Matej Pekar Loaned To AHL
After starting the season on injured reserve, Matej Pekar has now been loaned to the Rochester Americans by the Buffalo Sabres, according to the AHL transactions portal.
Pekar, 22, was not listed on the Americans opening roster yesterday but his assignment today suggests he is now healthy enough to join the club. The young forward is still waiver-exempt and could be assigned at any time after missing much of training camp.
Selected in the fourth round in 2018, Pekar has spent the last two seasons in the AHL playing a defensive role. In 72 minor league contests, he has just 12 points but 106 penalty minutes. Those haven’t really come from fighting (Pekar has three fighting majors in the AHL), but they do come from a physical, in-your-face style.
While he will probably never offer much offensive upside at the NHL level, his future is still something of interest. As a potential fourth-line option, he could even see some time with the big club this season once healthy.
Snapshots: Samuelsson, Carrier, Roos
When the Buffalo Sabres announced a gargantuan seven-year, $30MM extension for defenseman Mattias Samuelsson earlier today, it raised some eyebrows around the league – and justifiably so. Samuelsson has yet to score an NHL goal and has played just 54 NHL games, coming over the past two seasons. But as The Buffalo News’ Lance Lysowski notes in his column breaking down the deal, general manager Kevyn Adams thinks Samuelsson and his contract and both key parts of his approach to building a championship contender.
“We wanted to be really disciplined and smart with how we put our roster together and the reason for that is we can do things like this and make sure that we identify the people that we’re gonna move forward with long-term and we know there’s more coming,” said Adams today. Buffalo is banking on development here, but the organization believes in Samuelsson and that he has long-term top-pairing potential. How that bet pans out remains to be seen.
- After sitting out last night’s season-opening win in Los Angeles, Vegas Golden Knights forward William Carrier may be healthy for tomorrow’s home opener against Chicago, according to head coach Bruce Cassidy. Carrier has been listed as week-to-week with an upper-body injury since September 26 but has obviously returned to practice. He’ll likely draw in for Michael Amadio if he does play, as Amadio was the only Golden Knights forward to receive 10 minutes or less of ice time against Los Angeles.
- One of the more interesting names to appear on opening night rosters will be making his NHL debut tonight: Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Filip Roos. The 23-year-old Roos is a rare case: a European, undrafted free-agent on an entry-level contract playing in his NHL team’s first game of the season. Roos had six points in 50 games for Skellefteå in the SHL last season and will suit up on the third pairing alongside Alec Regula.
Buffalo Sabres Extend Mattias Samuelsson
The Buffalo Sabres are having a busy morning. After announcing an extension for head coach Don Granto, the team has also released details of a seven-year extension for one of his prized pupils. Mattias Samuelsson has signed a $30MM extension that will kick in for the 2023-24 season, avoiding restricted free agency and giving him a $4.29MM cap hit.
CapFriendly has the full breakdown:
- 2023-24: $2,286,716 salary + $2.0MM signing bonus
- 2024-25: $4,285,716 salary
- 2026-27: $4,285,716 salary
- 2027-28: $4,285,716 salary
- 2028-29: $4,285,716 salary
- 2029-30: $4,285,716 salary
- 2030-31: $4,285,716 salary
This is a full bet on potential, as the 22-year-old Samuelsson has just 54 games of NHL experience under his belt to this point. It was the end of last year, when he paired so perfectly with Rasmus Dahlin, that really made a deal like this possible. Over his final 22 games, Samuelsson averaged more than 21 minutes a night, recording eight points and a positive +/-.
If he continues his natural progression into a top-pairing, shutdown option, a cap hit like this will quickly look like a bargain, especially if the salary cap takes a sharp rise in the coming seasons.
The risk here is that he plateaus as a middle-pairing guy who doesn’t provide much offense, and the Sabres have effectively limited any surplus value they could have gotten out of his RFA years. With just 12 points in 54 games (zero goals), it isn’t like Samuelsson was setting himself up for a big arbitration case, and he’s still several years away from unrestricted free agency.
Of course, there is also the fact that the Sabres already have a good amount of cap space and this is more about locking in a player that they like than worrying about dollars and cents. The team currently projects to have more than $32MM in space for next season even after factoring in extensions for Samuelsson and Tage Thompson. That number only increases from there, meaning it’s hard to see a situation where they are truly regretting this deal.
Unless Samuelsson falls off a cliff – which certainly doesn’t appear likely after another outstanding training camp – this is more about rewarding a player they believe in than squeezing out every ounce of surplus value. Now it’s up to him to reward them for that faith with a strong full season.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Buffalo Sabres Extend Don Granato
The Buffalo Sabres have looked like an entirely different team under head coach Don Granato, even if the postseason results have been the same. The team seems energized and is developing an impressive core of young players to go along with some veterans that have rediscovered their game. Because of that success, the Sabres have decided to sign Granato to a multi-year contract extension. General manager Kevyn Adams explained:
Don’s passion for the game and leadership skills have been on display since the moment we met. He is someone who the players have a tremendous amount of respect for, and he dedicates himself to bettering each individual on the team.
Don’s mentality of ‘earning it’ resonates throughout the team – it is more than just a mindset, it is a driving force for our players and staff. I appreciate his thoughtfulness when it comes to developing our players and the open communication we are able to have about the team. I am happy to extend Don’s contract, keeping him in Western New York for many years to come.
Granato’s contract already extended through the 2023-24 season, meaning he’ll be around for quite a while with this new deal in hand. Entering his second full season with the team, he’ll be looking to take another step forward and take the record over .500. Last season, the Sabres went 32-39-11 in the tough Atlantic Division, missing the playoffs by quite a bit.
But it was the growth of players like Tage Thompson, who broke out for 38 goals, and the resurgence of highly-paid Jeff Skinner, who had 33, that was so impressive. With a defense corps that now boasts two first-overall picks in Owen Power and Rasmus Dahlin, a forward group that has breakout candidates like Dylan Cozzens and Peyton Krebs, and improved goaltending in place, the Sabres may at least put a scare in some of the Eastern Conference powerhouses, even if the playoffs don’t happen right away.
Sabres Notes: Young Players, Okposo, Injuries
On what is expected to be a busy Monday around the NHL with the deadline to submit rosters approaching at 5:00 pm ET today, Buffalo Sabres GM Kevyn Adams met with the media this morning to discuss, primarily, his new leadership group that features the club’s 20th captain, Kyle Okposo. Adams praised Okposo’s leadership and his relationship with teammates and echoed much of the same sentiment towards alternate captain Zemgus Girgensons. The GM also lauded defenseman Rasmus Dahlin, now a full-time alternate captain, for his development not only on the ice, but as a person in the locker room and his drive to get better.
Beyond the new leadership group, Adams touched on several other news and notes, including the status of several of the team’s young players like John-Jason Peterka, Jack Quinn, and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. As to Peterka and Quinn, Adams seemed to indicate that both would be on the team’s opening night roster, saying the body of work the pair had put in with the AHL’s Rochester Americans last year shows that they are “ready to take the next step.” Adams continued, referring to the team’s entire young core, including names like Peyton Krebs and Mattias Samuelsson as well, that they will ultimately need to get more and more reps in to continue to develop at this level. On Luukkonen, Adams was impressed with his offseason and training camp efforts, but appeared to confirm the expected, that the goaltender would begin the season in Rochester with veterans Eric Comrie and Craig Anderson on the NHL roster. Seeing Luukkonen spend another year in the minors may not necessarily be exciting news for Sabres fans, however giving him regular starts should make a strong contribution to his overall development.
- Also from Adams’ availability, when discussing his new leadership group, he touched on the contractual future of captain Kyle Okposo, who is in the last year of a seven-year, $42MM deal, saying the team had yet to discuss an extension with their veteran. That news, combined with some of the objective disappointment on both sides over the life of the contract, might seem to point to a parting of ways at the end of this year, however given the fact that the team named him their captain with just one year left on his contract, with other cornerstone options available, indicates that there is a chance the winger could be back. Any extension with Okposo surely won’t match his current deal, but if he can repeat on his impressive 21 goal, 45 point 2021-22 season, he should find his way to a relatively strong payday.
- On the injury front, goaltender Malcolm Subban, who left last night’s Rochester preseason game with an injury, could be out for some time, Adams said. The team is still awaiting a further update on Subban. Forward Riley Sheahan will begin the season on injured-reserve as well, the only player expected to be there on the opening night roster, says Adams.
Riley Sheahan Day-To-Day With Muscular Injury
- Riley Sheahan is also day-to-day with a muscular injury Buffalo Sabres head coach Don Granato told members of the media, including Bill Hoppe of Buffalo Hockey Beat. It was unclear what muscle exactly was bothering Sheahan, who hasn’t practiced either of the last two days.
Buffalo Sabres Name Kyle Okposo Captain
The Buffalo Sabres made their 2022-23 leadership group official Sunday afternoon, naming longtime Sabres forward Kyle Okposo the 20th captain in Sabres history. Forward Zemgus Girgensons and defenseman Rasmus Dahlin will serve as Buffalo’s alternate captains for the upcoming season. The team went without a captain last season after trading the injured Jack Eichel, their previous captain, instead electing to have Okposo and Girgensons serve as full-time alternates, and Dahlin an alternate at times later in the season.
Sabres’ GM Kevyn Adams, had the following to say about Okposo:
“It’s impossible to overstate what Kyle has meant to this group – he is patient, he is a lifelong learner, he is levelheaded, and most of all, he is proud to be a Buffalo Sabre. When times get difficult, Kyle knows when to speak up, and when he does, the team takes it to heart. Kyle and his family have made Buffalo their home and want to see our organization succeed, both on and off ice. I am proud that Kyle will represent our organization with class.”
After many years of on-ice struggles, the Sabres appeared to begin the turn-around last season, beginning to win consistently in the second half. The leadership group of Okposo and Girgensons provides the right influence to a predominantly young, and talented, Sabres roster. On the Sabres organization and the roster he’s about to lead, the newest Buffalo captain had this to say:
“I’m just happy to be a part of it. I’m happy to be somebody that the guys in this organization and the guys that play on the team can look up to and try and continue to move this culture forward. I’m just so proud of where we’re at from a team standpoint. It’s not a guarantee that the results follow a good culture, but it’s a hell of a good start. That’s what I’m definitely most proud of over the last year.”
The captaincy comes in the final year of a seven-year deal Okposo signed during the 2016 offseason, bringing him upstate from the New York Islanders and Long Island to western New York and the Sabres. Things weren’t always as exciting and hopeful as they are now for Buffalo or Okposo. As the team struggled year after year, Okposo dealt with injuries and struggles to produce the way the Sabres, and his $6MM cap hit, had expected. Things did turn around for both in 2021-22 though, the Sabres seeming to turn things around and Okposo rebounding with a strong 21 goal, 24 assist performance over 74 games.
What the future holds for both sides is unclear, but naming Okposo captain while the team has plenty of building blocks around him would appear to show their commitment to the veteran moving forward, evidenced all the more by Adams’ words. To Okposo’s point, culture isn’t the be-all-end-all, but it’s a strong start, and considering what the franchise has been through since its last postseason berth in 2011, building a strong culture will be paramount to their future success.
Waivers: 10/8/22
With Monday’s season-opening roster deadline quickly approaching, the activity on the waiver wire is likely to pick up as teams get closer to making their final cuts. We’ll keep track of today’s waiver placements here.
Buffalo Sabres
D Kale Clague
D Jeremy Davies
D Chase Priskie
Calgary Flames
D Dennis Gilbert
D Juuso Valimaki
F Radim Zohorna
Colorado Avalanche
Detroit Red Wings
F Austin Czarnik
D Steven Kampfer
F Matt Luff
Edmonton Oilers
Pittsburgh Penguins
Toronto Maple Leafs
F Joey Anderson
D Mac Hollowell
Seattle Kraken
G Joey Daccord
F Alexander True
Vancouver Canucks
F Sheldon Dries
D Christian Wolanin
With the exception of Winnipeg’s Johnathan Kovacevic (claimed by Montreal), all other players from Friday’s group passed through unclaimed.
Training Camp Cuts: 10/8/22
With the deadline for opening rosters just a couple of days away, many teams will be trimming down their rosters this weekend. We’ll keep track of today’s cuts here.
Buffalo Sabres (via team release)
F Sean Malone (to Rochester, AHL)
Dallas Stars (via team release)
G Anton Khudobin (to Texas, AHL)
Detroit Red Wings (via team release)
G Sebastian Cossa (to Grand Rapids, AHL)
Edmonton Oilers (via team release)
F Brad Malone* (to Bakersfield, AHL)
D Markus Niemelainen (to Bakersfield, AHL)
Pittsburgh Penguins (via team release)
D Mark Friedman (to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, AHL) (via separate team release; has cleared waivers)
G Filip Lindberg (to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, AHL)
F Samuel Poulin (to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, AHL)
St. Louis Blues (via team release)
F Martin Frk (to Springfield, AHL)
F Matthew Highmore (to Springfield, AHL)
F Klim Kostin (to Springfield, AHL)
Toronto Maple Leafs (via team release)
F Nick Abruzzese (to Toronto, AHL)
F Joey Anderson* (to Toronto, AHL)
F Semyon Der-Arguchintsev (to Toronto, AHL)
G Dylan Ferguson (to Toronto, AHL)
D Mac Hollowell* (to Toronto, AHL)
G Erik Kallgren (to Toronto, AHL)
D Mikko Kokkonen (to Toronto, AHL)
F Bobby McMann (to Toronto, AHL)
D Marshall Rifai (to Toronto, AHL)
F Alex Steeves (to Toronto, AHL)
*-pending waivers
This post will be updated throughout the day.
Buffalo Sabres Recall Sean Malone
The Buffalo Sabres are going with a mix of youth and experience for tonight’s preseason game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Players like Dylan Cozens, Peyton Krebs, and Jack Quinn are all in the lineup, but so are Zemgus Girgensons and Alex Tuch. Another veteran name that will be joining the group is minor league forward Sean Malone, who has been recalled to appear in tonight’s match after being cut earlier this month.
Malone, 27, has spent nearly his entire professional career with the hometown organization, as the Buffalo native was drafted by the Sabres in 2013 and has played parts of five seasons with the club. In 2020-21 he tried to go a different way by joining the Nashville Predators but after seeing just a single NHL appearance with them, came back to play for Rochester in 2021-22.
It’s good that he did, as the Americans enjoyed a 20-goal, 37-point campaign from Malone, in just 39 regular season appearances. He was good in the playoffs too with seven points in ten games, and should be a leader for the club this season. While he likely won’t play much in the NHL, getting him into a preseason match is a nice reward for the minor league star, and will get him used to the group in case he needs to fill in at any point this year.
Malone will likely be sent back to the minors in the coming days, as this is Buffalo’s final preseason match.