at least get a chance to suit up in AHL training camp with the Eagles, if not longer.
  • Winnipeg Jets prospect Daniel Torgersson, a 2020 second-round pick, may have an eye on a extended development period at home in Sweden before making his way across the Atlantic. Torgersson’s current team, the SHL’s Frolunda HC, have announced a two-year extension with the young power forward, keeping him under contract through 2022-23. The NHL and SHL have a transfer agreement in place, but the term of Torgersson’s new deal at least implies he has considered spending a couple more years in Sweden with the Indians.
  • NHL veteran Matt Puempel will also be playing in Sweden this season. The 27-year-old forward, unable to find a new NHL contract, has signed on with the SHL’s Malmo Redhawks for the remainder of the season, the team announced. Puempel is coming off a two-year deal with the Detroit Red Wings, but saw just eight total games of NHL action in that time. Puempel has 87 NHL games and 340 AHL games on his resume.

Salary Cap Deep Dive: Buffalo Sabres

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

Navigating the salary cap is one of the more important tasks for any GM.  Teams that can avert total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful.  Those that don’t see struggles and front office changes.

PHR will look at every NHL team and give a thorough look at their cap situation for the 2020-21 season.  This will focus more on players who are regulars on the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL.  All cap figures are courtesy of CapFriendly.

Buffalo Sabres

Current Cap Hit: $79,614,282 (under the $81.5MM Upper Limit)

Entry-Level Contracts

F Dylan Cozens (three years, $894K)
D Rasmus Dahlin (one year, $925K)
D Henri Jokiharju (one year, $925K)

Potential Bonuses
Cozens: $850K
Dahlin: $2.85MM
Jokiharju: $637.5K
Total: $4.3375MM

Cozens made the team despite a shortened training camp due to him playing at the World Juniors where he was one of the top performers in the tournament.  He isn’t eligible to play in the AHL whenever the WHL gets underway so a decision will have to be made in a few weeks as to whether or not to burn the first year of his entry-level deal.  The threshold has been cut to seven games meaning that if Cozens plays in that seventh contest, his contract officially burns a year.

Dahlin hasn’t been the flashiest player since being taken first overall in 2018 but he has already established himself as an important part of their back end and a player they’ll want to build around.  Discussions surrounding a long-term deal would likely use Florida’s Aaron Ekblad ($7.5MM AAV for eight years) as a potential comparable and with the flexibility that they’re about to have on the cap, they can easily afford to go that route if they want.  As for Jokiharju, he played a regular role on the third pairing after being acquired from Chicago.  Unless he’s able to jump into their top four though, a short-term contract makes the most sense and without arbitration eligibility, he shouldn’t be able to command a sizable raise.

One Year Remaining, Non-Entry-Level

F Taylor Hall ($8MM, UFA)
G Carter Hutton ($2.75MM, UFA)
D Matt Irwin ($700K, UFA)
D Jake McCabe ($2.85MM, UFA)
D Brandon Montour ($3.85MM, UFA)
F Sam Reinhart ($5.2MM, RFA)
F Tobias Rieder ($700K, UFA)
F Riley Sheahan ($700K, UFA)
F Eric Staal ($3.25MM, UFA)
G Linus Ullmark ($2.6MM, UFA)

The Sabres made a big splash in free agency by getting Hall to sign with them.  It was a surprise on multiple fronts in that a non-playoff team landed him and that it was just for one year although the state of the UFA market helped push his fate in that direction fairly quickly.  He’ll get a chance to rebuild his value a little bit in the hopes of getting a similar price tag on a long-term deal this summer but with many teams trending to tight to the cap for next year as well, a contract similar to this one can’t be ruled out either.  Staal was brought in from Minnesota in the offseason and is coming off a solid season.  He’s slowing down but as long as he can produce like a second-liner, there’s a spot for him around his current price tag.  Rieder and Sheahan are both depth players and will either be retained or replaced by others making the minimum.

Reinhart’s situation largely has flown under the radar due to Hall but it’s reaching the point where a decision is going to need to be made.  Instead of inking a long-term deal this past offseason, Reinhart and the Sabres opted for a one-year deal, giving him another crack at restricted free agency with arbitration eligibility in the summer.  However, he’s now only one year away from UFA eligibility so if talks on a long-term deal don’t go well, he can easily just file for arbitration, get his one-year contract, and hit the open market in the prime of his career.  They’ve kicked the can as far as they can and GM Kevyn Adams will need to get a long-term agreement in place with Reinhart this offseason.

Montour was a speculative non-tender candidate after a tough first full season with the Sabres although he wound up accepting a small raise that walks him to UFA eligibility.  But if he doesn’t show the promise that he did in his time with Anaheim, he’ll be hard-pressed to receive his current salary on the open market.  McCabe has seen a lot of second pairing playing time in recent years and has held his own although he’s better used as a fifth option.  While he doesn’t produce much offensively, he’s still fairly young and it wouldn’t be surprising if he winds up with a deal around what Joel Edmundson signed to avoid hitting the open market with Montreal, a multi-year deal in the $3.5MM range.  Irwin has been at or near the minimum for a few years now and that’s unlikely to change.

Ullmark was expected to be part of the long-term solution for Buffalo between the pipes and while that’s still possible, the fact that he only received a one-year deal to get him to UFA eligibility means that the Sabres aren’t yet sold on that possibility.  While he should be able to do enough to earn a small raise at a minimum given the recent demand for quality backups, he’ll need a big year to have a shot at starter money.  Hutton is coming off of a tough season and will need a bounce-back year to garner some interest.  At the very least, he’ll be going year-to-year moving forward as any future contracts will have 35-plus rules attached to them.

Two Years Remaining

F Cody Eakin ($2.25MM, UFA)
F Curtis Lazar ($800K, UFA)
D Colin Miller ($3.875MM, UFA)
F Victor Olofsson ($3.05MM, RFA)
D Rasmus Ristolainen ($5.4MM, UFA)

Olofsson was one of the pleasant surprises in what was a tough season for the Sabres as he was one of the top-scoring rookies in the league before a lower-body injury derailed his momentum.  A bridge deal made a lot of sense for both sides given how his production caught many off guard but if he picks up where he left off and scores at a 20-goal or more pace, he could easily add another million or two to his price tag.  Eakin was brought in as an unrestricted free agent to give them some veteran depth down the middle although the price tag was on the high side given what other role players had to sign for.  Lazar hasn’t lived up to his first-round draft billing but he’s affordable depth that will either be replaced or retained at that price tag.

Ristolainen continues to be one of the more polarizing blueliners in the league.  There’s no denying that he has a strong offensive game but his play in his own end isn’t graded anywhere near as favorably.  Still, he will enter the market at 27 in the prime of his career and is a right-shot player, the side where supply is much shallower than demand.  A small raise, even in this marketplace, is a definite possibility.  After being a key part of the back end in Vegas, Miller didn’t fare anywhere near as well with Buffalo and his ice time has been cut further in the early going this year.  He will need to establish himself as a viable top-four option if he wants to have a chance at getting something close to his current AAV in 2022.

Three Years Remaining

F Zemgus Girgensons ($2.2MM, UFA)
F Kyle Okposo ($6MM, UFA)
F Tage Thompson ($1.4MM, RFA)

Okposo is now officially in the back half of the deal he signed in the ill-fated 2016 offseason.  His days of being an impact player have come and gone but he’s still serviceable in a bottom-six role.  It’s too bad for the Sabres that he’s paid way too much for that particular role though.  Girgensons also got an above-market deal for a depth player and it’s certainly not off to a good start as he’s already out for the season.  Thompson is the lone player left from the Ryan O’Reilly deal to St. Louis and battled injury troubles last year.  He accepted a bit of security by taking the three-year agreement and it shouldn’t take much for Buffalo to get a good return on it but he’ll need to establish himself as a top-six forward to have a shot at a significant raise in 2023.

Read more

Casey Nelson Opts Out Of The Upcoming Season, Retires

at CDT | by 2 Comments

January 15: Not only will Nelson be absent this season, but his playing career has ended. The defenseman has announced his retirement on Instagram, ending any speculation on his future in Buffalo. The 28-year-old will finish his career with 93 NHL games and 18 points.

December 27: The deadline for players to opt out of the upcoming season has come and gone with only one player exercising the option to do so.  TSN’s Darren Dreger reports (Twitter link) that Sabres defenseman Casey Nelson has elected not to play this season due to concerns surrounding the ongoing pandemic.  It is not known at this point if this is precautionary or if there is a pre-existing condition that could be worsened if he contracted the virus.  If it’s the latter, Buffalo will still be required to pay him.

The 28-year-old re-signed with Buffalo on a one-year, two-way deal back in October.  He spent all of last season with their AHL affiliate in Rochester, picking up four goals and eight assists in 48 games.  Nelson last saw NHL action back in 2018-19 when he got into 38 games with Buffalo and has 93 career NHL contests under his belt, all with Buffalo.  As a result, he would have been a candidate to be on their taxi squad.

The Sabres will now have the option to toll Nelson’s contract.  If they do, his deal will roll over to the 2021-22 season with his NHL salary being boosted from $700K to $750K to account for the pending increase in the minimum salary.  If not, he’ll be an unrestricted free agent again next offseason.

Jack Quinn Moved To Taxi Squad

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

Earlier this morning, the Buffalo Sabres completed the expected move of Jack Quinn to the practice squad, opening up a spot for Riley Sheahan on the active roster. The Sabres host the Washington Capitals later this evening for their season debut.

Quinn, 19, has impressed the Sabres so far with his play at the World Junior and short time in training camp, but still is unlikely to be ready to step directly into the limelight. He has practiced with the AHL-bound players the last few days and Sheahan is expected to be activated from his non-roster designation to play on the fourth line this evening. Still, even getting this far can only be beneficial for Quinn, the Sabres first-round pick from October.

As one of the highly-touted players out of the OHL, Quinn is currently in a state of limbo with nowhere to play. His Ottawa 67’s don’t have a clear timeline to return to action as the OHL waits out a provincial lockdown, while suiting up in the NHL would mean burning the first year of his entry-level contract and likely putting Quinn in over his head. The AHL seems a logical fit and it wouldn’t be surprising to see Quinn assigned to Rochester Americans camp when it starts tomorrow. The young forward can play in the minor league until the OHL gets up and running without any danger of burning his ELC.

Quinn’s World Junior partner, Dylan Cozens, doesn’t have to wait. He’ll be in the opening night lineup playing alongside Cody Eakin and Tobias Rieder on the third line.

Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

scroll to top