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Evan Rodrigues

Buffalo Sabres Sign Evan Rodrigues

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The Buffalo Sabres have signed one of their three remaining restricted free agents, inking Evan Rodrigues to a two-year deal. He’ll earn $650K in each season, with the first year being a two-way contract. This leaves the Sabres with just Zemgus Girgensons and Nathan Beaulieu left to sign.

Rodrigues, 23, was signed out of Boston University after putting up a monster season alongside Jack Eichel scoring 61 points in 41 games. Amazingly, the Sabres would draft Eichel just a a few months later, though the pair haven’t taken the same path since then. Rodrigues has been mostly kept in the minor leagues, where he’s continued to produce with 60 points in 120 games, but could play a bigger role on the Sabres this season.

It’s not a guarantee that the scoring prowess continues at the next level though. In a 30-game taste with the NHL club last year, Rodrigues scored just six points even with relatively constant ice time though he spent most of that with Marcus Foligno and Brian Gionta, two players who aren’t really known for their offensive production at this point. It will be interesting to see if he ever gets a chance up the lineup, or if he’ll need to tweak his game and embrace a role as a bottom-six center.

Free Agent Focus: Buffalo Sabres

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The free agent period is now less than one month away from opening up and there are several prominent players set to hit the open market while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign.  Here is a breakdown of Buffalo’s free agent situation.

Key Restricted Free Agents:

F Marcus Foligno – At just 25 years old, Foligno will enter his seventh season with the Sabres organization in 2017-18. While his development has been slow, it’s also been steady, finishing each passing season with more points than the year before. Foligno isn’t the player who showed flashes of as a rookie in 2011-12, scoring 13 points in 14 games, but he’s carved out an important role in Buffalo as a reliable top-nine winger. 2016-17 marked a career-high 13 goals for Foligno, helped along by a team-best 13.4% shooting percentage, as well as his first 80+ game season. As always though, Foligno’s true value comes in his physical two-way game, where he had a career-best and team-leading 279 hits, career-high 57 blocked shots, which led all Buffalo forwards, and was a vital member of the penalty kill. Las year, the Sabres signed Foligno to just a one-year, $2.25MM contract, but after again proving his worth as a defensive forward and top-nine contributor, new Buffalo GM Jason Botterill should have no problem giving the homegrown product a multi-year deal worth $2.5-$3MM annually. Even with fellow priority RFA’s Zemgus Girgensons and Johan Larsson in need of raises, the Sabres have plenty of cap space and will give Foligno what he’s worth.

G Robin Lehner –  The Sabres have no interest in letting Lehner go, but this off-season they need to either commit to the 25-year-old as their surefire starter or establish that they feel he is just a timeshare goalie at this point. Just two years ago, Buffalo traded a first-round pick to acquire Lehner from the Ottawa Senators. In his first year with the Sabres, he was excellent, posting a .924 save percentage and 2.47 GAA… but in only 21 games. Injuries limited Lehner to only a brief showing in 2015-16, but this past season he was able to see action in 59 games and again played well with a .920 save percentage and 2.68 GAA. With Chad Johnson gone, many expected that Lehner would play more this past season though. However, trade acquisition Anders Nilsson routinely outplayed Lehner all season long. The margin between the two wasn’t wide, but enough so that Nilsson managed to make 26 appearances, including 23 starts. The team has nonetheless stated that Lehner is their guy, but actions speak louder than words. The value and more so the term of Lehner’s contract this summer, as well as their negotiations with Nilsson, will speak volumes about their commitment to their supposed #1.

Other RFAs: F Zemgus Girgensons, F Johan Larsson, F Justin Kea, F Jean Dupuy, F Evan Rodrigues, D Brady Austin, G Linus Ullmark

Key Unrestricted Free Agents:

F Brian Gionta – The Buffalo captain may be 38 years old and have over 1000 NHL games under his belt, but he also just completed a full 82-game season and seventh on the team in scoring. At this point in his career, Gionta is not looking to re-locate and perhaps no team could use his veteran leadership and hockey intelligence more than the Sabres, who have few forwards over 30 and certain players in need of mentoring (i.e. Evander Kane). The Sabres have plenty of cap space to play with and are expected to fill holes throughout the roster via free agency, but they’ll have room to bring back their captain who is still capable of scoring 30-40 points and can play in all situations. He probably won’t get another three-year, $12.75MM contract, but if Gionta wants to be back, he will be.

G Anders Nilsson – The flip side of the situation with Lehner is that of Nilsson. Just a little over a year older than Lehner, Nilsson was finally given legitimate responsibility for the first time in his NHL career in 2016-17 and he flourished. His .923 save percentage and .267 GAA were just marginally better than Lehner, but a major step up from his previous performances. Perhaps the Sabres, who truly do need to commit to Lehner or not, are afraid that re-signing Nilsson would send the wrong message, but he has definitely earned that consideration. If the Sabres don’t bring back Nilsson, they’ll have to search for a veteran backup to the oft-injured Lehner anyway. It’s not a simple problem and how Boterill solves it will impact his start with the organization.

Other UFAs: D Cody Franson, D Dmitry Kulikov, D Taylor Fedun, D Erik Burgdoerfer, D Mat Bodie, F Derek Grant, F Cole Schneider, F Cal O’Reilly

Projected Cap Space: The Sabres currently have only $50.2MM committed to 2017-18 contracts by way of 11 forwards and five defensemen. (CapFriendly) The extensions for RFA’s Lehner, Foligno, Girgensons, and Larsson, all of whom will be safe from expansion, as well as roster hopefuls Alexander Nylander and Brady Austin will eat up some of that space. However, even if the cap ceiling remains at $73MM, Buffalo has nearly $23MM of space to work with and if Matt Moulson is an expansion casualty, as has been rumored, there’s another $5MM in relief. That should give them more than enough space to accommodate those young players, re-sign Gionta, extend or replace Nilsson, and still have the flexibility to explore the free agent market for better fits on the blue line than Franson or Kulikov and a game-changer up front.

Minor Transactions: 2/11/17

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It appears that the Ottawa Senators have given Andrew Hammond a stinker of a birthday gift as they’ve placed him on waivers per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman (Twitter link).

Hammond, affectionately known as the Hamburglar, has struggled to find consistency since his dominating performance during the 2014-15 season. In just 24 games that season, Hammond went 20-1-2 and posted a .941 save percentage. Since then, Hammond appeared in 30 games, going 7-13-4 and this season alone, having a goals against average north of four. His save percentage is a paltry .837. This was predictable as Craig Anderson is slated to start tonight for the Senators according to the Ottawa Citizen’s Ken Warren. Additionally, the Ottawa Sun’s Bruce Garrioch tweets that extension talks with Mike Condon signalled the end of Hammond’s time in Ottawa. Should he clear waivers, he will report to Binghamton.

Other minor roster moves from around the league:

  • The Sabres, announced they have brought Evan Rodrigues back into the fold. He has no points in two games this season, but has registered 27 points in 44 games with the Rochester Americans. According to the press release, this is Rodrigues’ third callup this season with the Sabres.
  • The Devils announced via Twitter that they have recalled forward Joseph Blandisi from AHL Albany.  The 22 year old has spent the bulk of the season in the minors, picking up 23 points in 28 games.  He has also got into three games with New Jersey, being held off the scoresheet.
  • After clearing waivers earlier today, the Jets announced that they’ve assigned blueliner Julian Melchiori to their AHL affiliate in Manitoba.  Melchiori has played in 31 games with the Moose this year, recording six points.  He also saw action in four games with the Jets before hitting the wire.

Minor Transactions: 2/10/2017

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The flip-flop of young backups continues in Columbus. The Blue Jackets announced today that they have demoted Joonas Korpisalo to the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters and recalled Anton Forsberg to take his place. The 22-year-old Korpisalo won both of his last two starts, but was unimpressive, allowing a combined ten goals in the process. He did relieve Sergei Bobrovsky recently with 13 minutes of shutout hockey, but it was not enough to keep him around. Korpisalo has an .893 SV% and 3.57 GAA in five appearances this season. Ironically, Forsberg has not done much better. In his first and only game with Columbus in 2016-17, the 24-year-old allowed four goals on 27 shots in a loss to the Carolina Hurricanes. With both young keepers set to go unprotected in the upcoming Expansion Draft, perhaps it is GM Jarmo Kekalainen’s strategy to not allow either to get hot at the NHL level in an effort to dissuade the Vegas Golden Knights from damaging the Blue Jackets’ future in net.

Columbus also sent Oliver Bjorkstrand down to the AHL. The 21-year-old Danish winger was expected to have a much greater role with the Blue Jackets this season, but to this point has just one point in five games. Bjorkstrand has spent almost the whole season with the Monsters, scoring 14 goals and nine assists in 35 games.

Elsewhere across the league:

  • Last night, the Edmonton Oilers recalled defenseman Jordan Oesterle and forward Anton Lander from the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors. The pair have been sent back-and-forth frequently of late while Edmonton balances their lineup. Lander has been demoted recently during struggles to make a difference with the Oilers, only to dominate the AHL level with 28 points in 18 games. On the flip side, Edmonton has tried inserting Oesterle into the lineup recently due to his 18 points in 26 games to lead all Condors defensemen.
  • Eric Gelinas has been reassigned to the AHL’s San Antonio Rampage by the struggling Colorado Avalanche. The Avs are desperate for defense, but Gelinas has not been the solution. The former New Jersey Devils top prospect was traded to Colorado at the deadline last year, and has been a major disappointment. After playing a prominent role for the Devils, he has just one point in 33 games for the Avalanche.
  • One of the main reasons that the Winnipeg Jets placed defenseman Julian Melchiori on waivers earlier today was to make room for fellow blue liner Ben Chiarot. The Jets announced that they have activated Chiarot from the injured reserve today. Chiarot has been out since early January for the Jets, and his presence will be much-welcomed with Tyler Myers still sidelined.
  • Buffalo announced via Twitter that they have sent forward Evan Rodrigues back to AHL Rochester.  He has played in just four career NHL games – two this season – but is having a strong season at the minor league level with nine goals and 18 assists in 43 contests with the Amerks.
  • The Sharks have made a series of roster moves, announcing that they have recalled defenseman Tim Heed and winger Kevin Labanc from San Jose of the AHL while assigning blueliner Joakim Ryan and center Ryan Carpenter to the Barracuda.  Heed and Labanc have been shuffled back and forth routinely as the team looks to free up extra cap space and will be available for a matinee game against the Flyers tomorrow.
  • Dallas has assigned blueliner Julius Honka to their AHL affiliate in Texas, reports Mark Stepneski of Stars Inside Edge (Twitter link).  Honka has played in ten NHL games this season, recording four assists.  The move suggests that Jamie Oleksiak could be ready to return from his hand injury; he has been out of the lineup since January 11th.

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