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Atlantic Notes: Kulich, Komarov, Danielson

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Buffalo Sabres’ prospect Jiri Kulich has played himself into a decent situation heading into training camp after dominating the Buffalo Prospect Showcase. Steven Ellis of Daily Faceoff argued earlier today that Buffalo must get Kulich to the NHL as soon as possible for him and the team to flourish.

Kulich was drafted by the Sabres organization with the 28th pick of the 2022 NHL Draft and has transitioned well in the AHL with 51 goals and 91 points through his first 119 regular season contests. Buffalo had a genuine logjam of forward prospects looking to make their way to the NHL level but the team’s trade of prospect Matthew Savoie this summer paved the way for Kulich to make the opening night lineup.

He can play at all three forward positions and has elevated his play away from the puck with one scout saying, “But now you’re seeing the intensity away from the puck, too. It’s a work in progress but he has come a long way in making himself more rounded“. It’s difficult to see where exactly Kulich fits into the opening night roster for the Sabres Still, a strong showing at camp could allow Kulich to wrestle away ice time from anyone currently pencilled in the team’s bottom six.

Other Atlantic notes:

  • If you ask Scott Wheeler and Matthew Fairburn of The Athletic, the Sabres got the steal of the draft in 2022 (Subscription Article). Defenseman Vsevolod Komarov was a relatively unknown commodity after scoring two goals and 19 points in 60 games with the QMJHL’s Québec Remparts during his draft year. He helped the Remparts to a Memorial Cup championship in 2023 but became another player entirely after being traded to the Drummondville Voltigeurs last year. Komarov exploded for 11 goals and 50 points in 38 games for the Voltigeurs while adding another five goals and 15 points in 19 postseason contests. The 2023-24 QMJHL Defenseman of the Year and Playoff MVP is expected to join the AHL’s Rochester Americans this season with plenty of excitement around him.
  • The Detroit Red Wings are eager to see how the ninth overall pick of the 2023 NHL Draft, Nate Danielson, responds to more pressure at this year’s training camp says Max Bultman of The Athletic (Subscription Article). Danielson played well in training camp last year but was assuredly headed back to the junior level no matter how well he played. Bultman asked assistant director of player development, Daniel Cleary, where he thought Danielson would end up this year to which he responded, “I have inner thoughts that I don’t want to say out loud. But not a lot would surprise me, for Nate“. He’s showing more offensive talent than previously expected finishing last year’s WHL playoffs with seven goals and 24 points in only 18 games.

Vasili Zelenov Commits To Wisconsin

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  • Sabres prospect Vasili Zelenov has committed to play for Wisconsin, reports Mark Divver of the New England Hockey Journal (Twitter link). The 18-year-old was a seventh-round pick in June, going 204th overall after a strong season in Austria that saw him record 37 points in 40 games. Zelenov is set to suit up for USHL Green Bay this season and will likely look to make the jump to Wisconsin for the 2025-26 campaign.

Sabres Expected To Name Captain Soon

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General manager Kevyn Adams and head coach Lindy Ruff appear close to naming a captain for the Buffalo Sabres according to WGR’s Paul Hamilton. The team has not had a captain since trading Kyle Okposo to the Florida Panthers at last year’s trade deadline who held the role since the 2022-23 season.

The top two candidates will likely be between defenseman Rasmus Dahlin and forward Alex Tuch. Dahlin is the former first-overall pick of the 2018 NHL Draft by the Sabres and has isolated himself as one of the best defensemen in the league. Tuch, on the other hand, is not necessarily the most talented player on the roster but holds a very public love for the city of Buffalo having grown up just east of the team in Syracuse, NY.

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Poll: Which Non-Playoff Team From The East Will Return In 2024-25?

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The 2024 Stanley Cup playoff picture in the Eastern Conference was similar to 2023 aside from a few changes to the seeding of the eight teams. The only team switch was the Washington Capitals and New Jersey Devils with the former making it in as the final wild-card team in the Conference on the last day of the regular season. The 2024-25 season will bring similar hypotheticals as any new season in which teams will ultimately find themselves in the group of 16.

New Jersey may be the early favorite to return to the playoffs after an impressive summer. The team added a salary-retained Jacob Markstrom in an early-summer swap with the Calgary Flames while handing out big-ticket contracts to Brett Pesce and Brenden Dillon. That trio should help the team dramatically improve upon their 3.43 GA/G (28th) from last season with the offense still as staunch as ever. The only concern that may carry over from last season is the organization’s recurring injury concerns. Only four players are returning from last year that played in 75+ games and New Jersey will need to keep a much healthier lineup if they want another shot at the Stanley Cup.

There has been an informal race throughout the last several years as to which of the Buffalo Sabres, Detroit Red Wings, or Ottawa Senators will return to the playoffs the quickest in the Atlantic Division. Detroit came close last year by tying in points with the Capitals on the final day of the regular season but ultimately losing on the tiebreaker of ’Regulation Wins’. The Sabres made a point to strengthen their bottom six this summer while the Red Wings largely added around the edges. Ottawa made the biggest splash by bringing in goaltender Linus Ullmark in a trade with the Boston Bruins and should have center Joshua Norris around for much of the season.

The Pittsburgh Penguins will be another team to look out for as they’ve missed each of the last two postseasons by a combined four points. None of the other teams in the Eastern Conference have the benefit of deploying Sidney Crosby making Pittsburgh an immediate threat to qualify for the postseason. The Metropolitan Division is arguably the toughest in the NHL but the Penguins could capitalize should other divisional opponents get off to slow starts.

Other teams in the Eastern Conference could make a surprise run to the postseason but the abovementioned group serves as the favorite candidates at this point. Which one of these teams do you think has the best chance of returning in 2025?

Mobile users, click here to vote

Vasili Zelenov Receiving Strong NCAA Interest

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  • Sabres prospect Vasili Zelenov is generating a lot of NCAA interest, reports Mark Divver of the New England Hockey Journal (Twitter link). The 18-year-old was a seventh-round pick in June, going 204th overall after a strong season in Austria, one that saw him put up 37 points in 40 games.  Zelenov is playing with USHL Green Bay this season and will likely look to make the jump to college hockey for the 2025-26 season.

Four Teams Have Interest In Mark Giordano

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The Score’s Kyle Cushman wrote that the Buffalo Sabres, Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers, and Toronto Maple Leafs have maintained interest in veteran defenseman Mark Giordano. The oldest player in the NHL last year has spurned any interest in retirement and is again looking for an NHL opportunity next year.

He is destined for bottom-pairing responsibilities next year after averaging his lowest average time-on-ice since the 2008-09 season. He’s spent the last two-and-a-half years with the Maple Leafs organization where he’s recorded nine goals and 45 points in 144 games while averaging 18:14 a game.

Calgary represents more of a ’feel good’ landing spot as the other three interested parties have internal expectations of contentions next season. He’s spent 15 years of his career in southern Alberta where he recorded 143 goals and 509 points in 949 games including a Norris Trophy in the 2018-19 season.

He’s seen his possession quality dip in the last several years after finishing the 2023-24 season with a 48.4 CorsiFor% compared to a 53.0% career average. He’s still a formidable bottom-pairing veteran presence and could provide a bonus to any team.

At the end of his career, the expectation is that Giordano will look to maximize his opportunity to win the Stanley Cup which would trim his potential teams down to Edmonton and Toronto. Without needing to shoulder top-level responsibility anymore at this stage in his career; he should have a ready opportunity in both organizations.

Atlantic Notes: Peterka, Kostadinski, McCue

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The NHL has ramped up its visits overseas coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic. In doing so, they often make an effort to reunite foreign-born NHLers with their home countries and, even in some cases, their former teams.

That’ll be the case for emerging Sabres winger John-Jason Peterka, who spoke to NHL.com’s Nick Cotsonika about getting the chance to suit up in his native Germany and play a preseason game against EHC Munich of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga, where he played in 2019-20 and 2020-21.

“I was always there with my parents cheering for the team,” Peterka told Cotsonika. “We were in the stands all the time. It was so special for me to play for Munich because I’m from there [and grew] up there. Yeah, having the chance now to go back there, play against them, play in front of all the fans again, yeah, it’s going to be really special.”

After their exhibition game in Munich, the Sabres will open the regular season with a back-to-back against the Devils in Prague, Czechia. It’s the start of a crucial campaign for Peterka, who’s entering the final season of his entry-level contract after scoring a career-high 28 goals and 50 points last season.

Other items of note from around the Atlantic:

  • Bruins defense prospect Kristian Kostadinski has committed to Boston College, reports Mark Divver of the New England Hockey Journal and NHL.com. Boston drafted the 6’6″, 220-lb stay-at-home defender in the seventh round of the 2023 draft. The Gothenburg, Sweden native spent last season at home with Frölunda HC’s U20 club and will touch down in the North American juniors circuit this season with the Dubuque Fighting Saints of the United States Hockey League. The 19-year-old will head to BC for his freshman campaign in 2025-26.
  • Maple Leafs seventh-rounder Sam McCue has a real chance to outperform his draft slot, opines Steven Ellis of Daily Faceoff for The Leafs Nation. McCue, 19 next month, was taken 216th overall a few months ago after posting 37 points in 68 games with the Ontario Hockey League’s Peterborough Petes and Owen Sound Attack last year. But despite those conservative point totals, Ellis believes McCue has NHL upside in his game as a “high-motor winger.”

Atlantic Notes: Swayman, Stützle, LeBreton Flats, Leenders

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Speculation floating around that Bruins RFA netminder Jeremy Swayman wants a $10MM average annual value on his next deal is likely unfounded, Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff said on SN960 The FAN’s Big Show on Wednesday.

Swayman’s camp is holding out for an AAV in the $8.5MM range on a long-term deal, while the Bruins are holding firm just north of $6MM per season, per Seravalli. He adds there hasn’t been much progress toward a resolution since those numbers were first exchanged earlier this summer.

“I think that’s a pretty sizeable gap that hasn’t been bridged yet and with the trade of Linus Ullmark, it’s obvious that Swayman is such a big part of what the Bruins’ future looks like and the stability of their core because the goaltending has been the backbone of that team,” Seravalli said. “But if you have a philosophical difference on what you think your goaltender should make, and if you thought that with the numbers he’s posted that he was going to be in that range, I can understand why there’s been a disconnect there.”

Swayman, 26 in November, posted a .916 SV%, 2.53 GAA, and three shutouts with a 25-10-8 record last season in 44 appearances (43 starts).

Here’s more from the Atlantic:

  • Senators star center Tim Stützle has changed agents, per PuckPedia. After signing his eight-year, $66.8MM extension in 2022 under Octagon’s Ben Hankinson, he’ll now be represented by longtime NHLer Claude Lemieux of 4sports Hockey. He becomes Lemieux’s second client on the Sens, joining goaltender Mads Søgaard. Lemieux’s notable body of work includes Timo Meier’s eight-year, $70.4MM deal with the Devils, Hampus Lindholm’s eight-year, $52MM deal in Boston, and Joel Eriksson Ek’s eight-year, $42MM deal with the Wild.
  • Still with Ottawa, the franchise is still in negotiations with the National Capital Commission on a memorandum of understanding regarding their plan to build a new arena in the LeBreton Flats neighborhood downtown, team president Cyril Leeder said (via Wayne Scanlan of Sportsnet). They’ve got less than a month to complete them with their temporary agreement with the city expiring on Sep. 20. Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun said in April that public parking was the largest concern with the current plan.
  • Sabres goaltending prospect Ryerson Leenders will have a new home for junior hockey this season. The Ontario Hockey League’s Brantford Bulldogs acquired him from the Brampton Steelheads today for a whopping eight draft picks, per a team announcement. Buffalo selected Leenders, 18, with the 219th overall pick in this summer’s draft. He had a .909 SV% in 46 games for the Steelheads last season, the best in the league.

Snapshots: Tuch, Jones, Lehkonen

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Both Mike Harrington and Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News expect Sabres winger Alex Tuch to sign a contract extension immediately upon becoming eligible to do so on July 1, 2025, they said in their latest mailbag. Tuch, a New York native, is entering the final two seasons of a seven-year, $33.25MM extension he signed while with the Golden Knights back in 2018.

“For all of [general manager Kevyn] Adams’ talk about looking for players who want to be Sabres, there is no one who wants to be here more than No. 89,” Harrington wrote. “What kind of message would it send if they don’t go long-term with him? While I expect Rasmus Dahlin to be named the captain at some point, make no mistake that Tuch might be the foremost leader in the dressing room now that Kyle Okposo is gone.”

Tuch, 28, was a first-round pick of the Wild in 2014 but was traded to Vegas for expansion draft considerations in 2017. He developed into a top-nine fixture in Nevada before being included as one of the core pieces in the trade that sent former Buffalo captain Jack Eichel to the Knights in 2021. Since then, he’s been a staple on the Sabres’ top line alongside Tage Thompson. He’s recorded 70 goals, 106 assists and 176 points in 199 games in a Buffalo sweater.

After routinely averaging over 19 minutes per game and recording over a point per game, Tuch will be in line for a significant raise on his $4.75MM cap hit. A long-term deal could easily cost north of $8MM per season for his 0.88 points per game average since arriving in Buffalo.

Here’s more from around the NHL:

  • Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette praised young defenseman Zachary Jones in a profile for NHL.com’s Dan Rosen last week, suggesting the 23-year-old is set for a regular third-pairing role in the Big Apple to begin the season. “Jones got better every single time he played for us,” Laviolette said. “He had to bring that out in himself every time we called his number, and it wasn’t on a consistent basis. When he got the opportunity, he was fantastic.” Jones, a Rangers third-rounder in 2019, has appeared in NHL games in each of the last four years but has been used sparingly, only appearing a career-high 31 times last season.
  • Avalanche winger Artturi Lehkonen appears to be recovering well from offseason shoulder surgery, per Evan Rawal of Colorado Hockey Now. Head coach Jared Bednar said last week that he wasn’t sure if the top-six fixture would be medically cleared for the beginning of the regular season, but video captured by Rawal the past few days shows “encouraging signs that he’ll be good to go when the Avalanche open their season.” However, it’s certain that he won’t be a full participant when training camp opens in a few weeks.

Filip Zadina Linked To Sabres, In Talks With Other Teams

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9:45 a.m.: There are as many as three clubs in discussions for Zadina’s services, Kevin Weekes of ESPN reports.

8:34 a.m.: It appears the Buffalo deal may be a fallback option for Zadina. His agent, Darren Ferris, tells Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News that he’s “in the process of completing a contract for Zadina with another team.”

8:24 a.m.: Right-winger Filip Zadina is expected to attend training camp with the Sabres on a professional tryout agreement, reports Pavel Barta of Deník Sport.

Zadina, 25 in November, has never made the impact most expected when the Red Wings selected him sixth overall in the 2018 draft. Until 2023, Zadina had mediocre results in a bottom-six role with Detroit, consistently shooting well below 10% and posting average possession metrics. Over those five seasons, he made 190 appearances for Detroit with 68 points, 0.36 per game. His -51 rating, 7.4% shooting rate and 0.62 hits per game were nothing to write home about, although he did manage to keep his head above water defensively with a 0.2 relative CF% at even strength.

After being released by the Red Wings last summer via a mutual contract termination, walking away from over $4.5MM in salary, he landed a one-year, $1.1MM deal with the Sharks. Nothing changed for the Czech winger in San Jose, though. Without much of a supporting cast, he did manage to score a career-high 13 goals in 72 games, but his 23 points fell one short of his best mark with Detroit, and his -44 rating was the worst of his career while averaging a conservative 13:20 per game. Most blame can be placed on the team’s porous defense and inconsistent goaltending, but Zadina’s 43.3 CF% and 39.0 xGF% at even strength was below the team average.

As such, the Sharks opted not to issue him a qualifying offer when his deal expired this summer, making him an unrestricted free agent for the second year. Still, without a contract, Zadina isn’t giving up on an NHL dream, fishing for PTO offers rather than heading to Europe.

For the Sabres, it’s a sensible low-risk option for some depth scoring with professional experience. He has strong numbers in the minors, last posting 16 points in 21 games with the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins in 2019-20. He also had a strong showing with Czechia’s HC Oceláři Třinec in 2020-21 while on loan during the pandemic, scoring eight goals and 14 points in 17 games. His shooting percentage continuously drying up upon reaching the NHL remains an enigma.

If Zadina lands a deal out of camp, it’ll likely be a two-way pact. After the Sabres reshaped their forward corps this summer with a specific eye on filling out their bottom six, there isn’t a clear roster spot for him if he signs. He’ll likely land on waivers and begin the season with their AHL affiliate, the Rochester Americans. There, he’ll play alongside Buffalo’s crop of next-wave players and compete for call-ups with other depth wingers like Jiri Kulich, Isak Rosen and Lukáš Rousek.

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