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Brandon Davidson

Brandon Davidson Signs In SHL

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It’s off to Sweden for former NHL defenseman Brandon Davidson, who has signed a contract with Farjestad BK for the rest of the season. Davidson had previously been playing on an AHL deal with the Cleveland Monsters, which had followed a PTO with the Rochester Americans.

Last appearing in the NHL during the 2020-21 season, the 31-year-old Davidson has 180 games under his belt at the highest level in a long professional career. Most of those came with the Edmonton Oilers over two stints following his selection 162nd overall in 2010.

He has also played for the Montreal Canadiens, New York Islanders, Chicago Blackhawks, Calgary Flames, San Jose Sharks, and Buffalo Sabres, as he bounced around trying to find a home. Now it’s off to Europe to try and keep that professional career going, with little chance of an NHL return in the future.

Davidson scored nine goals and 23 points in the NHL, and appeared in the postseason on three occasions.

Brandon Davidson Signs AHL PTO

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The Rochester Americans are bringing back a familiar face, signing Brandon Davidson to a professional tryout agreement. Davidson spent last season with the team while on a one-year, two-way contract with the Buffalo Sabres but was not re-signed this summer.

Now 31, Davidson’s time in the NHL appears to be over. The veteran defenseman has played just 28 games at that level since the start of the 2018-19 season, and spent all of last year in the minor leagues. Once a relatively effective bottom-pairing option that could bring defense and physicality to the table, he should no longer be considered an NHL-level player.

Still, that doesn’t mean he can’t be effective at the AHL level. Davidson is expected to meet the team for games this weekend. If he proves healthy and in shape, it’s easy to see the Americans extending him a full-season contract to add another veteran presence to the back end. A deal like this does not mean he can be recalled to the Sabres – he would need to sign an NHL contract for that to happen.

Brandon Davidson Signs In KHL

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After seven NHL seasons and 180 games played, defenseman Brandon Davidson has signed a two-year contract with Kunlun Red Star in the KHL, per the league.

The writing was on the wall for Davidson who, at age 31, spent the entirety of the 2021-22 season in the AHL for the first time since 2013-14. A member of the Buffalo Sabres organization for the past two seasons, Davidson was an alternate captain for the AHL’s Rochester Americans last year and had six points in 23 games. Davidson last played in the NHL on March 16, 2021, in a game against the New Jersey Devils.

A 2010 sixth-round pick of the Edmonton Oilers, Davidson had made a home for himself in the mid-2010s as a stable seventh defenseman for the Oilers, Montreal Canadiens, and New York Islanders. He remained entirely in the NHL from 2015-16 until the 2018-19 season, where he was sent to the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs for a brief stint as a member of the Chicago Blackhawks organization. He’s yet to play a full NHL season since.

Davidson is still decent minor-league depth and could very well get two-way offers or AHL deals when his KHL contract expires in 2024.

12 Players Clear Waivers

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Saturday: Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that all of the below players clear waivers, paving the way for them to be sent to the minors.

Friday: The march to the regular season continues, this time with another dozen names hitting the waiver wire. Chris Johnston of the Toronto Star provides the full list:

Sonny Milano (ANA)
Brandon Davidson (BUF)
Dennis Gilbert (COL)
Jayson Megna (COL)
Andreas Borgman (DAL)
Dan Renouf (DET)
Luke Witkowski (DET)
Chase De Leo (NJD)
Michael Chaput (PIT)
Juuso Riikola (PIT)
Nicolas Meloche (SJS)
Sheldon Dries (VAN)

There are several names on this list who once carried quite a bit of hype and potential, but the most interesting among them may be Milano and Riikola. The former is set to carry a cap hit of $1.7MM for this season, while the latter has a cap hit of $1.15MM. At one point, they were expected to be key parts of their respective NHL teams but now appear to be on their way to becoming well-compensated minor leaguers.

Milano in particular is notable because the Ducks don’t need any additional cap space. The team appears to have simply decided that there are other, better options up front for the start of the year. One thing to remember when it comes to waivers is that sometimes, a player clearing actually increases his trade value. That would allow an acquiring team to assign the player directly to the minor leagues, burying up to $1.125MM in cap hits.

Buffalo Sabres Sign Craig Anderson, Six Others

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When the Buffalo Sabres lost both Linus Ullmark and Carter Hutton to free agency, it left their goaltending depth chart almost completely empty. Only journeyman Dustin Tokarski and prospect Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen remained, meaning the team was going to have to add another netminder at some point. They’ve done just that, though it certainly isn’t one that can handle a starting load if the need arises.

The Sabres have signed Craig Anderson to a one-year, $750K contract. The 40-year-old goaltender is now the oldest player under contract in the league. Just a few days ago, Washington Capitals GM Brian MacLellan said that Anderson was expected to retire. That obviously hasn’t happened, as he’ll now join the Sabres and potentially have plenty of playing time this season.

Buffalo has also announced several other depth signings. Jimmy Schuldt, Sean Malone and Brandon Davidson have signed one-year contracts worth $750K each, Mark Pysyk has signed a one-year deal worth $900K, and Vinnie Hinostroza has signed a one-year contract worth $1.05MM.

Hinostroza is the most interesting among the five names, after he recorded 12 points in 17 games for the Chicago Blackhawks last season following a midseason trade. He had performed well offensively in the past, even recording a career-high of 16 goals and 39 points in 2018-19. The 27-year-old has been extremely inconsistent though, and will have to really take advantage of playing time in Buffalo to get his career back on track.

A few minutes later they signed Aaron Dell, another goaltender who isn’t a true starter and has struggled in recent years. Dell had an .857 in seven appearances for the New Jersey Devils in 2020-21, winning just one game. It’s good to have depth, but it seems like it will be up to Luukkonen if the Sabres are going to have any sort of above-average goaltending this season.

Free Agent Focus: San Jose Sharks

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With free agency now less than a month away, many teams are already looking ahead to when it opens up.  There will be several prominent players set to hit the open market while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign.  While cap space remains an issue in San Jose, this is not the year that their free agents are likely to break them. The team does have a key restricted free agent to sign, but the team must decide what unrestricted free agents they want to bring back after a disappointing 2019-20.

Key Restricted Free Agents

F Kevin Labanc – The only significant restricted free agent the team needs to sign is Labanc, who surprised quite a few people when he signed a one-year, $1MM bargain contract last offseason with many expecting he took a low deal with the assumption he would be rewarded with a long-term deal the following year. We’ll see if that’s the case, but Labanc’s production didn’t jump off the charts like many had hoped. In fact, the 24-year-old finished with a disappointing 2019-20 season, posting just 14 goals and 33 points in 70 games, significantly less than the 56 points he produced the previous year. What type of contract Labanc receives will be interesting to see, but the forward is still considered to be a significant piece to their core and must return to his 2018-19 form if the team hopes to improve on its dismal season last year.

F Antti Suomela – The Sharks are hoping to bring back the 26-year-old back as a potential fourth-line center, but the Finnish center spent most of his season in the press box in San Jose as the team’s extra forward. He managed to appear in 20 games with one goal and seven points, serving mainly as the team’s fourth-line center. With plenty of questions marks down the team’s middle, Suomela has every chance to prove he deserves a more significant role.

Other RFAs: F Jonathan Dahlen, F Jayden Halbgewachs, F Maxim Letunov, D Nicolas Meloche, D Jacob Middleton, D Jeremy Roy, G Andrew Shortridge, D Tony Sund, F Manuel Wiederer.

Key Unrestricted Free Agents

F Joe Thornton – The Sharks have made it quite clear that if Thornton wants to return next season, he’s welcome to. So, the question isn’t whether the Sharks want him, but whether Thornton wants to return. The 41-year-old made it clear at the end of the season that he would like to have a chance to win a Stanley Cup before his career ends. That seems unlikely to happen, which could suggest that Thornton may be more interested in joining a legitimate cup candidate for 2020-21. He was hoping to be traded to a contender at the trade deadline, but the team wasn’t able to find the right trade partner. Regardless, with the questions up the middle, the Sharks wouldn’t mind bringing back their heart and soul of the team despite his declining production. He did remain healthy all season, but produced one of his lowest totals since his rookie campaign in Boston back in 1997-98 with just 31 points.

F Melker Karlsson – The long-time bottom-six forward could be looking for another team as the Sharks must decided whether Karlsson’s lack of numbers is worth holding onto. Solid on the penalty kill, Karlsson’s three-year $6MM contract is now up and it’s likely the team might be ready to move on from him after scoring just six goals last season, his lowest numbers ever. Even his hits saw a major decline. If they do bring him back, expect it to be at a much lower AAV.

G Aaron Dell – After two impressive years in net in San Jose, the next two seasons have been less impressive. It’s likely that Dell will be asked to move on as the team attempts to find a better tandem fit with Martin Jones now that they announced the will not buy him out. Dell got more appearances this year with a career-high 33, but a 3.01 GAA and a .907 save percentage wasn’t what the team was looking for while Jones’ struggled. Expect Dell to find a backup job elsewhere in the league.

Other UFAs: F Jonny Brodzinski, D Brandon Davidson, F Anthony Greco, F Stefan Noesen, D Dalton Prout.

Projected Cap Space

Unfortunately for the Sharks, the team doesn’t have some of the cap advantages that other lottery teams possess (or the lottery pick, for that matter). The team has about $67.4MM committed to just 16 players, so there isn’t too much money remaining for the team to fill the rest of its roster spots. Regardless, they will likely dip into the free-agency pool a little bit to bolster a depleted roster, but will most likely have to focus on improving their defense and adding a more reliable goaltender who take take some of the pressure off of Jones.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Brandon Davidson Sent To San Jose

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After acquiring both Derek Forbort and Erik Gustafsson, the Calgary Flames have decided to move on from one of their other depth defenders. Brandon Davidson has been traded to the San Jose Sharks for future considerations according to Ryan Leslie of Sportsnet. Davidson is on an expiring contract and has played just seven games for the Flames this season.

Mark Giordano Listed As “Week-To-Week”

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The Calgary Flames have dodged a huge bullet. Mark Giordano, who awkwardly fell earlier this week when attempting a one-timer and suffered a lower-body injury, will not need surgery. The veteran defenseman has still been placed on injured reserve and is listed as “week-to-week” according to Jermain Franklin of TSN. Since it is not clear how long Giordano will be out, Brandon Davidson has been recalled from the minor leagues.

The reigning Norris Trophy winner as the NHL’s best defenseman, Giordano wasn’t lighting up the scoresheet quite as often this season but was still a rock for the Flames every night. The 36-year old is the team’s unquestioned leader and was averaging more than 24 minutes a night until he was forced from Tuesday’s game early. His 27 points (while a far reach from the 74 he recorded in 2018-19) still lead the Calgary defense corps through 54 games and he was one of the few players with a positive +/- rating.

No matter how you slice it, losing Giordano is a huge blow to the Flames for the next few weeks. There had been various rumors emerge throughout the season about the availability of T.J. Brodie and Travis Hamonic, but those may quiet down as they deal with this loss.

Calgary Flames Activate T.J. Brodie From Injured Reserve

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The good news continues for T.J. Brodie and the Calgary Flames, following his recent episode at practice. The defenseman has been activated from injured reserve, while Brandon Davidson has been sent to the minor leagues.

Brodie collapsed during a practice earlier this month and was taken to hospital. When all tests came back negative and team doctors diagnosed it as a fainting issue, Brodie slowly returned to practice and will now rejoin the lineup when the Flames take on the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Calgary won their last game but are still 3-6-1 in their last ten and sitting in sixth place in the Pacific Division. Brodie’s return will be a welcome addition, though the team needs more from the rest of the guys on the ice as well.

Waivers: 09/27/19

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With the NHL regular season approaching quickly, many players will be put on waivers over the next several days. We’ll keep track of all of them right here:

Arizona Coyotes

F Michael Bunting
F Michael Chaput
F Hudson Fasching
D Aaron Ness

Calgary Flames

D Brandon Davidson

Dallas Stars

D Joel Hanley

Vancouver Canucks

F Tyler Graovac
G Richard Bachman

Winnipeg Jets

F Cameron Schilling

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