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Sabres Notes: Byram, Power, Norris, Peterka

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The Sabres have two expensive defensemen signed to long-term deals in Rasmus Dahlin ($11MM through 2031-32) and Owen Power ($8.35MM through 2030-31).  As a result, pending RFA blueliner Bowen Byram’s future with the team has been the subject of some speculation.  Speaking with reporters today including Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News (Twitter link), the 23-year-old indicates that he absolutely sees a long-term fit with Buffalo.  Byram’s owed a $4.62MM qualifying offer with arbitration rights but projects to receive considerably more than that on the heels of a career year that saw him collect 38 points in 82 games while averaging a little under 23 minutes a night of playing time.

More from Buffalo:

  • Power went and got a second opinion on his ankle injury and now will not require surgery, notes Bill Hoppe of the Olean Times Herald. He sustained the injury last weekend and will now need around two months to fully recover.  The 22-year-old had a career-best seven goals and 40 points in 79 games this season while dealing with a small dip in playing time; his 21:19 ATOI was the lowest of his young career.
  • The injury that Sabres center Josh Norris was dealing with was a torn oblique muscle, Lysowski relays. It’s the same injury he had earlier this year with Ottawa and the decision was made that it was best for him to sit and allow it to fully heal, something that hasn’t happened quite yet.  The 25-year-old was acquired at the trade deadline as part of the Dylan Cozens swap and finished his year with 21 goals and 15 assists in 56 games, just the second time he has reached the 20-goal mark.
  • Winger JJ Peterka won’t play for Germany next month at the World Championship due to his status as a pending restricted free agent, relays NHL.com’s Heather Engel (Twitter link). The 23-year-old set new career highs in assists (41) and points (68), finishing tied for second in team scoring with Rasmus Dahlin.  Given the uptick in production, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the two sides try to work out a long-term contract this summer, one that Peterka doesn’t want to potentially jeopardize by running the risk of suffering an injury at the Worlds.

Alex Tuch Interested In Extension With Sabres

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Buffalo Sabres forward Alex Tuch is scheduled to hit unrestricted free agency following the 2025-26 season, but his hope is to stay in Buffalo long-term, per NHL reporter Justin Alpert.

Speaking at his end-of-year media availability, Tuch said he loves playing in Buffalo and wants to be a part of a winning culture for the team. While the Sabres have now missed the playoffs in 14 consecutive seasons, they do have a solid core consisting of Tuch, Jason Zucker, Tage Thompson, Rasmus Dahlin, and more. For his part, Tuch tied a career high with 36 goals and finished with 67 points while playing all 82 games this season. Tuch has flourished offensively since coming to Buffalo from the Golden Knights, scoring 243 points in 281 games.

Tuch, 28, has one year left on his current deal that is paying a team-friendly $4.5MM. Whether he signs an extension this summer with Buffalo or with another club next summer, he will no doubt be in line for a raise. While Tuch noted he’ll have to discuss things with his family, the Upstate New York native seems interested in remaining with the Sabres and helping to end their long playoff drought. Tuch said the organization has the capabilities to turn things around. He added that individual success isn’t enough to represent team success, and to his point, scoring goals wasn’t an issue for the team. While the Sabres finished 10th in goals for on the year (265), they also finished third-to-last in goals against (287).

Fellow forward Ryan McLeod, 25, is also interested in staying in Buffalo. Set for restricted free agency this summer, McLeod told reporters today he’d like to remain with the team and help the Sabres take the next step. In his first year with the club after coming over from the Oilers, McLeod enjoyed a career year with 20 goals, 33 assists and 53 points, shattering his previous career highs. He added a strong 52.5 percent faceoff percentage and served as a key part of the team’s penalty kill. Like Tuch, he is due a large raise on his expiring $2.1MM AAV contract.

Owen Power May Require Offseason Surgery

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  • If the 2024-25 season couldn’t get any worse for the Buffalo Sabres, one of their top defenseman could be out longer-term with a leg injury. Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News reported that defenseman Owen Power has a serious injury and may require surgery this summer. The injury in question took place in the Sabres’ second-to-last game against the Florida Panthers when Florida forward Carter Verhaeghe awkwardly fell on his leg.
  • For the first time in five years, Sabres forward Tage Thompson will play for Team USA in the World Championships (Twitter Link). After being excluded from the United States’ Four Nations Face-Off roster in February, this strikes as a move for Thompson to raise his Olympic profile for next season. He scored one goal and five points in eight games during his last appearance in the offseason tournament in 2021.

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Sabres Recall Isak Rosen

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The Sabres have recalled winger Isak Rosen from AHL Rochester for their final two regular-season games, per the AHL’s transaction logs. He comes up with Beck Malenstyn likely done for the year with an undisclosed injury, relays NHL.com’s Heather Engel.

Buffalo has recalled Rosen, 22, on multiple occasions this season as an injury fill-in. He last appeared on March 29, his sixth of the season. The 2021 No. 14 overall pick now has 13 NHL appearances to his name and finally recorded his first career point, an assist, in a win over the Penguins on March 27. He’ll look to add to that tally while getting additional NHL reps to close out another season without playoff action for the Sabres.

Down in Rochester, Rosen has had a breakthrough season for the Americans and has put himself in legitimate consideration for a job on the NHL roster next fall. He leads the team in scoring with 28-27–55 in 60 games, breaking last year’s career-high 50 points set in 67 games. He’s now up to 142 points in 193 career AHL games over the last three years, an unusually long development resume in the minors for such a high pick. Nonetheless, he remains among the league’s top 100 prospects. He still has another year left on his entry-level contract and will be eligible to sign an extension on July 1.

As for Malenstyn, it’s unclear what’s ailing him. He played 11:45 in Sunday’s loss to the Lightning, 1:13 higher than his season average. The 27-year-old ends his first season in Buffalo with a 4-6–10 scoring line in 71 games, down from last year’s 21 points in 81 games with the Capitals. His -16 rating is second-worst on the team, but he does rank second among Sabres forwards with 63 blocks and leads them with 191 hits. He’s still got another year left on his deal at a $1.35MM cap hit.

Sabres Assign Scott Ratzlaff To AHL

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  • The Sabres announced they reassigned goalie prospect Scott Ratzlaff to AHL Rochester to finish the season. Ratzlaff, 20, was also rostered for Rochester after his major junior season ended in 2023-24 but didn’t make his professional debut. It’s unclear if that will change this time around. The 2023 fifth-round pick capped off his fourth and final Western Hockey League season with a 3.16 GAA, .910 SV%, one shutout, and a 23-19-4 record in 49 games for the Seattle Thunderbirds. He’s now posted a save percentage north of .900 in four consecutive WHL seasons, a significant feat in the scoring-friendly league.

Owen Power Out With Injury

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  • Buffalo Sabres defenseman Owen Power sustained a lower-body injury during last night’s loss to the Panthers, and he is not expected to play in tonight’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning, reports Lance Lysowski of the Buffalo News. He ended last night’s game with just 15 shifts and 13:27 of total ice time. On the season, Power has put up a career-high 40 points. At just 22, Power has put 111 points in 242 career NHL games. He still has six years remaining on his eight-year, 8.35MM contract he signed in October 2023.

Norris And Greenway Progressing, Could Return By End Of The Season

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The Sabres are hoping to have a pair of veterans return to the lineup before the end of the regular season.  Bill Hoppe of the Olean Times Herald notes that center Josh Norris (mid-body) and winger Jordan Greenway (lower body) are both progressing in their recovery from their respective injuries and that the plan is for them to play before the season ends in a couple of weeks.  Norris has missed the last ten games and has only suited up three times for Buffalo after they acquired him from Ottawa at the trade deadline.  He has 21 goals and 14 assists in 56 games this season.  Greenway, meanwhile, has battled injury trouble throughout the year, limiting him to just 34 appearances where he has only eight points.  While that’s not the ideal platform year heading into free agency, the two sides agreed on a two-year, $8MM extension before last month’s trade deadline.

Sabres’ Tyson Kozak Out Week-To-Week With Hip Strain

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Sabres forward Tyson Kozak’s rookie season is all but over after he sustained a hip strain in Tuesday’s game against the Senators, head coach Lindy Ruff told reporters today (including Mike Harrington of The Buffalo News). He’s listed as week-to-week, and the organization is hopeful he’ll be able to join AHL Rochester for their postseason run after Buffalo’s regular season schedule concludes.

It ends a promising campaign for the 22-year-old, who made his NHL debut sooner than anyone expected. A seventh-round pick in 2021, the center is the first player from that round to see big-league action. He’s made 21 appearances since his first call-up in December, scoring 3-2–5 while posting a minus-two rating and averaging 10:29 per game. He won 46.2% of his draws – a solid number for a rookie – and put up passable possession metrics considering his defensively-oriented deployment at even strength.

Rochester certainly hopes they’ll get a healthy Kozak back for their postseason run. The Manitoba native was an important defensive presence in their top nine when on loan to them this year, posting 8-6–14 in 31 games with a plus-five rating. He’s likely shown enough at both levels this season to earn a job on Buffalo’s opening night roster next year as a cheap fourth-line option, although they may also prefer to give him another year of development in Rochester to see if he can boost his offensive ceiling.

Kozak will need a new deal this summer as a restricted free agent. He’s not eligible for arbitration. His qualifying offer will cost $813,750 on a two-way deal.

Sabres Recall Noah Östlund

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The Sabres announced they’ve recalled 2022 first-round pick Noah Östlund from AHL Rochester. The 21-year-old forward could be in line to make his NHL debut tomorrow against the Lightning. Center Tyson Kozak sustained a lower-body injury in Tuesday’s win over the Senators and is day-to-day, so assuming Jordan Greenway and Joshua Norris remain sidelined tomorrow as well, Buffalo needed to make a recall from Rochester to give them 12 healthy forwards.

The promotion comes amid a vital season developmentally for Östlund. It’s his first in North America after logging his previous professional experience in his home country of Sweden, and the adjustment across the Atlantic has been smooth. The 5’11” pivot has missed a chunk of the year with an injury but still ranks fifth on Rochester in scoring with 19-17–36 in 44 games, leading their forwards with a +20 rating.

His game’s hallmarks – speed, playmaking, and defensive acumen – have been on display. His lack of size means he topped out at No. 5 in Buffalo’s prospect rankings by Scott Wheeler of The Athletic in January, but he still tabbed him as a top-100 prospect (No. 90) league-wide. He’s done what he’s needed to do so far to reaffirm his ceiling as a second or third-line center for the Sabres in a couple of years, a position they’re looking to fill out after trading away Dylan Cozens and Casey Mittelstadt in back to back seasons.

Östlund was one of three first-round picks Buffalo held in 2022 – their own, the Golden Knights’ (acquired in the Jack Eichel trade), and the Panthers’ (acquired in the Sam Reinhart trade). They selected Östlund with the Vegas pick at No. 16, using their own selection to select Matthew Savoie and Florida’s pick to select Jiri Kulich. Savoie has since been flipped to the Oilers for Ryan McLeod, while Kulich has 14-7–21 in 54 games with the Sabres in his rookie outing in 2024-25. Early returns are strong on all three of those selections yielding players with lengthy NHL careers.

Where he slots in the lineup to begin his NHL career remains unclear, but he could replace Kozak in an insulated fourth-line role between Sam Lafferty and Beck Malenstyn. He still has two seasons left on his entry-level contract, so he won’t be a restricted free agent until 2027.

Image courtesy of Marc DesRosiers-Imagn Images.

Brannstrom Could Sign In Switzerland This Summer

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  • Sabres defenseman Erik Brannstrom has had a bit of a whirlwind season with Buffalo being his fourth organization. Colorado signed him in free agency but moved him before the season to Vancouver and he was then flipped to the Rangers in the J.T. Miller trade.  Along the way, he has only gotten into 28 NHL games this season.  As a result, it appears he could be eyeing a change of scenery as SportExpressen’s Johan Svensson reports (subscription link) that the 25-year-old could be off to Switzerland next season with a long-term contract expected.  Brannstrom has 294 career NHL appearances under his belt but with a quickly diminishing role so a change of scenery could help his chances of getting back to the top level down the road.  Buffalo can retain his rights via restricted free agency for the next two years.

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