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Brett Murray

Snapshots: Cooley, Murray, Mastrodonato

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With max-term contracts for re-signings set to shrink from eight years to seven next year, some feel teams will look to push to get their players signed this summer to guarantee that eighth season.  Among those eligible to sign now is Mammoth center Logan Cooley, a player Utah would undoubtedly like to lock up, especially with GM Bill Armstrong favoring long-term deals for core pieces as soon as possible.  However, Brogan Houston of the Deseret News recently argued that it’s not in Cooley’s best interest for him to extend now.  Given his stature as a young potential top-line center, he’d have to have a disastrous season to really tank his value compared to what it might be now while with the rising cap, it might be better for him to wait until next summer when the maximum term drops, allowing him to reach unrestricted free agency a year sooner.  AFP Analytics pegged a potential long-term extension for Cooley this summer to come in around seven years at around $9.5MM.

Elsewhere around the hockey world:

  • Winger Brett Murray has been with the Sabres for the better part of a decade after he was drafted by them back in 2016. However, now that he’s on the open market, he’ll be looking for a new team as his agent Dave Gagner told Bill Hoppe of the Olean Times Herald that the organization has informed Murray that they won’t be offering a contract to him.  The 27-year-old played in three games with Buffalo last season and has 26 appearances at the top level under his belt.  Murray spent most of last year with AHL Rochester where he had 27 goals and 22 assists in 66 games.  However, he now qualifies as a veteran under AHL roster rules which has likely limited his marketability so far.
  • The Kings have added some extra minor-league depth as their AHL affiliate in Ontario announced the signing of forward Keaton Mastrodonato to a one-year deal. The 24-year-old has two full professional seasons under his belt, split between the AHL and ECHL levels.  Last season, Mastrodonato was held off the scoresheet in the 13 games with AHL Colorado but was quite productive with ECHL Utah, tallying 19 goals and 30 assists in 53 outings with the Grizzlies.

Snapshots: Bichsel, Brett Murray, Bakersfield Deals

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With the Dallas Stars parting ways with veterans Cody Ceci, Mathew Dumba and Brendan Smith, the door is fully open for 21-year-old defender Lian Bichsel to make a full impact on the blue line this season, per NHL.com’s Mike Heika.

Last season, during his rookie year, Bichsel, the Stars’ first-round pick in the 2022 draft (18th overall), appeared in 38 games, recording nine points, 23 blocked shots, and a team-leading 155 hits. The hulking 6’7″, 230-pound defenseman also suited up for 18 playoff games, contributing one assist and adding 75 more hits. His 16.4 hits per 60 minutes last season was nearly 10 higher than the second-place finisher (Colin Blackwell with 6.9).

A native of Switzerland, Bichsel appeared in the Swedish Hockey League for three seasons before coming over to North America, and worked his way into Dallas’ lineup in short order. And as Heika notes, Bichsel could slot into a variety of pairings on the Stars’ third defensive unit, but skating alongside veteran Alexander Petrovic would give him a steady, experienced presence. The two also have experience playing as a pairing in the AHL.

Elsewhere around the league:

  • After spending the past six seasons in the Buffalo Sabres organization, primarily with the AHL’s Rochester Americans, winger Brett Murray is on the move, per Bill Hoppe of Buffalo Hockey Beat. Despite posting a career-high 27 goals for Rochester last season, the Sabres are set to part ways with one of their key AHL leaders. A fourth-round pick in the 2016 draft, Murray played two seasons at Penn State before making the jump to the pro ranks. He went on to appear in 26 NHL games for Buffalo, recording two goals and six points.

  • The Edmonton Oilers’ top affiliate, the Bakersfield Condors, signed four players to AHL deals, per a team announcement. The team signed forwards Matt Brown and Trevor Janicke and defensemen Mats Lindgren and Luke Prokop. Of note, Propkop was a third-round selection of the Nashville Predators in the 2020 draft, while Lindgren was a fourth-round selection of the Sabres in the 2022 draft.

Sabres Reassign Isak Rosen

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April 2: Rosen was loaned back to Rochester today, the Sabres announced. He appeared in Buffalo’s first three games following last week’s recall but was scratched for their wins in Washington and Ottawa on Sunday and Tuesday, respectively. He managed to get on the scoresheet for the first time in his NHL career, recording an assist in last Thursday’s 7-3 drubbing of the Penguins.

March 25: The Sabres announced they’ve recalled right-winger Isak Rosen from AHL Rochester today. Rosen will replace Brett Murray, who the team announced was returned to the AHL ahead of tonight’s game against the Senators.

It’s been less than three weeks since Rosen’s last NHL game, as the Sabres continue to give the winger only limited looks in their lineup. The 2021 No. 14 overall pick is still looking for his first NHL point, failing to get on the scoresheet in 10 career appearances, including three this year. His possession numbers have provided little reason for optimism, as Rosen only controlled 41.9% of shot attempts at even strength in his limited minutes.

In the AHL, though, he’s hit his stride. Rosen has scored 27-27–54 with a +11 rating in 55 games with the Americans, leading the team in scoring and clicking at nearly a point per game. His offensive totals have steadily improved throughout the 22-year-old’s three seasons in Rochester, from 0.56 points per game in 2022-23 to 0.75 in 2023-24 and now 0.98 this year.

Playoffs are all but officially out of reach for the 28-35-6 Sabres, so with a race to finish outside of last place in the Eastern now their only objective, Buffalo will use the stretch run to continue evaluating its young talent amid a rash of injuries to their forward group. There were many updates on that front f today. While Joshua Norris will miss today’s clash against his former team with what’s now being labeled a mid-body injury, he told Paul Hamilton of WGR Sports Radio 550 that he’s day-to-day and plans to return before the end of the regular season. Meanwhile, Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News confirms that Jordan Greenway (lower body) and Sam Lafferty (groin) remain day-to-day and won’t play against Ottawa. Rookie center Jiri Kulich, though, skated this morning and could return after missing four games while in concussion protocol.

Rosen will likely get a look on the third line alongside Kulich and veteran winger Jason Zucker if the team’s line rushes this morning are accurate. They only have 12 healthy forwards, including Kulich, so they’ll need to dress seven defensemen if he can’t go.

The 26-year-old Murray heads back to Rochester after receiving a brief look in fourth-line minutes over the last week. The 6’5″ left-winger went without a point in three games but secured his fourth NHL season of playing time. The 2016 fourth-rounder now has 26 career games with Buffalo and 96-101–197 in 314 career games with Rochester, where he serves as an alternate captain.

Sabres Assign Isak Rosen To The AHL

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March 18th, 9:22 am: The Buffalo Sabres have loaned Isak Rosen to their AHL affiliate in Rochester.

March 16th, 10:03 am: The Buffalo Sabres announced that they’ve recalled forwards Isak Rosen and Brett Murray from their AHL affiliate the Rochester Americans. The move continues a busy week for Rosen, who was loaned to the AHL just 72 hours ago after being recalled due to several Sabres players being sick.

Rosen made his debut with Buffalo back on November 25th, 2023, and has dressed in 10 NHL games over two seasons, including three games this year. He has yet to record an NHL point but has topped 50 points in each of the last two AHL seasons, including this year where he has averaged nearly a point a game in 52 games (27 goals and 24 assists).

Rosen was the Sabres’ first round pick in 2021 (14th overall) and has had a difficult time getting traction in the NHL. His lack of offense is obvious, but his underlying numbers are even worse as his possession numbers have been brutal (40% CF% this season, 40.6% for his career).

Murray is a 26-year-old who has yet to play in an NHL game this season. The Bolton, Ontario native has posted some of the best offensive numbers of his career in the AHL this season, with 23 goals and 17 assists in 55 games with Rochester. The Sabres 2016 fourth round pick (99th overall) has dressed in 23 NHL games in his six-year professional career, registering two goals and four assists with a -3 plus/minus and 25 hits.

The Sabres are back in action on Monday night against the Boston Bruins as they play out the string. Buffalo will most likely miss the playoffs this season for the 14th straight year.

Waiver Wire: 10/1/24

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28 players hit the waiver wire Tuesday, per PuckPedia. It’s a sharp increase from yesterday’s 12 names as more veterans are assigned to the minors later in camp. All of yesterday’s waived players cleared, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports. Today’s waiver placements are as follows:

Anaheim Ducks

F Carson Meyer

Buffalo Sabres

F Joshua Dunne
F Mason Jobst
F Brett Murray
D Colton Poolman
D Jack Rathbone
G Felix Sandström

Calgary Flames

D Ilya Solovyov

Edmonton Oilers

G Collin Delia
D Ben Gleason
D Philip Kemp
F Lane Pederson

Los Angeles Kings

D Jacob Moverare

Minnesota Wild

F Reese Johnson

New York Rangers

F Anton Blidh
G Louis Domingue
D Casey Fitzgerald
D Brandon Scanlin

Seattle Kraken

F Brandon Biro
F Max McCormick
F Ben Meyers
D Gustav Olofsson
F Mitchell Stephens
G Ales Stezka

Vancouver Canucks

F Phillip Di Giuseppe
G Jiří Patera
F Nathan Smith
D Christian Wolanin

Minor Free Agent Signings: Atlantic Division

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With over 180 deals signed during the first day of free agency yesterday, some smaller names may have gotten lost in the shuffle. Here’s a list of names that have inked two-way deals with Atlantic Division clubs since the market opened yesterday, per CapFriendly. Some of these may have been included in our main coverage yesterday, while others went under the radar. All contracts carry the league-minimum $775K cap hit unless stated otherwise). Those listed here are likely to begin 2024-25 with each team’s AHL affiliate.

Boston Bruins

F Cole Koepke (one year)
D Jordan Oesterle (two years)
D Billy Sweezey (two years)
F Riley Tufte (one year)
F Jeffrey Viel (one year)

Buffalo Sabres

F Joshua Dunne (two years)
F Mason Jobst (one year)
F Brett Murray (one year)
D Jack Rathbone (one year)
G Felix Sandström (one year)

Detroit Red Wings

F Sheldon Dries (two years)
F Joe Snively (one year)

Florida Panthers

F Rasmus Asplund (one year)

Montreal Canadiens

none

Ottawa Senators

D Jeremy Davies (one year)
F Hayden Hodgson (one year)
F Garrett Pilon (two years)
D Filip Roos (one year)

Tampa Bay Lightning

D Derrick Pouliot (one year)
D Steven Santini (one year)
F Jesse Ylönen (one year)

Toronto Maple Leafs

none

Buffalo Sabres Reassign Brett Murray

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In the aftermath of the Buffalo Sabres’ 9-4 dismantling at the hands of the Columbus Blue Jackets, the team has reassigned forward Brett Murray to their AHL affiliate, the Rochester Americans.

The reassignment is generally seen as an indication that Jordan Greenway is ready to return to the ice for the team. Greenway, who has scored seven points in 21 games this season, has been out since December 2nd.

Murray did not skate in the team’s loss last night, his spot in the lineup going to a newly returned Jack Quinn, who played 14:35 time-on-ice in yesterday’s game. Murray returns to the AHL having skated in two NHL contests, the first two such games of his season. His first game was the team’s victory over the Arizona Coyotes on December 11th, and then his second was five days ago against the Vegas Golden Knights.

A 25-year-old forward standing six-foot-five, 228 pounds, Murray has become a useful call-up option for the Sabres. He brings scoring ability in the AHL (he potted 23 goals and 49 points last season) alongside grit and physicality in his limited NHL roles.

A pending restricted free agent playing on a league-minimum contract, Murray will head back to Rochester with the hope of resuming his scoring role there so he can eventually earn another NHL call-up.

Buffalo Sabres Place Jeff Skinner On Injured Reserve

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The Buffalo Sabres have placed Jeff Skinner on injured reserve as a result of the upper-body injury he suffered last night, according to a team announcement.

25-year-old Brett Murray has been recalled from the Sabres’ AHL affiliate, the Rochester Americans, to fill Skinner’s vacated slot on the Sabres’ roster. This news comes as the Sabres are already dealing with poor injury luck. The team has Jordan Greenway, Jack Quinn, and Zemgus Girgensons already on injured reserve. With Skinner included, the total cap hit of players on Sabres injured reserve amounts to a whopping $15.363MM.

The loss of Skinner means the Sabres will have to make do without one of their top offensive weapons. The 31-year-old former Calder Trophy winner scored 35 goals and 82 points last season, which was by a wide margin the most productive campaign of his career. He’s followed that up quite well with 12 goals and 22 points in 30 games to start this season. With Skinner out, Murray could very well slot into the vacated role on the Sabres’ second-line, alongisde J.J. Peterka and Casey Mittelstadt.

Murray is a big six-foot-five, 228-pound left winger who has had two consecutive strong seasons in Rochester. In 2021-22, Murray scored 15 goals and 32 points in 52 games, as well as six points in 10 playoff games. Last season, Murray scored 23 goals and 49 points in 71 games, while also chipping in 10 points in 14 postseason contests.

Although those numbers haven’t entirely translated to the NHL level in his 22 career games there, his offensive success at the AHL level does indicate that he may have some more upside in the NHL than he’s shown so far. Murray played for the Sabres on December 11th, and now he’ll likely get an extended chance with the team due to Skinner’s injury.

Sabres Notes: Tuch, Murray, Samuelsson, Greenway

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Sabres forward Alex Tuch will be activated off injured reserve and return to the lineup tonight against the Avalanche, head coach Don Granato said earlier Wednesday. Winger Brett Murray was assigned to AHL Rochester later in the day to create roster space to activate Tuch, per a team release.

Tuch’s return marks the end of a four-game absence due to a lower-body injury sustained on December 3 against the Predators. The Sabres promptly announced Tuch was expected out of the lineup for roughly one week, just long enough to be eligible for IR placement. It’s the winger’s second multi-game absence of the season after an upper-body injury sidelined him for three games in November. Before exiting the lineup, Tuch had two goals and four points in his last five games and has eight goals and 17 points in 22 games on the season.

The move also ends Murray’s first call-up of the 2023-24 season, which lasted just two days. He replaced the younger Isak Rosen in the lineup Monday in the team’s win against the Coyotes, recording a -1 rating and one shot on goal in 10:41 of ice time. The 25-year-old Murray, who stands at 6-foot-5 and nearly 230 pounds, has two goals and seven points in 12 games with AHL Rochester this season.

Elsewhere from around the Sabres today:

  • Also returning to the lineup tonight is defenseman Mattias Samuelsson, per Granato. No corresponding roster move is needed because Sameulsson remained on the active roster while sidelined with an undisclosed injury, which Granato described as general soreness earlier in the week. Samuelsson did not suit up Monday against the Coyotes, his fourth injury-related absence of the season after he missed three games with a lower-body injury in early November. The shutdown blueliner has three points in 25 games this season and is averaging 20:12 per game, nearly two minutes down from last season’s average – although that number is artificially low due to Samuelsson exiting games early with injuries this season on multiple occasions.
  • One player absent from tonight’s contest will be forward Jordan Greenway, missing his sixth straight game with an upper-body injury. He did travel with the team on their road trip, but as Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News reports, he’s not expected to play, which would mean also missing games Friday in Vegas and Saturday in Arizona. He remains on injured reserve for the time being and hasn’t played since leaving the team’s December 2 contest against the Hurricanes prematurely. He’s played in two of Buffalo’s last ten games, missing a trio of contests in November for personal reasons. The 26-year-old has seven points in 21 games in his first full season as a Sabre.

Sabres Recall Brett Murray, Send Isak Rosén Down

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The Buffalo Sabres have recalled winger Brett Murray to the NHL club and sent rookie Isak Rosén to the minors. Rosén has appeared in his first seven NHL games since being recalled on November 25th, failing to score a point and recording a -3.

Rosén started the season with the AHL’s Rochester Americans, scoring eight goals and 19 points through his first 16 games with the club. Rosén remains the team’s top scorer, even after missing four games because of his NHL stint. He’s paced by Jiří Kulich, who has managed 13 goals and 19 points of his own through 19 AHL games. Kulich received his NHL debut on the same night as Rosén but was sent back to the minors shortly after. Both players are former first-round selections by Buffalo, with Rosén being drafted 14th overall in the 2021 NHL Draft and Kulich going 28th overall in the 2022 NHL Draft. With the debut of Kulich and Rosén, the Sabres have now seen every first-round selection they’ve made since 2017 suit up for them at some point this year – save for winger Jack Quinn, who is working back from Achille’s tendon surgery and Noah Ostlund, who remains in Sweden.

Filling in for Rosén is AHL veteran Brett Murray, who currently has two goals and seven points through 12 games with the Rochester Americans. The scoring brings his career AHL totals up to 217 games played, 58 goals, and 132 points. Murray appeared in 21 NHL games between the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons, playing in 19 games and scoring six points in the latter campaign. The Sabres originally drafted Murray 99th overall in the 2016 NHL Draft, selecting him out of the CCHL before his pursued a career in the USHL and NCAA’s Big 10.

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