Reviving the Buffalo Sabres

[rancer890]

NOTE: Using Manimal 4.1b with CSD patch to 2011-12 season

Career to date:

Code: Select all

Erie Otters (OHL) - July 9, 2012-April 3, 2017
Syracuse Crunch (AHL) - April 3, 2017-August 8, 2018
Florida Panthers (NHL) - August 8, 2018-July 6, 2024

July 6, 2024 - Buffalo Sabres hire Richard Tam as new General Manager

BUFFALO - Days after Darcy Regier has finally been relieved of his duties, Terry Pegula wasted no time finding his replacement in former Florida Panthers GM Richard Tam. The Panthers, the reigning Presidents Cup holders, will be looking for a replacement to push their team to a Stanley Cup, while the Sabres will look to Tam to continue rebuilding and have a team that can compete for the playoffs and the Stanley Cup in future years. The Sabres' struggles have been well documented over the past few years, finishing 14th, 13th, 14th, and 15th (as well as dead last in the league) in the Eastern Conference the past 4 seasons. This past season has been a struggle for the Sabres and their fans, losing 50 games in regulation and allowing a whooping 340 goals.

"I'm very excited to become a part of the Buffalo Sabres family. This hockey club won a Stanley Cup in 2011-12, and the fans and players have struggled over the past few seasons. I'm here to change their fortunes, and we will win again. I want hard working players. I want players with mental toughness. I want team players. We're going to work hard every night. This won't be immediate though, we will to continue to stockpile talent. There are no untouchables on our team. I will do what I think is right for the short term and long term future of the Sabres and the city of Buffalo will see another winner."

Roster

Goalies:

Trenton Watt (20 years old) - 1 year remaining, $925,000 cap hit - Acquired: 2021 NHL Draft (Round 2, 35th Overall)

A very young goaltender who struggled in his first year in the NHL, with a 23-38-3 record and a 3.87 GAA. Since he's the only goalie on the team, we're going to need a veteran goalie who can help and mentor Watt.

Defencemen

Bohuslav Zabransky (22) - 1 year, $1.5 million - Acquired: 2020 NHL Draft (1, 13th)

Already a 3 year NHL veteran, this Czech defenceman has solid NHL talent. Unfortunately, he's a 2nd line D-man who played top minutes against other teams' top lines.

Arto Pentikainen (27) - 1 year, $2.544 million - Acquired: Trade with NY Islanders in 2019

This Finnish D-man is a 4 year NHL veteran of 279 games. He's just average across the board, and not very quick. His strong points is his Creativity (19) and Influence (19).

Joel Balbino (20) - 1 year, $932,000 - Acquired: 2022 NHL Draft (1, 8th)

He has no NHL experience, having been loaned to Saskatoon of the WHL in the 2023-24 season. Ideally, he should be in the minors, but with the lack of talent here, he might make the big club among the top 6.

Alex Hjalmarsson (25) - 1 year, $812,000 - Acquired: Waiver claim from Montreal in 2024

The former Habs defenceman impressed in 17 games with the Sabres, and he's very strong, but he can't skate...

Airat Khudyakov (19) - 2 years, $525,000 - Acquired: 2023 NHL Draft (2, 35th)

This young player has a lot of potential to be a solid in the top 4. He recently finished his rookie season with the Sabres (4 goals and 20 points in 66 games) and hopefully he can build on that.

Jimmy Smith (25) - 1 year, $4.031 million - Acquired: 2016 NHL Draft (3, 89th)

Smith is our best defenceman according to current ability. He's quick, strong, and has great checking (19), hitting (18), and positioning (20). He's definitely one player to build around and he's still very young and will be entering his prime years.

Nicklas Grossman (39) - 1 year, $2.817 million - Acquired: 2023 free agency

He's old and slow, but he's a vet who can help mentor the young players. We're also near the cap floor, so we also need his contract to meet it.

Justin Faulk (32) - 1 year, $2.182 million - Acquired: 2022 free agency

Faulk is another solid veteran who only played in 30 games this past season. Hopefully he'll do well this season and perhaps could be trade bait come next February.

Christophe Foisy (20) - 2 years, $934,000 - Acquired: 2022 NHL Draft (2, 38th)

He has a future in the top 6, but not now. He's probably headed to Rochester come October.

Overall, there's a mix of old and slow guys with young and slow guys. This is a physical group, but not very quick.

Left Wing

Devon Carter (25) - 1 year, $3.212 million. Acquired: 2017 NHL Draft (1, 27th)

Our best left winger on the team is this 6 year NHL vet. He has scored at least 25 goals and last season had 65 points, the most since his sophomore season. He has speed and quickness in his 5 foot 10, 174 lb frame. He lacks strength, but makes up for it in other areas.

Thomas Vanek (40) - 1 year, $3.567 million. Acquired: 2003 NHL Draft (1, 5th)

At 40, he doesn't really have the speed anymore. He had a career low 41 points in 63 games last season. If there's enough interest, I could trade him to a contender. If not, he'll retire a Buffalo Sabre.

Leon Hjelm (28) - 1 year, $1.16 million. Acquired: Trade with Edmonton 2018

He's spent a majority of his Buffalo career in Rochester, only spending the 2022-23 season and half of the 2023-24 season with the Sabres. He'll have a chance in training camp.

Moe Thomas (25) - 1 year, $694,000. Acquired: 2024 free agency

Recently signed by Regier. His attributes aren't that good but we'll see in training camp.

Centers

Eric Staal (39) - 1 year, $4.9 million. Acquired: 2023 free agency

He's another old and slow player with some skills left. Staal might be a tradeable asset as his physical skills haven't completed eroded.

Pete Owens (24) - 1 year, $612,000. Acquired: Waiver claim from Colorado in 2024

He's not old, and he's got speed, but he hasn't put together a breakout season yet. He had 20 points in 60 games with the Avs and Sabres.

Ryan O'Reilly (33) - 2 years, $1.325 million. Acquired: 2023 free agency

He's a decent 3rd line center, nothing more.

Kirill Klyuchnikov (21) - 1 year, $934,000 / Jaromir Malinsky (20) - 2 years, $610,000 / Patrice O'Donnell (22) - 1 year, $647,000

There isn't an ideal 4th liner but these 3 are next on the depth chart. Klyuchnikov was drafted 5th overall in 2021 but needs more seasoning in the AHL. Malinsky has some talent, but once again, not good enough for the NHL. O'Donnell is the oldest here, having spent 3 seasons with Rochester, but don't want him to play on the 4th line.

Right Wing

Rod Carnevale (23) - 2 years, $2.884 million. Acquired: 2019 NHL Draft (1, 5th)

Doesn't have the speed that most small guys have (he's 5 foot 8, 176), but he plays bigger than his size. He isn't afraid to fight for the puck against bigger opponents, and is a complete 200 feet player. He works hard, has bravery, a great team player, and is future captain material.

Jordan Caron (33) - 1 year, $727,000. Acquired: 2023 free agency

He's a decent player across the board, with no great skills. He has not come even close to the best campaign of his career, as a member of the St. Louis Blues in 2020-21 (29 G, 61 P in all 82 games).

Evgeni Dadonov (35) - 1 year, $1.226 million. Acquired: 2024 free agency

He spent the previous season with the Sabres, scoring 31 goals and 67 points in 77 games. Hopefully a repeat performance.

Top Five Prospects

1. C Marc-Antoine Stone (17) - 2nd overall pick in this past year's NHL Draft, he has a ton of potential. He will stay with the Tri-City Americans though. No need to rush him when we're nowhere close to competing.

2. LW/C Darryl Brady (18) - 5th overall pick in the 2023 Draft. He has potential to be a first line, two-way player. However, he does have character issues (slack, low determination, and missing practices with Red Deer)

3. C Filipp Gubin (18) - 4th round pick in 2023. He's played for the AK Bars Kazan's junior team in the MHL the past couple seasons. He doesn't really have a high ceiling.

4. LW/C/RW Tommy Wikner (19) - The Sabres' 3rd round pick in 2022, he already has a year of hockey in North America with Rochester. He'll be staying there in for 2024-25. He has potential to be a solid two-way, second line forward.

5. RW/LW/C Sebastien Caillard (18) - The Sabres' 2nd round pick in this past year's draft, he only has potential to be a 3rd liner...


Our coaching staff is horrible and we have way too many scouts for my liking.


Summary: This team is a mess. Darcy Regier just kept putting tape on a sinking boat, but the leaks just kept getting bigger... (sounds like real life.. ). I like the Sabres IRL, so this was a job I always wanted. I just didn't expect Pegula to wait so long to pull the trigger on Regier. Looks its not an omen on the real team. I can't imagine Regier being the GM till 2024.

There are some nice pieces, like Jimmy Smith, Devon Carter, and Rod Carnevale. M-A Stone looks like he can be a future 1st line center with the right coaching. The rest of the team is a mess though. The team just rushed way too many draft picks. The main goal this off-season is to sign some stop-gaps so they can properly develop in the junior leagues or in Rochester (AHL) and Gwinnett (ECHL).

Updates will be Off-season, pre-season, monthly updates till the playoffs, playoffs update by round, and then a draft update.

[rancer890]

2024 Off-season

"The Florida Connection"

With the enormous lack of talent across all 3 levels of the organization from NHL to ECHL, the first order of business is to get some talent into the system. Before Regier's departure, he added veteran winger Evgeni Dadonov as a free agent, 18 year old Latvian winger Aleksandrs Grundmanis, and Nisswa, Minnesota native Derek Stuart , 20, from the University of Alaska-Fairbanks in the NCAA.

Next, lacking a backup goalie, in comes 27 year old Czech player, Lubomir Svetlik, who has been signed to a 1 year, $750,000 contract. He spent the past two seasons with HC Sparta Praha of the Czech league, compiling a 38-32-15 record with a 2.32 GAA in 87 games. He also finished runner-up for the Goaltender of the Year award in both seasons. Joining Svetlik in training camp is another new face, Carl Charron. Charron was the Panthers' 4th round pick in the 2019 NHL Draft. He has spent 3 years with their AHL affiliate in San Antonio, with a 23-40-5 record with a 3.69 GAA over three seasons with the Rampage. Charron will most likely be camp fodder and Rochester is his likely destination come October.

The Florida Panthers connection with the new Sabres continues with the signing of Centerman Wendell Bowtell to a 2 year, $8.2 million contract. The reigning Selke Trophy winner scored 10 goals and added 22 assists in 68 games, as well as spending 248 minutes in the penalty box. With the Panthers, he was mostly either on the third line or fourth line, along with penalty killing duties. The lack of depth at Center with the Sabres might mean increased ice-time in either as possibly the second line center or perhaps even the top line center. His presence will hopefully help the Sabres with their struggles in conceding goals on even strength and in the penalty kill.

A minor trade also occurred between Florida and Buffalo in early August, resulting in the Sabres trading away 23 year old C/LW Patrice O'Donnell, and the rights to 18 year olds Regina Pats goaltender Shannon Therrien and Swedish winger Christopher Anger, 18, to the Panthers in exchange for youngsters LW/C Victor Ekegren (22), RW Juho Konttinen (22), and W Tony Leppanen, 19. "A quality organization starts from top to bottom, and this includes ensuring our minor leagues have the exact winning environment so that when these youngsters reach the NHL, they know how to win. Our relationship with our affiliates with Rochester and Gwinnett are important such that we also want their teams to compete for the Calder Cup and the Kelly Cup. I'm familiar with these three youngsters from my time in Florida, and while they might not have the opportunity to become impact players with the Panthers, we can give them more ice time with the Americans to prepare them for the next step."

We also made some changes in personnel, adding former players Craig Conroy, Ed Jovanovski, and Grant Fuhr to the staff. Dale Callahan was hired as the new Assistant GM (20/19 JPA/JPP).

Contract Extensions

• G Trenton Watt - 2 years/$3.84 million
  RW Juho Kontinnen - 1 year/2 way/$575k
  D Bohuslav Zabransky - 2 years/$3.2 million
  LW/C Victor Ekegren - 1 year/2 way/$650k
  D Joel Balbino - 1 year/2 way/$1.02 million

Overview

Players/Staff In:

July 5: W Evgeni Dadonov
July 6: W Aleksandrs Grundmanis
July 6: RW Derek Stuart
July 12: G Lubomir Svetlik
July 12: G Carl Charron
July 13: C/RW Wendell Bowtell
August 8: RW Juho Konttinen, LW/C Victor Ekegren, W Tony Leppanen (trade with Florida)

July 10: Scout Dave Torrie FIRED.
July 15/16: Assistant coaches Craig Conroy, Ed Jovanovski, Grant Fuhr HIRED.
July 16: Assistant coach Jason Cassidy FIRED.
July 21: Assistant GM Robin Costa FIRED.
July 25: Assistant GM Dale Callahan HIRED.

[rancer890]

(I had written a long update but I lost everything because I had to re-login to look at my draft, so this one will be brief. I will also skip the pre-season update)

Buffalo Sabres - October 2024

Record - 5 W - 6 L - 2 OTL - 12 points (9th in the East)

Players Statistics

Code: Select all

No   Name                     GP  G   A   P   +--  PIM  SOG  ShAv R 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
35   Svetlik, Lubomir         5   0   0   0   0    0    0    -    8.00 
1    Watt, Trenton            7   0   0   0   0    0    0    -    6.29 
3    Grossman, Nicklas        11  0   2   2   -1   0    0    -    6.55 
30   Hjalmarsson, Alex        4   0   0   0   -6   0    1    0.0  6.00 
29   Khudyakov, Airat         11  2   2   4   -3   2    20   10.0 6.91 
45   Pentikainen, Arto        13  2   3   5   7    14   14   14.3 7.38 
28   Faulk, Justin            13  0   2   2   -4   12   10   0.0  6.92 
77   Smith, Jimmy             13  2   0   2   -3   12   9    22.2 7.08 
5    Zabransky, Bohuslav      13  2   3   5   2    8    29   6.9  7.15 
33   Bonneau, Bill            13  3   6   9   0    2    31   9.7  7.54 
70   Carter, Devon            13  6   9   15  -7   8    47   12.8 7.38 
9    Hjelm, Leon              12  2   1   3   -3   6    19   10.5 7.00 
32   Hunter, Gordon           13  1   5   6   4    8    7    14.3 6.85 
26   Vanek, Thomas            13  1   2   3   -4   10   20   5.0  6.54 
66   Bowtell, Wendell         13  6   10  16  4    63   46   13.0 8.77 
25   O'Reilly, Ryan           11  2   2   4   -6   8    14   14.3 7.09 
58   Owens, Pete              11  0   3   3   -2   8    5    0.0  6.27 
12   Staal, Eric              8   1   4   5   1    4    20   5.0  7.75 
22   Bass, Cody               9   1   2   3   0    17   11   9.1  7.44 
59   Carnevale, Rod           13  7   6   13  -5   6    26   26.9 7.15 
27   Caron, Jordan            11  0   2   2   4    30   10   0.0  6.73 
10   Dadonov, Evgeni          10  3   4   7   -1   2    17   17.6 6.80 
13   Stuart, Derek            4   1   2   3   2    18   2    50.0 7.75 

Goalie Statistics

Lubomir Svetlik -- 5 GP - 2 W - 0 L - 0 T - 3.43 GAA - 8.00 AVR
Terry Riddell -- 4 GP - 2 W - 1 L - 1 T - 3.53 GAA - 7.50 AVR
Trenton Watt -- 7 GP - 1 W - 5 L - 1 T - 4.89 GAA - 6.29 AVR

Games:

Oct. 4 - vs Boston - L 2-7 (0 W - 1 L - 0 OTL)
Oct. 5 - at Boston - W 4-1 (1 W - 1 L - 0 OTL)
Oct. 7 - vs Toronto - W 5-3 (2 W - 1 L - 0 OTL)
Oct. 9 - vs Winnipeg - W 5-1 (3 W - 1 L - 0 OTL)
Oct. 12 - at Philadelphia - SOL 4-5 (3 W - 1 L - 1 OTL)
Oct. 14 - vs Edmonton - L 2-5 (3 W - 2 L - 1 OTL)
Oct. 18 - vs Minnesota - W 5-2 (4 W - 2 L - 1 OTL)
Oct. 20 - at Chicago - L 1-6 (4 W - 3 L - 1 OTL)
Oct. 21 - vs New Jersey - OTL 2-3 (4 W - 3 L - 2 OTL)
Oct. 24 - vs Boston - L 2-4 (4 W - 4 L - 2 OTL)
Oct. 26 - at Boston - W 5-3 (5 W - 4 L - 2 OTL)
Oct. 28 - vs Toronto - L 0-8 (5 W - 5 L - 2 OTL)
Oct. 30 - vs Tampa Bay - L 5-8 (5 W - 6 L - 2 OTL)

Transactions

Sept. 29 - Acquired 26 year old winger Bill Bonneau, a veteran of 6 NHL seasons, off waivers from the Toronto Maple Leafs. He has scored 104 goals and 194 assists in 434 games with the Leafs. He is a former 1st round pick (19th) of the Leafs in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft.

Oct. 4 - Acquired 26 year old left winger Gordon Hunter from the Florida Panthers for 20 year old defenseman Christophe Foisy. Hunter, the Phoenix Coyotes' 2nd round pick (38th) in 2017, has 53 goals and 89 assists in 321 games over 4 seasons with the Panthers. He can be counted for between 15-20 goals and 40-45 points. Foisy is young defenseman entering his first year of professional hockey. He was the Sabres' 2nd round pick (38th) in 2022.

Oct. 10 - Acquired 37-year old right winter/center Cody Bass off waivers from the Vancouver Canucks. Coming into his second stint with the Sabres, he has 385 NHL games of experience between Ottawa, Columbus, Buffao, the NY Islanders, and Vancouver, with 50 goals and 72 assists. He is more well known at the AHL level, scoring 518 points (254 G - 264 A) over 737 games.

On the Farm

AHL - Rochester Americans: 8 GP - 4 W - 1 L - 3 OTL.

Leaders

Goals - Kirill Klyuchnikov (6)
Assists - Tony Leppanen (6)
Points - Kirill Klyuchnikov (10)
PIM - Tommy Wikner (25)
Plus/Minus - Kaleigh Macias (+8)

Wins - Terry Riddell (4)
GAA - Terry Riddell (2.52)

ECHL - Gwinnett Gladiators - 4 GP - 1 W - 3 L - 0 OTL

Leaders

(No Buffalo Sabres contracts)

Top Prospects

1. Marc-Antoine Stone (C) - 18 years old - Tri-City Americans (WHL) - 12 GP - 8 G - 9 A - 17 PTS - 18 PIM - 9.58 AvR

He was recently named the WHL Player of the Month for October.

2. Darryl Brady (LW/C) - 19 - Red Deer Rebels (WHL) - 15 GP - 8 G - 11 A - 19 PTS - 26 PIM - 8.33 AvR

3. Joel Balbino (RD) - 20 - Rochester Americans (AHL) - 6 GP - 0 G - 1 A - 1 PT - 2 PIM - 7.33 AvR

4. Tony Leppanen (RW/LW) - 19 - Rochester Americans (AHL) - 8 GP - 2 G - 6 A - 8 PTS - 6 PIM - 7.00 AvR

5. Sebastien Caillard (RW/LW/C) - 18 - Chicoutimi Sagueneens (QMJHL) - 12 GP - 6 G - 7 A - 13 PTS - 16 PIM - 7.67 AvR

6. Nikolai Grachev (RW/C) - 19 - Erie Otters (OHL) - 15 GP - 7 G - 4 A - 11 PTS - 12 PIM - 6.53 AvR

7. Quentin Fougere (LW/RW) - 18 - Vancouver Giants (WHL) - 17 GP - 8 G - 5 A - 13 PTS - 18 PIM - 7.12 AvR

8. Aleksandrs Grundmanis (RW/LW) - 19 - Rochester Americans (AHL) - 8 GP - 0 G - 0 A - 0 PTS - 4 PIM - 6.00 AvR

9. Kamil Vrba (LD) - HC Kometa Brno (Czech Extraliga) - 13 GP - 4 G - 2 A - 6 PTS - 43 PIM - 7.31 AvR

10. Filipp Gubin (C) - AK Bars Kazan (KHL) - 12 GP - 0 G - 2 A - 2 PTS - 22 PIM - 6.67 AvR

11. Jaromir Malinsky (C/LW) - Rochester Americans (AHL) - 3 GP - 2 G - 2 A - 4 PTS - 4 PIM - 8.00 AvR

12. Derek Stuart (RW) - Buffalo Sabres (NHL) - 4 GP - 1 G - 2 A - 3 PTS - 18 PIM - 7.75 AvR

[rancer890]

Buffalo Sabres - November 2014

Overall Record: 27 GP - 10 W - 13 L - 4 OTL - 24 points (12th in the East)
November Record: 14 GP - 5 W - 7 L - 2 OTL - 12 points

Player Statistics

Code: Select all

No   Name                     GP  G   A   P   +--  PIM  SOG  ShAv R 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
35   Svetlik, Lubomir         12  0   0   0   0    0    0    -    8.00 
1    Watt, Trenton            16  0   0   0   0    0    0    -    6.69 
3    Grossman, Nicklas        24  0   4   4   -1   2    1    0.0  6.63 
30   Hjalmarsson, Alex        6   0   0   0   -6   0    2    0.0  6.33 
29   Khudyakov, Airat         24  6   5   11  -5   8    40   15.0 7.25 
45   Pentikainen, Arto        27  3   9   12  7    40   33   9.1  7.22 
28   Faulk, Justin            27  0   9   9   -5   24   24   0.0  7.15 
77   Smith, Jimmy             27  2   3   5   -4   39   15   13.3 7.04 
5    Zabransky, Bohuslav      27  5   11  16  2    16   59   8.5  7.22 
33   Bonneau, Bill            25  4   14  18  -4   16   64   6.3  7.36 
70   Carter, Devon            27  16  15  31  -7   14   92   17.4 7.44 
9    Hjelm, Leon              25  4   2   6   -4   26   35   11.4 6.92 
32   Hunter, Gordon           26  7   7   14  6    16   22   31.8 7.15 
26   Vanek, Thomas            26  3   3   6   -3   16   35   8.6  6.81 
66   Bowtell, Wendell         27  13  16  29  10   113  81   16.0 8.67 
25   O'Reilly, Ryan           23  2   5   7   -3   12   31   6.5  7.09 
88   Proulx, Skylar           6   0   0   0   -1   11   3    0.0  6.17 
12   Staal, Eric              22  5   11  16  -6   20   41   12.2 7.18 
22   Bass, Cody               19  2   3   5   -4   42   28   7.1  7.00 
59   Carnevale, Rod           27  11  18  29  -4   12   57   19.3 7.26 
27   Caron, Jordan            22  0   5   5   6    54   28   0.0  6.64 
83   Cyr, Max                 6   0   2   2   2    6    7    0.0  6.67 
10   Dadonov, Evgeni          24  7   8   15  -4   10   46   15.2 6.88

Goalie Stats

Lubomir Svetlik -- 12 GP - 4 W - 2 L - 0 T - 3.50 GAA - 8.00 AvR
Terry Riddell -- 6 GP - 2 W - 3 L - 1 T - 4.57 GAA - 7.00 AvR
Trenton Watt -- 16 GP - 4 W - 8 L - 3 T - 4.73 GAA - 6.69 AvR

Games:

Nov. 1 - at Carolina - W 4-3 (6 W - 6 L - 2 OTL)
Nov. 2 - at Winnipeg - W 7-5 (7 W - 6 L - 2 OTL)
Nov. 4 - at Ottawa - L 4-7 (7 W - 7 L - 2 OTL)
Nov. 6 - vs NY Islanders - W 3-1 (8 W - 7 L - 2 OTL)
Nov. 9 - at Montreal - OTL 4-5 (8 W - 7 L - 3 OTL)
Nov. 11 - vs Toronto - SOW 5-4 (9 W - 7 L - 3 OTL)
Nov. 16 - at Montreal - L 1-3 (9 W - 8 L - 3 OTL)
Nov. 18 - vs Philadelphia - L 3-6 (9 W - 9 L - 3 OTL)
Nov. 20 - vs Pittsburgh - W 5-3 (10 W - 9 L - 3 OTL)
Nov. 22 - at Ottawa - L 5-6 (10 W - 10 L - 3 OTL)
Nov. 24 - at Florida - L 2-5 (10 W - 11 L - 3 OTL)
Nov. 25 - vs Montreal - OTL 3-4 (10 W - 11 L - 4 OTL)
Nov. 28 - vs Montreal - L 2-5 (10 W - 12 L - 4 OTL)
Nov. 30 - at Tampa Bay - L 2-5 (10 W - 13 L - 4 OTL)

Transactions

Nov. 8 - Acquired center/right winger Skylar Proulx, 23, and the rights to 18 year old right winger Andy Lehoux from the Florida Panthers in exchange for 24 year old center Pete Owens and the rights to 18 year old forward Sebastien Caillard. Proulx, the 8th overall pick in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft and entering his fourth NHL season, has struggled to get into the Panthers stacked lineup after a strong rookie and sophomore season. He has 135 points (47 G - 88 A) in 238 career games.

Andy Lehoux, a Lyon, France native, is in his first year with the Halifax Mooseheads of the QMJHL. He was the Panthers' 7th round pick (209th overall). He has 9 goals and 8 assists in 25 games.

Pete Owens was acquired via waivers last season from the Colorado Avalanche. He had 3 assists in 13 games before the trade. He was originally a 1st round pick (24th overall) of the Avs in 2018. Sebastien Caillard was a 2nd round pick of the Sabres in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft. He has 8 goals and 16 assists in 24 games with the Chicoutimi Saguenees of the QMJHL.

--

Nov. 16 - Acquired right winger/centerman Max Cyr from the New Jersey Devils off waivers. Cyr, 25, was the Panthers 2nd round pick in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft. He has totaled 5 goals and 13 assists in 95 career games.

--

Nov. 27 - Acquired goaltender Daniel Lesko from the Calgary Flames for goaltender Terry Riddell. Lesko, a 21 year old Slovakian, sports a 8-3-2 record and a 2.70 GAA in 14 games for the Las Vegas Wranglers in the ECHL. He was originally the Flames' 3rd round pick (89th overall) in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft. Lesko is an athletic goaltender who needs to work on his lateral movement if he wants to be a starting goaltender in the NHL.

Riddell, 22, has played 9 games with the Rochester Americans of the AHL, with a 7-0-1 record and a 2.02 GAA. He has also played 6 games with the Sabres, compiling a record of 2-3-1 and a 4.57 GAA.

On the Farm

AHL - Rochester Americans (20 GP - 11 W - 6 L - 3 OTL)

Leaders

Goals - Kirill Klyuchnikov (10)
Assists - Tommy Wikner (13)
Points - Kirill Klyuchnikov (22)
PIM - Perry Rudkowsky (49)
Plus/Minus - Kirill Klyuchnikov (+22)

Wins - Terry Riddell (7)
GAA - Terry Riddell (2.02)

ECHL - Gwinnett Gladiators (18 GP - 12 W - 6 L - 0 OTL)

(no Buffalo Sabres prospects)

Top Prospects

1. Marc-Antoine Stone (C) - 18 years old - Tri-City Americans (WHL) - 24 GP - 13 G - 23 A - 36 PTS - 44 PIM - 9.42 AvR

He collected his second WHL Player of the Month Award after dominating November. If he can maintain this performance, he will probably be playing with the Sabres come October 2025.

2. Darryl Brady (LW/C) - 19 - Red Deer Rebels (WHL) - 26 GP - 15 G - 15 A - 30 PTS - 39 PIM - 8.38 AvR

Brady was selected to the WHL All-Star team to face the Russian selects in the Canada-Russia challenge.

3. Joel Balbino (RD) - 20 - Rochester Americans (AHL) - 17 GP - 1 G - 10 A - 11 PTS - 8 PIM - 7.88 AvR

4. Tony Leppanen (RW/LW) - 19 - Rochester Americans (AHL) - 20 GP - 8 G - 10 A - 18 PTS - 8 PIM - 7.00 AvR

5. Quentin Fougere (LW/RW) - 19 - Vancouver Giants (WHL) - 24 GP - 11 G - 11 A - 22 PTS - 32 PIM - 7.33 AvR

6. Andy Lehoux (RW) - 18 - Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL) - 25 GP - 9 G - 8 A - 17 PTS - 24 PIM - 6.48 AvR

7. Aleksandrs Grundmanis (RW/LW) - 19 - Rochester Americans (AHL) - 19 GP - 1 G - 0 A - 1 PT - 12 PIM - 5.95 AvR

8. Filipp Gubin (C) - 19 - Bars (KHL) - 2 GP - 0 G - 0 A - 2 PIM - 7.50 AvR

9. Kamil Vrba (LD) - 19 - HC Kometo Brno (Czech Extraliga) - 22 GP - 7 G - 4 A - 11 PTS - 47 PIM - 7.36 AvR

10. Daniel Lesko (G) - 21 - Rochester Americans (AHL) - 1 GP - 1 W - 0 L - 0 T - 2.00 GAA - 8.00 AvR

11. Jaromir Malinsky (C/LW) - 20 - Rochester Americans (AHL) - 15 GP - 3 G - 7 A - 10 PTS - 28 PIM - 6.87 AvR

12. Derek Stuart (RW) - Rochester Americans (AHL) - 6 GP - 1 G - 1 A - 2 PTS - 16 PIM - 7.50 AvR

[rancer890]

Buffalo Sabres - December 2024

Overall Record: 41 GP - 13 W - 22 L - 6 OTL - 32 points (14th in East/27th overall)
December Record: 14 GP - 3 W - 9 L - 2 OTL - 8 points

Player Statistics

Code: Select all

No   Name                     GP  G   A   P   +--  PIM  SOG  ShAv R 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
35   Svetlik, Lubomir         14  0   0   0   0    0    0    -    7.93 
1    Watt, Trenton            28  0   0   0   0    0    0    -    7.18 
3    Grossman, Nicklas        36  0   8   8   -2   4    5    0.0  6.69 
30   Hjalmarsson, Alex        9   0   0   0   -6   2    3    0.0  6.56 
29   Khudyakov, Airat         37  8   7   15  3    16   55   14.5 7.22 
45   Pentikainen, Arto        41  4   9   13  2    46   49   8.2  7.20 
28   Faulk, Justin            41  1   11  12  -9   36   35   2.9  7.15 
77   Smith, Jimmy             41  3   5   8   -1   53   22   13.6 7.20 
5    Zabransky, Bohuslav      41  5   13  18  5    20   89   5.6  7.02 
33   Bonneau, Bill            38  6   23  29  -5   18   101  5.9  7.39 
70   Carter, Devon            41  20  23  43  -3   22   124  16.1 7.32 
9    Hjelm, Leon              39  4   2   6   -6   34   54   7.4  6.82 
32   Hunter, Gordon           38  8   13  21  7    16   33   24.2 7.32 
26   Vanek, Thomas            37  3   3   6   -6   22   44   6.8  6.68 
66   Bowtell, Wendell         41  18  22  40  10   174  113  15.9 8.85 
25   O'Reilly, Ryan           34  3   7   10  -3   26   41   7.3  7.03 
88   Proulx, Skylar           18  0   3   3   -5   43   19   0.0  6.39 
12   Staal, Eric              36  9   17  26  1    26   80   11.3 7.36 
22   Bass, Cody               22  2   4   6   -7   50   31   6.5  6.86 
59   Carnevale, Rod           41  17  22  39  2    26   95   17.9 7.20 
27   Caron, Jordan            34  5   5   10  7    68   45   11.1 6.76 
83   Cyr, Max                 17  0   5   5   -1   12   22   0.0  6.65 
10   Dadonov, Evgeni          37  12  14  26  -4   20   78   15.4 7.00 

Goalie Stats

Lubomir Svetlik -- 14 GP - 5 W - 2 L - 1 T - 3.40 GAA - 7.93 AvR
Trenton Watt -- 28 GP - 6 W - 17 L - 4 T - 4.26 GAA - 7.18 AvR
Terry Riddell -- 6 GP - 2 W - 3 L - 1 T - 4.57 GAA - 7.00 AvR

Games:

Dec. 2 - at Toronto - L 3-5 (10 W - 14 L - 4 OTL)
Dec. 5 - vs Tampa Bay - L 3-5 (10 W - 15 L - 4 OTL)
Dec. 7 - at Montreal - W 6-3 (11 W - 15 L - 4 OTL)
Dec. 9 - at Columbus - L 3-5 (11 W - 16 L - 4 OTL)
Dec. 11 - at Detroit - L 1-3 (11 W - 17 L - 4 OTL)
Dec. 12 - vs Carolina - OTW 4-3 (12 W - 17 L - 4 OTL)
Dec. 15 - at Washington - L 0-3 (12 W - 18 L - 4 OTL)
Dec. 16 - vs New Jersey - L 1-2 (12 W - 19 L - 4 OTL)
Dec. 19 - vs Winnipeg - L 2-5 (12 W - 20 L - 4 OTL)
Dec. 22 - at St. Louis - OTL 4-5 (12 W - 20 L - 5 OTL)
Dec. 23 - vs Florida - OTL 2-3 (12 W - 20 L - 6 OTL)
Dec. 26 - vs Calgary - W 7-0 (13 W - 20 L - 6 OTL)
Dec. 29 - at NY Rangers - L 1-6 (13 W - 21 L - 6 OTL)
Dec. 30 - vs Boston - L 1-4 (13 W - 22 L - 6 OTL)

A really terrible month. Our team just isn't good enough, but hopefully this is a learning experience. As we head into 2025, there will be tough decisions to see whether we can make some deals to acquire young players and draft picks for our veteran players. However, a couple players, Eric Staal and Nicklas Grossman, have no-trade clauses.

Transactions

Dec. 28 - Signed defenseman Wade Law to a two year contract worth $525,000 a year at the NHL level and $75,000 in the minors. He was 2nd round pick of the Colorado Avalanche (44th overall) in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft. He has played 3 seasons of pro hockey, two at the AHL level with the Lake Erie Monsters and a year with the CHL's Allen Americans.

On the Farm

AHL - Rochester Americans (32 GP - 14 W - 12 L - 6 OTL) - 5th in East Division

Leaders

Goals - Kirill Klyuchnikov (12)
Assists - Tommy Wikner (16)
Points - Kirill Klyuchnikov/Tony Leppanen (25)
PIM - Perry Rudkowsky (85)
Plus/Minus - Kaleigh Macias (14) - Sorry, just realized I read Klyuchnikov's PIM as his +/-

Wins - Terry Riddell (7)
GAA - Terry Riddell (2.02)

ECHL - Gwinnett Gladiators (30 GP - 19 W - 11 L - 0 OTL) - 3rd in South Division

(no Buffalo Sabres prospects)

Top Prospects

1. Marc-Antoine Stone (C) - 18 years old - Tri-City Americans (WHL) - 33 GP - 18 G - 33 A - 51 PTS - 72 PIM - 9.42 AvR

M-A Stone has won another WHL Player of the Month award, and currently has 7 points in 3 games with the Canadian Junior team at the World Junior Championships in the United States (hosted by Buffalo, Chicago, Columbus, and.....Greensboro of all places)

2. Darryl Brady (LW/C) - 19 - Red Deer Rebels (WHL) - 37 GP - 22 G - 22 A - 44 PTS - 47 PIM - 8.41 AvR

He's a teammate of Stone on the junior team this year, with 1 goal and 1 assist in 3 games.

3. Joel Balbino (RD) - 20 - Rochester Americans (AHL) - 29 GP - 1 G - 11 A - 12 PTS - 22 PIM - 7.62 AvR

He's continuing to develop at the AHL level, getting first line minutes, and improving in all three areas of the game.

4. Tony Leppanen (RW/LW) - 19 - Rochester Americans (AHL) - 33 GP - 13 G - 15 A - 28 PTS - 16 PIM - 6.91 AvR

The 2023 7th Round pick is doing well in his first year in North America, getting time on the second line, and on the first line Powerplay unit.

5. Quentin Fougere (LW/RW) - 19 - Vancouver Giants (WHL) - 38 GP - 16 G - 16 A - 32 PTS - 38 PIM - 7.50 AvR

He's looking like he's having another fine season with the Giants. Hopefully he can match or surpass last year's numbers (27 G - 41 A - 68 PTS in 65 GP).

6. Andy Lehoux (RW) - 18 - Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL) - 34 GP - 11 G - 10 A - 21 PTS - 46 PIM - 6.41 AvR

Consistency has been a little problem for the young Frenchman, but hopefully as he gets used to the competition, he can improve in the second half of the season in the Q.

7. Aleksandrs Grundmanis (RW/LW) - 18 - Rochester Americans (AHL) - 28 GP - 1 G - 0 A - 1 PTS - 25 PIM - 5. 93 AvR

He's struggling badly, so we're going to loan him out to an ECHL team, at nearby Binghamton, the Ottawa Senators' affiliate.

8. Filipp Gubin (C) - 19 - Ak Bars Kazan (KHL) - 18 GP - 2 G - 3 A - 5 PTS - 32 PIM - 6.89 AvR

Like a lot of young players on KHL teams, they aren't exacting setting the world on fire. However, Gubin seems to be holding up nicely despite limited playing time. He has 0 points in 3 games with the Russian junior team, but has a 7.00 AvR. He's probably better off developing at Rochester next season.

9. Kamil Vrba (LD) - 19 - HC Kometa Brno (Czech Extraliga) - 27 GP - 7 G - 6 A - 13 PTS - 73 PIM - 7.19 AvR

Playing a key role on his Czech team, he also showcased his talents at the World Juniors, with 1 assist in 4 games so far.

10. Daniel Lesko (G) - 21 - Rochester Americans (AHL) - 4 GP - 1 W - 3 L - 0 T - 3.01 GAA - 8.00 AvR

He's holding his own at the AHL level. He'll get better as the season progresses.

11. Jaromir Malinsky (C/LW) - 20 - Rochester Americans (AHL) - 28 GP - 5 G - 12 A - 17 PTS - 40 PIM - 6.89 AvR

He's a 3rd line center for the Americans, and he's doing alright. He has limited upside however, and he will need a few years of development in the minors.

12. Derek Stuart (RW) - 20 - Rochester Americans (AHL) - 19 GP - 5 G - 4 A - 9 PTS - 43 PIM - 7.47 AvR

He won't ever be a scorer, but he can skate, has size, and has good defensive instincts. Every team needs that kind of player on a championship team.


=======



AROUND THE LEAGUE

Code: Select all

================================================================================================
 2024-25 Tables
================================================================================================

Eastern Conference

Pos     Team                     GP     W      L     O-SL   Pct     GF   GA   Pts  
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1st     Panthers                39     30     9       0     0.769   161  100  60   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2nd     Rangers                 37     23     10      4     0.676   146  107  50   
3rd     Maple Leafs             38     21     10      7     0.645   157  134  49   
4th     Jets                    42     26     13      3     0.655   158  142  55   
5th     Flyers                  38     21     14      3     0.592   148  127  45   
6th     Penguins                37     22     15      0     0.595   151  129  44   
7th     Capitals                41     19     17      5     0.524   134  139  43   
8th     Senators                38     19     15      4     0.553   140  150  42   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9th     Bruins                  40     21     19      0     0.525   137  139  42   
10th    Hurricanes              39     17     18      4     0.487   147  149  38   
11th    Canadiens               36     15     17      4     0.472   131  152  34   
12th    Islanders               38     16     21      1     0.434   116  127  33   
13th    Lightning               40     15     23      2     0.400   120  160  32   
14th    Sabres                  41     13     22      6     0.390   130  170  32   
15th    Devils                  40     15     24      1     0.388   123  163  31   


Western Conference

Pos     Team                     GP     W      L     O-SL   Pct     GF   GA   Pts  
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1st     Stars                   41     24     14      3     0.622   132  117  51   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2nd     Blackhawks              39     23     12      4     0.641   146  126  50   
3rd     Avalanche               39     24     14      1     0.628   142  118  49   
4th     Flames                  40     23     15      2     0.600   133  118  48   
5th     Blues                   38     21     14      3     0.592   146  130  45   
6th     Kings                   37     21     14      2     0.595   133  111  44   
7th     Predators               38     21     15      2     0.579   140  109  44   
8th     Canucks                 38     21     15      2     0.579   118  96   44   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9th     Sharks                  41     19     18      4     0.512   136  136  42   
10th    Oilers                  38     19     16      3     0.539   143  143  41   
11th    Ducks                   40     19     20      1     0.487   134  136  39   
12th    Red Wings               40     15     17      8     0.475   115  143  38   
13th    Blue Jackets            38     15     19      4     0.447   110  163  34   
14th    Coyotes                 40     14     24      2     0.375   106  155  30   
15th    Wild                    39     13     25      1     0.346   105  149  27   

Top 10 Goalscorers (** = regens):

1. J. van Riemsdyk (PHI) -- 38 GP - 25 G - 32 A - 57 PTS - 8.47 AvR
2. C. Mason** (NYR) -- 37 GP - 16 G - 41 A - 57 PTS - 8.81 AvR
3. E. Etem (PHI) -- 38 GP - 27 G - 29 A - 56 PTS - 8.53 AvR
4. G. Landeskog (BOS) -- 40 GP - 27 G - 28 A - 55 PTS - 8.68 AvR
5. J. Toews (CHI) -- 39 GP - 17 G - 38 A - 55 PTS - 9.21 AvR
6. S. Halmosi** (MTL) -- 36 GP - 27 G - 27 A - 54 PTS - 9.19 AvR
7. T. Hall (FLA) -- 39 GP - 24 G - 29 A - 53 PTS - 8.77 AvR
8. T. Seguin (TOR) -- 32 GP - 22 G - 31 A - 53 PTS - 8.75 AvR
9. C. Belanger** (NYR) -- 37 GP - 22 G - 31 A - 53 PTS - 8.84 AvR
10. D. Shevchuk** (TOR) --38 GP - 23 G - 29 A - 52 PTS - 8.66 AvR

Top 5 Goalies (** = regens):

1. C. Price (VAN) -- 33 GP - 20 W - 11 L - 2 T - 2.34 GAA - 0.925 SV% - 8.61 AvR - 6 SO
2. P. Salo** (FLA) -- 33 GP - 25 W - 8 L - 0 T - 2.41 GAA - 0.912 SV% - 8.34 AvR - 4 SO
3. J. Appleby** (NAS) -- 34 GP - 19 W - 11 L - 1 T - 2.57 GAA - 0.912 SV% - 8.29 AvR - 3 SO
4. J. Hampton** (DAL) -- 36 GP - 19 W - 13 L - 3 T - 2.60 GAA - 0.909 SV% - 8.31 AvR - 5 SO
5. J. Bernier (CGY) -- 36 GP - 22 W - 12 L - 1 T - 2.64 GAA - 0.909 SV% - 8.31 AvR - 0 SO

Major Transactions

Nov. 8:

Code: Select all

To St. Louis:                                        To Vancouver:

LD/RD Kris Russell                                   RD Corbin Johnson (21 y/o)
F T.J. Oshie                                         STL 2025 1st, 2nd, 3rd Round Picks

St, Louis acquires two vets (37 and 38) for 4 young prospects, including St. Louis's first three picks of the 2025 draft. And Vancouver and St. Louis are only separated by 1 point in the standings. Corbin Johnson looks like he can slot into a top 4 defenseman pairing in a few years and those three picks could give Vancouver some very good prospects.

Nov. 11:

Code: Select all

To Florida:                                          To LA Kings:

LW/C Zach Parise                                     Rights to RD/LD Jacques Trask (19 y/o)

Florida is going for a Cup. Trask was a 4th round pick in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft. When I drafted him, I thought he would be a good defensive defenseman, He's got size (6 foot 3, 198 lbs), and very strong. He can become a top 4 defenseman if he reaches his potential.

Nov. 13:

Code: Select all

To LA Kings:                                         To St. Louis:

RW/LW Jean-Sebastien Perron                          LD/RD Keith Yandle
Rights to LW/C Tom Rioux 

This was probably a shocking and weird trade. Yandle is 38, but he's still one of the top defensemen in the League. Perron is a former 2nd round pick in 2021 who needs time in the AHL (but typical EHM AI, they ruin way too many players by playing them too early). Rioux might only be a 3rd line energy guy (if he reaches his potential).

Nov. 16:

Code: Select all

To Florida:                                          To Nashville:

RD Jamie McBain                                      C/LD/LW Burt Dufour
                                                     Rights to LD/RD Marc Eaves
                                                     FLA 2025 1st Round Pick

With the Panthers in buy mode to win a Stanley Cup, they acquire a veteran in 36 y/o McBain for three prospects. Dufour is more of defenseman, and Eaves is a good young prospect. The 1st round pick will be a late pick, but acquiring 1st round picks in any trade and get other prospects can only be a plus.

[rancer890]

Buffalo Sabres - January 2025

Overall Record: 53 GP - 15 W - 31 L - 7 OTL - 37 points (15th in East/30th overall)
January Record: 12 GP - 2 W - 9 L - 1 OTL - 5 points

Yes. 5 whooping points. (I only GM and don't play the games btw)

Player Statistics

Code: Select all

No   Name                     GP  G   A   P   +--  PIM  SOG  ShAv R 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
35   Svetlik, Lubomir         20  0   0   0   0    0    0    -    7.70 
1    Watt, Trenton            39  0   0   0   0    0    0    -    6.87 
3    Grossman, Nicklas        45  0   9   9   -2   8    8    0.0  6.71 
55   Jankovych, Ctibor        5   0   1   1   -3   0    4    0.0  6.60 
29   Khudyakov, Airat         44  9   7   16  -1   20   77   11.7 7.14 
6    Komm, Bill               3   0   1   1   1    0    1    0.0  7.00 
4    Yovanic, Toby            5   0   1   1   -3   2    4    0.0  7.00 
28   Faulk, Justin            53  1   11  12  -13  46   43   2.3  7.06 
77   Smith, Jimmy             53  6   5   11  -12  64   30   20.0 7.21 
5    Zabransky, Bohuslav      53  5   19  24  -5   30   110  4.5  6.91 
33   Bonneau, Bill            49  12  28  40  -8   22   120  10.0 7.47 
70   Carter, Devon            53  25  29  54  -1   32   148  16.9 7.26 
9    Hjelm, Leon              49  4   2   6   -14  40   62   6.5  6.71 
32   Hunter, Gordon           48  10  16  26  3    22   47   21.3 7.38 
26   Vanek, Thomas            46  3   4   7   -19  22   50   6.0  6.57 
10   Wikner, Tommy            0   0   0   0   0    0    0    -    ---- 
66   Bowtell, Wendell         53  21  25  46  12   210  141  14.9 8.70 
25   O'Reilly, Ryan           45  5   11  16  -11  40   62   8.1  7.00 
88   Proulx, Skylar           28  2   6   8   -12  55   41   4.9  6.43 
12   Staal, Eric              44  9   23  32  -2   30   101  8.9  7.32 
22   Bass, Cody               32  4   7   11  -8   62   41   9.8  7.03 
59   Carnevale, Rod           53  22  28  50  2    26   124  17.7 7.15 
27   Caron, Jordan            44  6   10  16  6    72   57   10.5 6.91 
83   Cyr, Max                 24  0   7   7   -8   20   36   0.0  6.63 
13   Haley, Bruno             2   0   1   1   0    6    2    0.0  7.00 

Goalie Stats:

Lubomir Svetlik -- 20 GP - 5 W - 4 L - 1 T - 3.58 GAA - 7.70 AvR
Terry Riddell -- 6 GP - 2 W - 3 L - 1 T - 4.26 GAA - 7.18 AvR
Trenton Watt -- 39 GP - 8 W - 24 L - 5 T - 4.64 GAA - 6.87 AvR

Games:

Jan. 1 - vs Montreal - L 2-8 (13 W - 23 L - 6 OTL)
Jan. 4 - at Montreal - L 3-7 (13 W - 24 L - 6 OTL)
Jan. 6 - vs Ottawa - L 1-5 (13 W - 25 L - 6 OTL)
Jan. 9 - vs Washington - OTL 5-6 (13 W - 25 L - 7 OTL)
Jan. 11 - at Ottawa - L 2-4 (13 W - 26 L - 7 OTL)
Jan. 13 - vs Colorado - L 1-3 (13 W - 27 L - 7 OTL)
Jan. 16 - at Carolina - SOW 3-2 (14 W - 27 L - 7 OTL)
Jan. 18 - at Winnipeg - L 3-6 (14 W - 28 L - 7 OTL)
Jan. 20 - at NY Rangers - L 3-9 (14 W - 29 L - 7 OTL)
Jan. 27 - vs Toronto - L 3-5 (14 W - 30 L - 7 OTL)
Jan. 30 - at Washington - L 4-6 (14 W - 31 L - 7 OTL)
Jan. 31 - at New Jersey - W 6-4 (15 W - 31 L - 7 OTL)

Our head coach, Dmitry Fleming (who shouldn't be a coach at any level above peewee), was fired January 20th, after another 3rd period meltdown. No new Head Coach will probably be announced until the off-season, so I will have the tag GM/Head Coach (but really I'm just letting my assistants figure things out). If it was possible I would hire an Interim Head Coach, but that's not possible in EHM.

Transactions:

Jan. 5 - Acquired 20 year old defenseman Marcel Vrba and a 2nd Round Pick in the 2025 NHL Entry Draft from the LA Kings for 28 year old defenseman Arto Pentikainen and a 4th Round Pick in the 2025 NHL Entry Draft. Vrba was the 5th Round Pick (129th overall) of the Kings in the 2023 draft and is in his second year in North America. He has played in 104 career games with the Manchester Monarchs of the AHL, tallying 1 goal and 15 assists. He is a rugged stay-at-home defenseman with NHL-ready strength, checking, and hitting. He needs to work on the mental side of the game.

Pentikainen had 5 goals and 9 assists in 43 games this season. Entering his 5th season in the NHL, he has 322 games of experience, with 19 goals and 89 assists, all with the Sabres. He was originally a 3rd round pick by the NY Islanders in the 2014 draft.

Jan. 14 - Acquired defenseman Cibor Jankovych from the Chicago Blackhawks for left winger Moe Thomas and forward Kirill Klyuchnikov. Jankovych, 25, was originally a 4th round pick by the Dallas Stars. He had 3 goals and 4 assists in 33 games with the Blackhawks prior to the trade. He has career totals of 187 games, with 17 goals and 39 assists, with Florida, Phoenix, and Chicago.

The 26 year old Thomas was a 1st round pick of the Boston Bruins in the 2017 draft. He has 35 games of NHL experience, with 3 goals and 3 assists, all with the Ottawa Senators. Additionally, he has professional experience with the Providence Bruins (ECHL), the Binghamton Senators (ECHL), the Elmira Jackals (ECHL), the ZSC Lions based in Zurich (Swiss league), and this past season with the Rochester Americans of the AHL). He had 1 goal in 12 games.

Klyuchnikov is a young 22 year old Russian forward. He was drafted 5th overall by the Sabres in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft. He has averaged over a point a game with the Rochester Americans, including this season with 30 points (14 G - 16 A) in 29 games. He has 111 points (44 G - 68 A) in 109 games in his second year at the AHL level. A big drawback is his lack of strength that may prevent him from being a full time NHL player.

Jan. 14 - Acquired defenseman Toby Yovanic and the rights to defenseman Alexander Kovalev from the Pittsburgh Penguins for defenseman Alex Hjalmarsson and winger Kirill Dmitriev.

Yovanic, 27, is a veteran of 146 NHL games over parts of 5 seasons. He has 4 goals and 19 assists over his career. He is considered a mobile defenseman who can play well on the 2nd line. He has great acceleration, stamina, and bravery. Kovalev is a young 19 year old with Metallurg Magnitogorsk. Strangely enough, he hasn't played a single game this season (nor has any of his teammates which is weird...)

Hjalmarsson is a 25 year old with 111 NHL games between the Montreal Canadiens and the Sabres. He has 4 goals and 27 assists over his career. Dmitriev, 23, has 29 NHL games of experience between the Vancouver Canucks and NY Islanders, with 1 goal and 12 assists. He has 288 career games in the AHL, with 129 goals and 148 assists.

Jan. 28 - Acquired forward Bruno Haley and right winger Nolan Gaudet from the Calgary Flames for winger Evgeni Dadonov and the Sabres' 5th Round Pick in the 2025 NHL Entry Draft. Haley, 25, is a power forward with 359 games played. He has compiled 61 goals and 78 assists. He set career highs in goals (15), assists (23), and points (41) over 71 games last season. This season with the Flames, he has 7 goals and 8 assists in 51 games. Gaudet, 23, has 60 goals and 66 assists in 208 games at the AHL level, all with the Flames' farm team in Abbotsford. He was their 2nd round choice in the 2019 draft. He also has the mold of a power forward to can either peak as a 2nd or 3rd line player.

The 35 year old Dadonov joins a Flames team who currently sit 3rd in the Western Conference. A member of the 1000 games fraternity, he has 1044 games, scoring 286 times and adding 427 assists. This season, he has 14 goals and 21 assists in 47 games.

On the Farm:

AHL - Rochester Americans (43 GP - 20 W - 17 L - 6 OTL - 46 points) - (4th in East Division)

Leaders:

Goals - Tony Leppanen (18)
Assists - Tommy Wilkner (23)
Points - Tommy Wikner (36)
PIM - Perry Rudkowsky (95)
Plus/Minus - Kaleigh Macias (+16)

Wins - Stefan Dever (10)
GAA - Stefan Dever (2.80)
Shutouts - Stefan Dever (2)

ECHL - Gwinnett Gladiators (45 GP - 26 W - 18 L - 1 OTL - 53 points) - (3rd in South Division)

(No Sabres prospects)

Top Prospects:

1. Marc-Antoine Stone (C) - 18 years old - Tri-City Americans (WHL) - 43 GP - 24 G - 43 A - 67 PTS - 92 PIM - 9.35 AvR

After leading Team Canada to World Junior Gold by beating the US in the finals (on their home ice), he's back with Tri-City, and continuing to dominate. He did not win the Player of the Month award for January however.

2. Darryl Brady (LW/C) - 19 - Red Deer Rebels (WHL) - 45 GP - 26 G - 28 A - 54 PTS - 49 PIM - 8.44 AvR

He's not dominating games, but he continues to be consistently good for his junior team. He's continuing where he left off after winning Gold with M-A Stone.

3. Joel Balbino (RD) - 20 - Rochester Americans (AHL) - 36 GP - 1 G - 13 A - 14 PTS - 24 PIM - 7.72 AvR

He's doing fantastic individually, but he would be better off in the minors competing for a playoff spot with the Amerks than being in a low morale environment with the big club.

4. Tony Leppanen (RW/LW) - 19 - Rochester Americans (AHL) - 43 GP - 18 G - 17 A - 35 PTS - 18 PIM - 6.91 AvR

He's also having a solid season, but given this is his first year of North American pro hockey, there's no need to rush him to the NHL. Doing pretty well for a 7th Round Draft pick by me with the Panthers in the 2023 draft.

5. Quentin Fougere (LW/RW) - 19 - Vancouver Giants (WHL) - 50 GP - 21 G - 22 A - 43 PTS - 46 PIM - 7.54 AvR

He's getting quality playing time on the top line, and he's succeeding, although he's on pace to score less points than last season.

6. Andy Lehoux (RW) - 18 - Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL) - 46 GP - 12 G - 11 A - 23 PTS - 64 PIM - 6.20 AvR

He's been pretty inconsistent with the Mooseheads despite a lot of playing time on the second line. Hopefully he can finish the regular season strong.

7. Aleksandrs Grundmanis (RW/LW) - 18 - Binghamton Senators (ECHL) - 11 GP - 4 G - 4 A - 8 PTS - 8 PIM - 6.45 AvR

He's doing better than at the AHL level. Still not great by any means, but he's getting playing time at least.

8. Kamil Vrba (LD) - 19 - HC Kometa Brno (Czech Extraliga) - 37 GP - 11 G - 8 A - 19 PTS - 97 PIM - 7.32 AvR

He's developing really nicely. He'll need to work on his technical ability when he comes to the organization this summer, but once he adapts he will be a very good NHL player. In each of his three years with the senior team, he has improved statistically in every category.

9. Jaromir Malinsky (C/LW) - 20 - Rochester Americans (AHL) - 37 GP - 5 G - 14 A - 19 PTS - 50 PIM - 6.76 AvR

He's doing alright in his first year in North American pro hockey, but he could be better. We'll just monitor his progress every month.

10. Filipp Gubin (C) - 19 - Ak Bars Kazan (KHL) - 26 GP - 2 G - 4 A - 6 PTS - 36 PIM - 6.77 AvR

Not much ice time for Gubin, so the numbers aren't there. He needs to come to North American for development as soon as possible.

11. Derek Stuart (RW) - 20 - Rochester Americans (AHL) - 29 GP - 6 G - 6 A - 12 PTS - 58 PIM - 7.41 AvR

He's got decent numbers. He needs to be developing on his strengths (checking, hitting, and positioning) to have a role in the NHL.

12. Kaleigh Macias (LD/RD) - 23 - Rochester Americans (AHL) - 41 GP - 3 G - 9 A - 12 PTS - 69 PIM - 7.54 AvR

Macias makes an appearance on the Top Prospects list, although at 23, there's not much more room to grow. His contract will expire and I'm not really interested in extending him to a new one.

Trade Deadline:

Pretty much everyone is available for the right price. Watt looks like he could be a great goaltender but he hasn't impressed me with his play and his stats, and more importantly, our defense has no confidence in him. I'm looking at a top pick and a player for him (it doesn't have to be a goalie). I could also hold onto him till the end of the season, and trade him before the draft (a more likely scenario). I'm not sure what our vets can get us. Grossman and Staal have no trade clauses (and they usually don't waive them in this game), and Vanek is washed up. There will more likely be smaller deals involving our defensemen, like Jimmy Smith (although he's an RFA) and Justin Faulk. It's not like we're winning with them anyways. The main goal will be to acquire as many young players and picks as possible, because we don't really have a deep farm system.

[rancer890]

Buffalo Sabres - February 2025

Overall Record: 64 GP - 17 W - 40 L - 7 OTL - 41 points (15th in East/30th overall)
February Record: 11 GP - 2 W - 9 L - 0 OTL - 4 points

With 289 goals conceded already, we're on route to breaking the league record for goals against with 370 at the current rate. The previous record was set by the 2017-18 Edmonton Oilers, with 360 goals against.

Player Statistics

Code: Select all

No   Name                     GP  G   A   P   +--  PIM  SOG  ShAv R 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
35   Svetlik, Lubomir         25  0   0   0   0    0    0    -    7.36 
1    Watt, Trenton            48  0   0   0   0    0    0    -    6.98 
3    Grossman, Nicklas        51  1   9   10  -1   10   9    11.1 6.71 
55   Jankovych, Ctibor        13  0   2   2   -7   2    13   0.0  6.46 
29   Khudyakov, Airat         44  9   7   16  -1   20   77   11.7 7.14 
6    Komm, Bill               12  1   3   4   -7   4    12   8.3  6.83 
4    Yovanic, Toby            15  0   2   2   -8   2    11   0.0  7.00 
28   Faulk, Justin            64  1   17  18  -12  50   56   1.8  7.14 
77   Smith, Jimmy             64  6   7   13  -16  72   32   18.8 7.23 
5    Zabransky, Bohuslav      64  6   20  26  -10  38   131  4.6  6.84 
33   Bonneau, Bill            58  13  31  44  -16  34   139  9.4  7.36 
70   Carter, Devon            63  28  33  61  -3   38   165  17.0 7.22 
32   Hunter, Gordon           58  11  19  30  2    30   57   19.3 7.33 
50   Sillanpaa, Pete          1   0   0   0   0    2    0    -    5.00 
26   Vanek, Thomas            54  4   8   12  -17  22   57   7.0  6.65 
81   Beauchemin, Harry        3   0   0   0   0    13   8    0.0  8.33 
66   Bowtell, Wendell         64  26  30  56  11   250  174  14.9 8.72 
88   Proulx, Skylar           38  3   11  14  -15  65   67   4.5  6.68 
12   Staal, Eric              48  11  24  35  -7   32   105  10.5 7.31 
22   Bass, Cody               42  5   9   14  -13  72   50   10.0 7.12 
59   Carnevale, Rod           63  27  34  61  3    26   150  18.0 7.27 
27   Caron, Jordan            53  7   11  18  4    78   75   9.3  6.96 
13   Haley, Bruno             12  4   4   8   -2   18   25   16.0 7.42 
58   Paterson, Anders         9   0   2   2   -7   10   5    0.0  6.44 

Goalie Stats:

Lubomir Svetlik -- 25 GP - 5 W - 8 L - 1 T - 3.99 GAA - 7.36 AvR
Terry Riddell -- 6 GP - 2 W - 3 L - 1 T - 4.26 GAA - 7.18 AvR
Trenton Watt -- 48 GP - 10 W - 29 L - 5 T - 4.57 GAA - 6.98 AvR

Games:

Feb. 3 - at Boston - L 2-8 (15 W - 32 L - 7 OTL)
Feb. 6 - at Nashville - L 4-5 (15 W - 33 L - 7 OTL)
Feb. 10 - vs NY Rangers - L 4-6 (15 W - 34 L - 7 OTL)
Feb. 13 - vs Pittsburgh - L 3-5 (15 W - 35 L - 7 OTL)
Feb. 15 - at NY Islanders - L 0-5 (15 W - 36 L - 7 OTL)
Feb. 17 - vs Vancouver - OTW 4-3 (16 W - 36 L - 7 OTL)
Feb. 20 - vs Montreal - L 2-4 (16 W - 37 L - 7 OTL)
Feb. 22 - at Pittsburgh - W 4-2 (17 W - 37 L - 7 OTL)
Feb. 24 - at NY Islanders - L 4-5 (17 W - 38 L - 7 OTL)
Feb. 26 - at Toronto - L 1-7 (17 W - 39 L - 7 OTL)
Feb. 27 - vs Ottawa - L 2-4 (17 W - 40 L - 7 OTL)

Transactions:

Feb. 5 - Signed defenseman Alexander Kovalev to a three year entry-level contract. He was acquired earlier from the Pittsburgh Penguins. He's a decent prospect (only 19) who either might become a top 4 player (probably top 6 or 7 realistically) or go back to the KHL.

Feb. 6 - Acquired winger Anders Paterson off waivers from the Boston Bruins. The 27 year old, who hails from Staten Island, New York, had 4 goals and 9 assists in 50 games with the Bruins this season. In his 6 year NHL career, he has 469 games, with 56 goals and 85 assists with Carolina, Florida, Winnipeg, and Boston.

Feb. 23 - Acquired center/right winger Harry Beauchemin from the Phoenix Coyotes in exchange for center/left winger Ryan O'Reilly and minor league goaltender Stefan Lever. The 27 year old Beauchemin has had a severe decrease in playing time this season, with a career on pace to match his career lows, with 2 goals and 9 assists in 53 games. He's a third line power forward with excellent strength and good defense. He has 193 points (62 G - 131 A) in 556 career games, all with the Coyotes.

O'Reilly, 34, had 6 goals and 12 assists in 52 games prior to the trade. A veteran of 919 games, the 12 year player has 80 goals and 185 assists over his career with Colorado, Minnesota, the NY Islanders, Washington, Philadelphia, and Buffalo.

We were also in very advanced talks to acquire a top player from the Tampa Bay Lightning, but another team (Dallas) gave them very good prospects, and Tampa wanted Balbino, so we said no and he goes to Dallas.

On the Farm:

AHL - Rochester Americans - 58 GP - 31 W - 20 L - 7 OTL - 4th in East Division

The Amerks are in a comfortable 4th spot, so perhaps some players might get sent down for some playoff hockey.

Leaders:

Goals - Tony Leppanen (24)
Assists - Tommy Wikner (31)
Points - Tony Leppanen (53)
PIM - Perry Rudkowsky (113)
Plus/Minus - Kaleigh Macias (+28)

ECHL - Gwinnett Gladiators - 58 GP - 32 W - 24 L - 2 OTL - 3rd in South Division

Goalie Damien Dumas was recently sent down to Gwinnett. He has a 5-4-1 record in 10 games, with a 2.77 GAA.

Top Prospects:

1. Darryl Brady (LW/C) - 19 years old - Red Deer Rebels (WHL) - 56 GP - 31 G - 30 A - 61 PTS - 59 PIM - 8.32 AvR

According to my assistant GM, Brady is our top prospect now. I think he has a chance to make the Sabres, although I will take it easy and probably send him to Rochester next season.

2. Marc-Antoine Stone (C) - 18 - Tri-City Americans (WHL) - 54 GP - 28 G - 52 A - 80 PTS - 106 PIM - 9.22 AvR

Looking at technical ability, he's NHL ready, but needs to improve his skating and stamina to become an elite NHL player in the future.

3. Joel Balbino (RD) - 20 - Rochester Americans (AHL) - 51 GP - 2 G - 17 A - 19 PTS - 28 PIM - 7.71 AvR

I could have acquired a very good player for Balbino, but I really do like this young player. Like Stone, he needs to improve his mobility and skating.

4. Tony Leppanen (RW/LW) - 19 - Rochester Americans (AHL) - 58 GP - 24 G - 29 A - 53 PTS - 30 PIM - 7.09 AvR

He's continuing to surprise and impress. Still, it's important to stay on track and don't rush Leppanen till he's ready in three facets of the game.

5. Quentin Fougere (LW/RW) - 19 - Vancouver Giants (WHL) - 60 GP - 25 G - 25 A - 50 PTS - 52 PIM - 7.50 AvR

He's not the prospect that the top 4 are, but with proper development he can be a consistent NHL player.

6. Andy Lehoux (RW) - 18 - Halifax Mooseheads (WHL) - 55 GP - 15 G - 14 A - 29 PTS - 76 PIM - 6.18 AvR

He's improving slowly. He's getting the ice time, Lehoux just needs to capitalize on his opportunity.

7. Aleksandrs Grundmanis (RW/LW) - 18 - Binghamton Senators (ECHL) - 21 GP - 6 G - 6 A - 12 PTS - 30 PIM - 6.10 AvR

Very inconsistent even at the ECHL level. He'll start with Gwinnett next year but he struggles, he'll be demoted into the CHL.

8. Kamil Vrba (LD) - 19 - HC Kometo Brno (Czech Extraliga) - 39 GP - 12 G - 8 A - 20 PTS - 97 PIM - 7.31 AvR

They didn't play much last month in the Czech league (two games), so nothing more to report, other than Vrba signing a three year entry-level contract over the summer.

9. Filipp Gubin (C) - 19 - Bars (MHL) - 8 GP - 5 G - 2 A - 7 PTS - 8 PIM - 7.63 AvR

He didn't get any playing time with the main team, so he's down with his junior team. He'll be in Rochester next season.

10. Jaromir Malinsky (C/LW) - 20 - Rochester Americans (AHL) - 38 GP - 6 G - 18 A - 24 PTS - 52 PIM - 6.84 AvR

He's doing well lately with the Amerks, but still unsure of his NHL projection.

11. Derek Stuart (RW) - 21 - Rochester Americans (AHL) - 39 GP - 9 G - 9 A - 18 PTS - 92 PIM - 7.49 AvR

His performances lately have impressed. He won't get you points but he's giving a good 15-17 minutes per game.

12. Kaleigh Macias (LD/RD) - 23 - Rochester Americans (AHL) - 54 GP - 4 G - 11 A - 15 PTS - 89 PIM - 7.48 AvR

He's not an NHL player and will be released come end of the season.


===

We kept most of our players on the team, mainly because there was nothing I liked from the trade proposals. We will be more active near or during the draft.

[rancer890]

Buffalo Sabres - March/April 2025

Final Record: 82 GP - 23 W - 50 L - 9 OTL - 55 points (15th in East/29th overall)

March Record: 14 GP - 3 W - 9 L - 2 OTL - 8 points
April Record: 4 GP - 3 W - 1 L - 0 OTL - 6 points

On the 81st game of the season, we have surpassed (??) Edmonton in the record books with most goals conceded. We finished the year with 366 goals against. Shockingly, we managed to gain one position thanks to our best month of the season in April and sneaked past the Phoenix Coyotes for 29th place.

Final Standings

Eastern Conference

Code: Select all

Pos      Team                    GP     W      L      O-SL   Pct    GF   GA   Pts  
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1st   Pl Panthers                82     60     17     5     0.762   328  228  125  
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2nd   Pl Rangers                 82     52     24     6     0.671   320  248  110  
3rd   Pl Maple Leafs             82     47     25     10    0.634   316  277  104  
4th   Pl Penguins                81     49     29     3     0.623   327  286  101  
5th   Pl Canadiens               82     45     32     5     0.579   326  310  95   
6th   Pl Jets                    82     43     32     7     0.567   287  282  93   
7th   Pl Capitals                82     40     33     9     0.543   275  272  89   
8th   Pl Islanders               81     42     35     4     0.543   268  260  88   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9th      Senators                81     38     34     9     0.525   282  305  85   
10th     Hurricanes              82     37     34     11    0.518   286  298  85   
11th     Bruins                  82     41     39     2     0.512   285  285  84   
12th     Flyers                  81     38     37     6     0.506   307  299  82   
13th     Lightning               82     31     46     5     0.409   245  315  67   
14th     Devils                  82     27     49     6     0.366   273  353  60   
15th     Sabres                  82     23     50     9     0.335   249  366  55 

Western Conference

Code: Select all

Pos      Team                    GP     W      L      O-SL   Pct    GF   GA   Pts  
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1st   Pl Stars                   82     57     20     5     0.726   280  214  119  
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2nd   Pl Flames                  82     54     26     2     0.671   293  219  110  
3rd   Pl Predators               82     49     30     3     0.616   309  248  101  
4th   Pl Canucks                 82     48     30     4     0.610   269  209  100  
5th   Pl Sharks                  82     47     29     6     0.610   281  235  100  
6th   Pl Blues                   81     46     28     7     0.611   308  267  99   
7th   Pl Kings                   81     45     31     5     0.586   282  254  95   
8th   Pl Blackhawks              82     42     30     10    0.573   288  262  94   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9th      Oilers                  82     43     34     5     0.555   304  282  91   
10th     Avalanche               81     40     35     6     0.531   272  269  86   
11th     Red Wings               82     30     37     15    0.457   243  298  75   
12th     Ducks                   81     34     43     4     0.444   268  309  72   
13th     Wild                    82     28     48     6     0.378   216  298  62   
14th     Blue Jackets            82     26     49     7     0.360   218  356  59   
15th     Coyotes                 82     24     52     6     0.329   211  312  54   

Season - Player Statistics

Code: Select all

No   Name                     GP  G   A   P   +--  PIM  SOG  ShAv R 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
35   Svetlik, Lubomir         28  0   0   0   0    0    0    -    7.32 
1    Watt, Trenton            64  0   0   0   0    0    0    -    7.02 
3    Grossman, Nicklas        53  1   9   10  -2   10   9    11.1 6.68 
55   Jankovych, Ctibor        19  0   2   2   -8   4    16   0.0  6.53 
29   Khudyakov, Airat         60  9   8   17  -4   28   93   9.7  6.98 
55   Komm, Bill               25  1   8   9   -9   10   30   3.3  7.00 
4    Yovanic, Toby            32  0   4   4   -9   14   19   0.0  7.00 
6    Balbino, Joel            10  1   5   6   2    4    12   8.3  7.50 
28   Faulk, Justin            72  2   17  19  -15  54   61   3.3  7.13 
77   Smith, Jimmy             82  6   8   14  -13  84   38   15.8 7.23 
5    Zabransky, Bohuslav      82  7   25  32  -16  52   179  3.9  6.90 
33   Bonneau, Bill            76  18  39  57  -21  46   188  9.6  7.36 
70   Carter, Devon            78  35  38  73  -2   46   208  16.8 7.23 
32   Hunter, Gordon           75  12  23  35  -1   32   79   15.2 7.28 
50   Sillanpaa, Pete          18  4   5   9   4    62   26   15.4 7.22 
26   Vanek, Thomas            62  6   10  16  -20  22   68   8.8  6.66 
81   Beauchemin, Harry        21  8   10  18  9    58   60   13.3 8.81 
66   Bowtell, Wendell         74  29  34  63  13   306  205  14.1 8.65 
88   Proulx, Skylar           55  7   23  30  -17  87   110  6.4  7.00 
12   Staal, Eric              66  14  30  44  -11  42   146  9.6  7.26 
22   Bass, Cody               58  7   13  20  -15  88   66   10.6 7.05 
59   Carnevale, Rod           81  34  46  80  6    34   204  16.7 7.35 
27   Caron, Jordan            62  8   12  20  -2   86   94   8.5  6.94 
49   Fournier, Serge          4   0   1   1   -1   8    4    0.0  6.75 
13   Haley, Bruno             22  5   4   9   -3   22   43   11.6 7.09 
58   Paterson, Anders         26  1   7   8   -8   53   28   3.6  7.00 

Goalie Stats:

Lubomir Svetlik -- 28 GP - 5 W - 10 L - 1 OTL - 3.99 GAA - 0.874 SV% - 7.32 AvR
Terry Riddell -- 6 GP - 2 W - 3 L - 1 OTL - 4.26 GAA - 0.862 SV% - 7.00 AvR
Trenton Watt -- 64 GP - 16 W - 37 L - 7 OTL - 4.44 GAA - 0.861 SV% - 7.02 AvR

Games:

March 2: at Philadelphia - L 0-4 (17W - 41 L - 7 OTL)
March 3: vs Ottawa - W 5-3 (18 W - 41 L - 7 OTL)
March 6: vs Florida - SOL 4-5 (18 W - 41 L - 8 OTL)
March 8: at Boston - L 3-7 (18 W - 42 L - 8 OTL)
March 10: vs Boston - L 1-5 (18W - 43 L - 8 OTL)
March 13: vs Carolina - L 0-4 (18 W - 44 L - 8 OTL)
March 16: at Florida - SOL 4-5 (18 W - 44 L - 9 OTL)
March 17: at Toronto - L 0-4 (18W - 45 L - 9 OTL)
March 20: vs Philadelphia - L 1-5 (18 W - 46 L - 9 OTL)
March 23: at Ottawa - L 2-3 (18 W - 47 L - 9 OTL)
March 24: vs Ottawa - W 3-2 (19 W - 47 L - 9 OTL)
March 27: vs Washington - L 4-5 (19 W - 48 L - 9 OTL)
March 29: at Tampa Bay - OTW 5-4 (20 W - 48 L - 9 OTL)
March 31: vs NY Rangers - L 2-4 (20 W - 49 L - 9 OTL)

April 1: at New Jersey - W 4-3 (21 W - 49 L - 9 OTL)
April 3: vs NY Islanders - SOW 6-5 (22 W - 49 L - 9 OTL)
April 5: at Pittsburgh - L 4-6 (22 W - 50 L - 9 OTL)
April 7: vs Toronto - W 5-3 (23 W - 50 L - 9 OTL)

Transactions:

Feb. 25 - Claimed winger Pete Sillanpaa off waivers from the Winnipeg Jets. The 25 year old Finn had 20 points (12 G - 8 A) in 56 games prior to his arrival in Buffao. The 3 year NHL veteran has 77 points (45 G - 32 A) in 234 games with the Jets. My scouts rate him a key member of the team.

After the season, everyone with minor league options, namely defesemen Airat Khudyakov, Joel Balbino, and winger Serge Fournier, have been sent to Rochester for the end of the AHL season and the Calder Cup playoffs.

On the Farm:

AHL: Rochester Americans - 76 GP - 42 W - 24 L - 10 OTL - 94 points (3rd in East Division)

Leaders

Goals - Tony Leppanen (32)
Assists - Victor Ekegren (42)
Points - Tony Leppanen (68)
Plus/Minus - Victor Ekegren (+27)
PIM - Derek Stuart (155)

Wins - Daniel Lesko (21)
GAA - Daniel Lesko (2.18)
Shutouts - Daniel Lesko (5)

ECHL: Gwinnett Gladiators - 72 GP - 39 W - 31 L - 2 OTL - 80 points (3rd in South Division)

Goalie Daniel Dumas has a 11-10-1 record in 22 games, with a 2.93 GAA and no shutouts.

Top Prospects

1. Darryl Brady (LW/C) - 19 years old - Red Deer Rebels (WHL) - 64 GP - 35 G - 35 A - 70 PTS - 67 PIM - 8.36 AvR (Regular Season), 8 GP - 3 G - 4 A - 7 PTS - 6 PIM - 8.50 AvR (Playoffs)

Our top prospect had a great season, averaging over a point a game and scoring 35 goals. The Red Deer Rebels are already in the WHL Semi-Finals, and Brady is one of their top contributors. As his 20th birthday is in August of this year, he will sign a 3 year ETC with us and at the minimum, be with the Rochester Americans next season.

2. Marc-Antoine Stone (C) - 18 - Tri-City Americans (WHL) - 64 GP - 34 G - 60 A - 94 PTS - 124 PIM - 9.19 AvR (Regular Season), 4 GP - 2 G - 0 A - 2 PTS - 30 PIM - 7.50 AvR (Playoffs)

M-A Stone finished 2nd in the league in scoring (a whooping 19 points behind the scoring leader, albeit he was an overage player), but couldn't replicate that in the WHL playoffs as his Tri-City team was sweep in the 1st Round by the Spokane Chiefs.

3. Joel Balbino (RD) - 21 - Buffalo Sabres (NHL) - 10 GP - 1 G - 5 A - 6 PTS - 4 PIM - 7.50 AvR; w/Rochester (AHL) - 57 GP - 3 G - 21 A - 24 PTS - 30 PIM - 7.81 AvR

He spent the last month of this season with the Sabres (when the roster limit was lifted) and got some important experience at the NHL level. He will be returning to the AHL just in time for the end of the AHL season and the playoffs.

4. Tony Leppanen (RW/LW) - 19 - Rochester Americans (AHL) - 76 GP - 32 G - 36 A - 68 PTS - 34 PIM - 7.05 AvR

Our key player at Rochester, Leppanen excelled, leading the team in goals and points. He's definitely one to watch at camp next season.

5. Andy Lehoux (RW) - 18 - Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL) - 62 GP - 17 G - 18 A - 35 PTS - 104 PIM - 6.23 AvR (Regular Season), 5 GP - 1 G - 1 A - 2 PTS - 0 PIM - 6.20 AvR (Playoffs)

Lehoux had a devastating injury near the end of the season and is just back for the playoffs, but he's injured again.

6. Quentin Fougere (LW/RW) - 19 - Vancouver Giants (WHL) - 68 GP - 27 G - 30 A - 57 PTS - 64 PIM - 7.56 AvR (Regular Season), 9 GP - 1 G - 5 A - 6 PTS - 10 PIM - 7.11 AvR (Playoffs)

Fougere couldn't replicate last year's numbers but still had a good season. His Giants team is currently in the WHL Semi-Finals against the Portland Winterhawks.

7. Kamil Vrba (LD) - 19 - HC Kometo Brno (Czech Extraliga) - 42 GP - 12 G - 8 A - 20 PTS - 103 PIM - 7.29 AvR (Regular Season), 4 GP - 1 G - 1 A - 2 PTS - 6 PIM - 6.50 AvR (Playoffs)

His club team barely made the playoffs at the 8th seed, and were swept by regular season winners HC Slavia Praha.

8. Filipp Gubin (C) - 19 - Bars (MHL) - 13 GP - 8 G - 4 A - 12 PTS - 12 PIM - 7.54 AvR; w/AK Bars Kazan (KHL) - 26 GP - 2 G - 4 A - 6 PTS - 36 PIM - 6.77 AvR

He's a top player at the MHL level, and he'll be in Rochester next season.

9. Jaromir Malinsky (C/LW) - 20 - Rochester Americans (AHL) - 56 GP - 10 G - 27 A - 37 PTS - 62 PIM - 6.96 AvR; w/Buffalo (NHL) - 2 GP - 0 G - 0 A - 0 PTS - 6 PIM - 4.50 AvR

A solid season to build upon for the future for this young Czech player.

10. Derek Stuart (RW) - 21 - Rochester Americans (AHL) - 57 GP - 13 G - 12 A - 25 PTS - 155 PIM - 7.49 AvR; w/Buffalo (NHL) - 4 GP - 1 G - 2 A - 3 PTS - 18 PIM - 7.75 AvR

He'll have a chance at camp next season, but a return to Rochester is likely.

11. Marcel Vrba (LD) - 20 - Rochester Americans (AHL) - 28 GP - 2 G - 3 A - 5 PTS - 28 PIM - 7.39 AvR; w/Manchester Monarchs (AHL) - 29 GP - 0 G - 2 A - 2 PTS - 22 PIM - 7.03 AvR

He's a stay-at-home D-man, so I'm not expecting points from this player. He'll be in camp, although will probably be in Rochester to start next season, barring a brilliant camp performance.

12. Kaleigh Macias (LD/RD) - 24 - Rochester Americans (AHL) - 72 GP - 4 G - 15 A - 19 PTS - 110 PIM - 7.42 AvR

He's 24 and not that good. He won't be resigned.

Up Next...

We weren't even close to making the playoffs, so the next logical step is to see if we can acquire players or draft picks via trade and look into scouting reports to prepare for the draft. We have six draft picks: one 1st, two 2nds (including LA's pick), a 3rd, a 6th, and a 7th. I want more draft picks and young players so we will look at the trade route once we can trade players again. We will also need to hire a new Head Coach, and there will be more changes to our assistant coaches, and our scouting staff.

We only have $21 million in players signed next year, so we will be active in free agency as well, and sign players for the right price.

[rancer890]

Buffalo Sabres Off-season: Pre-draft Edition

Sabres news is important, but first off, the NHL Awards.

NHL Awards

Art Ross Trophy - (1st) LW James van Riemsdyk (PHI) - Stats: 82 GP - 55 G - 65 A - 120 PTS - +35 Plus/Minus - 8.34 AvR

Runner-up: 2nd - RW Simon Halmosi (MTL), 3rd - C/RW Clark Mason (NYR)

Bill Masterton Trophy - (1st) C Nicklas Backstrom (WSH)

Runner-up: 2nd - LW Chris Kreider (NYR), 3rd - C/LW Mikael Backlund (PIT)

Calder Trophy - (1st) LW/RW Gord McDonald (LA) - Stats: 76 GP - 31 G - 36 A - 67 PTS - +14 Plus/Minus - 7.91 AvR

Runner-up: 2nd - D Yvon Tousignant (NSH), 3rd - D Danny Yakubov (PIT)

Conn Smythe Trophy - (1st) C Tommy Orzetti (CGY) - Stats: 80 GP - 27 G - 52 A - 79 PTS - +28 Plus/Minus - 8.25 AvR (Playoffs Stats: 25 GP - 11 G - 11 A - 22 PTS - +3 Plus/Minus - 7.92 AvR)

Runner-up: 2nd - LW/RW Nichlas Edin (CGY), 3rd - C/RW Claude Giroux (CGY)

Frank J. Selke Trophy - (1st) C Burt Dufour (NSH) - Stats: 60 GP - 10 G - 15 A - 25 PTS - +18 Plus/Minus - 7.23 AvR

Runner-up: 2nd - C/RW Wendell Bowtell (BUF), 3rd - Patrick Keleta (SJ)

Jack Adams Award - (1st) Rob Blake (FLA) - Stats: 60 W - 17 L - 5 OTL record and Presidents Trophy

Runner-up: 2nd - Brent Sutter (CGY), 3rd - Peter Ratchuk (DAL)

James Norris Memorial Trophy- (1st) Pierre-Luc McKinnon (ANA) - Stats: 81 GP - 14 G - 45 A - 59 PTS - -12 Plus/Minus - 8.17 AvR

Runner-up: 2nd - Alex Pietrangelo (BOS), 3rd - Calvin De Haan (OTT)

Hart Memorial Trophy - (1st) LW James van Riemsdyk (PHI) - Stats: 82 GP - 55 G - 65 A - 120 PTS - +35 Plus/Minus - 8.34 AvR

Runner-up: 2nd - C/RW Ryan Johansen (CAR), 3rd - RW Simon Halmosi (MTL)

King Clancy Memorial Trophy - (1st) C Dave Bolland (CHI)

Runner-up: 2nd - C Eric Staal (BUF), 3rd - C David Krejci (ANA)

Lady Byng Memorial Trophy - (1st) Dima Shevchuk (TOR)

Runner-up: 2nd - F Phil Kessel (EDM), 3rd - W Emerson Etem (PHI)

Lester B. Pearson Award - (1st) C/RW Ryan Johansen (CAR) - Stats: 82 GP - 41 G - 70 A - 111 PTS - +17 Plus/Minus - 9.26 AvR

Runner-up: 2nd - RW Simon Halmosi (MTL), 3rd - C Jonathan Toews (CHI)

Maurice 'Rocket' Richard Trophy - (1st) LW Alexander Ovechkin (LA) - Stats: 82 GP - 58 G - 93 A - 111 PTS - +14 Plus/Minus - 8.60 AvR (And he's 39 now)

Runner-up: 2nd RW Simon Halmosi (MTL), 3rd - LW James van Riemsdyk (PHI)

Vezina Trophy - (1st) Carey Price (VAN) - Stats: 65 GP - 40 W - 22 L - 3 OTL - 2.38 GAA - 0.923 SV% - 8.55 AvR

Runner-up: 2nd Jonathan Bernier (CGY), 3rd Jonathan Quick (SJ)

William M. Jennings Trophy - Carey Price (VAN)

NHL Plus-Minus Award - (1st) RW NIcolas Labranche (PIT) - Stats: 82 GP - 25 G - 48 A - 73 PTS - +44 Plus/Minus - 8.40 AvR

Runner-up: 2nd - LW Chris Kreider (NYR), 3rd - D Tyler Myers (CHI)

Roger Crozier Saving Grace Award - (1st) Carey Price (VAN)

Runner-up: 2nd - Jonathan Bernier (CGY), 3rd - James Hampton (DAL)

===

Players returning for 2025-26 (the key ones at least, excluding the minor signings and recently signed draft picks) along with their approximate cap hit:

• Goalies
  
  Lubomir Svetlik ($900,000)
  Trenton Watt ($1.9 million)
  
  Defensemen
  
  Bill Komm ($830,000)
  Toby Yovanic ($575,000)
  Bohuslav Zabransky ($1.6 million)
  Joel Balbino ($1 million)
  Airat Khudyakov ($525,000)
  
  Forwards
  
  Bill Bonneau ($1.2 million)
  Devon Carter ($3.2 million)
  Gordon Hunter ($1.6 million)
  Pete Sillanpaa ($700,000)
  Harry Beauchemin ($2.75 million)
  Wendell Bowtell ($4.1 million)
  Rod Carnevale ($2.8 million)
  Bruno Haley ($1.3 million)
  Anders Paterson ($885,000)
  Tommy Wikner ($575,000)

Overall, we have around $30 million in salaries guaranteed for next season. The cap floor is $43.4 million.

Top Prospects:

1. Darryl Brady (LW/C) - 19 years old - Red Deer Rebels (WHL) - The Rebels lost in the Semi-Final of the Mastercard Memorial Cup. Brady has already signed a professional contract with the Sabres and will be in camp next season.

2. Marc-Antoine Stone (C) - 18 - Tri-City Americans (WHL) - He's NHL-ready and will sign a 3 year contract in July. He probably won't go back to junior.

3. Joel Balbino (RD) - 21 - Rochester Americans (AHL) - If he wins a top 6 spot out of camp, he's in Buffalo. Otherwise, he's in Rochester.

4. Tony Leppanen (RW/LW) - 19 - Rochester Americans (AHL) - Will stay in Rochester if he can't make the top 6 (and he won't).

5. Kamil Vrba (LD) - 19 - Buffalo Sabres (NHL) - Rochester bound.

6. Andy Lehoux (RW) - 19 - Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL) - Staying in the 'Q'.

7. Quentin Fougere (LW/RW) - 19 - Vancouver Giants (WHL) - Staying in the 'Dub'.

8. Filipp Gubin (C) - 19 - Buffalo Sabres (NHL) - Rochester next season.

9. Jaromir Malinsky (C/LW) - 20 - Rochester Americans (AHL) - Rochester.

10. Derek Stuart (RW) - 21 - Rochester Americans (AHL) - Rochester if he can't make the top 9.

11. Marcel Vrba (LD) - 20 - Rochester Americans (AHL) - Needs another year in the AHL.

12. Olie Burstrom (C) - 20 - Buffalo Sabres (NHL) - If he can make the top 9, he stays. Otherwise, Rochester.

Players Out:

• D NIcklas Grossman (too old)
  LD Ctibor Jankovych (not very good. RFA, but won't extend him a qualifying offer)
  RD Justin Faulk (salary, unless he wants to come back at a lower price)
  D Jimmy Smith (salary, will still have his rights, and might trade his rights)
  
  W Thomas Vanek (way too old)
  C/RW Skylar Proulx (salary, will retain his rights)
  C Eric Staal (still useful, but too old for this team)
  RW/C Cody Bass (millions of younger Cody Bass-like players out there)
  W Jordan Caron (easily replaceable, and he's 34 already)

Trades:

It's probably the dumbest thing to do, but I think trading away our starting goalie Trenton Watt is for the best of all parties. Watt isn't a bad player. Actually you can argue he's one of our top 3 players. Here are his attributes:

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Physical                        Mental                          Technical
============================================================================================
Acceleration         14         Aggression            15        Blocker               18
Agility              12         Anticipation          14        Glove                 19
Balance               8         Bravery                8        Passing               14
Speed                 9         Creativity             1        Pokecheck             14
Stamina              15         Determination          5        Positioning            9
Strength             17         Flair                 13        Rebound Control       20
                                Influence              3        Recovery              19
                                Teamwork              11        Reflexes              14
                                Work Rate             13        Stickhandling         15

(Consistency: 9)

So yes, trading him would be pretty dumb. So I better get something good for him. Looking at his scouting report were three mental characteristics: Low Determination, Loyal, and Aggressive. I can already see his Determination is only 5, so that's pretty low. Determination doesn't mean the end of the world, since the goalie I had in Florida (Panu Salo), has a determination of 10 and the Panthers lost in the Cup Finals.

Throughout the season, there were two teams that needed a #1 goalie, the Ottawa Senators and the Phoenix Coyotes. I was always more inclined to deal with Phoenix, because (A) they were nearly as bad as us, and (B) I wanted to get him as far away from the Eastern Conference as possible. We have so many holes in the team. We have 6 unsigned contracts, and only 1 of them is any good (Stone).

I had two possible proposals:

Watt <---> 2025 1st Round Pick (and Phoenix won the lottery, so it's the #1 pick)

Watt <---> 2025 2nd Round Pick (#31), G Vlastimil Korcok (23), and the rights to 19 year old D Boris Popikhin

Here are the attributes of the two players:

Vlastimil Korcok

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Physical                        Mental                          Technical
============================================================================================
Acceleration         15         Aggression            11        Blocker               16
Agility              19         Anticipation          17        Glove                 14
Balance              10         Bravery               14        Passing                7
Speed                15         Creativity             1        Pokecheck             12
Stamina              18         Determination         11        Positioning            7
Strength             15         Flair                 14        Rebound Control       15
                                Influence             19        Recovery              14
                                Teamwork               4        Reflexes              16
                                Work Rate             15        Stickhandling         12

(Consistency: 19)

The 6th overall pick in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, the 23 year old hasn't had much success, with a 21-46-6 record in 92 career NHL games, with a 3.87 GAA, and 0.885 save percentage and a 7.35 rating. In the 2024-25 season, he went 4-20-2 in 34 games, with a 4.11 GAA, an 0.860 save percentage, and a 7.35 average rating.

Boris Popikhin

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Physical                        Mental                          Technical
============================================================================================
Acceleration         14         Aggression            15        Checking              16
Agility              15         Anticipation          13        Deflections            7
Balance              14         Bravery               14        Deking                11
Speed                 9         Creativity            16        Faceoffs               1
Stamina              13         Determination         11        Hitting               16
Strength             15         Flair                 11        Getting Open          11
                                Influence              2        Passing               15
                                Teamwork              17        Pokecheck             14
                                Work Rate             13        Positioning            8
                                                                Slapshot              14
                                                                Stickhandling         14
                                                                Wristshot             11

(Consistency: 13)

A 3rd round pick (68th overall) in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft, Popikhin is currently playing for SKA St. Petersburg in the KHL. He has 14 career points (4 G - 10 A) in 99 career games. Last season, he scored 2 goals, and added 6 assists in 46 games. His mental characteristics are Fickle and Aggressive. He has a minimum A- in all categories except a C+ in leadership.

I took this second deal because I get several prospects to improve the team. Yes, having the #1 and the #2 pick in the NHL Draft would be fantastic, and I could get two brilliant players who can help out in a year or two (or even immediately really). But getting a good goalie, a solid defenseman, in addition to a high draft pick, is something I valued more.

NHL Draft Picks

1st Round - 2nd pick
2nd Round - 1st pick, 2nd pick
3rd Round - 2nd pick
4th Round - None
5th Round - None
6th Round - 2nd pick
7th Round - 2nd pick

[rancer890]

2025 Buffalo Sabres - NHL Draft

One trade to announce prior to the draft:

The Buffalo Sabres trade RD Wade Law to the Florida Panthers in exchange for D Henrick Ferhi. Law, 23, is entering the 2nd year of his 2 year, 2 way contract. He had 7 goals and 14 assists in 49 games last season. Fehri, 25, is entering the final year of his 2 year/$2.2 million contract. Last season, he played in 14 games, with 2 assists. The former 1st Round Pick (12th overall) in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft has played in 184 career games, scoring 10 goals and adding 26 assists for 36 points. He is now teammates with the player that was drafted right after him in that draft (defenseman Bill Komm). He'll be a good depth player for the Sabres.

He was also my first draft pick with the Panthers, and I totally whiffed at this pick.

Henrick Ferhi - 25 years old - Defenseman - 6 ft, 194 lbs

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Physical                        Mental                          Technical
============================================================================================
Acceleration         10         Aggression             8        Checking              14
Agility              13         Anticipation           6        Deflections            9
Balance              14         Bravery               13        Deking                11
Speed                10         Creativity            16        Faceoffs               2
Stamina              16         Determination         10        Hitting               11
Strength             17         Flair                 12        Getting Open          13
                                Influence             18        Passing               15
                                Teamwork              14        Pokecheck             13
                                Work Rate              2        Positioning           14
                                                                Slapshot              15
                                                                Stickhandling         14
                                                                Wristshot             11

1st Round

2nd Overall: With the 2nd pick in the 2025 NHL Entry Draft, the Buffalo Sabres select, from Shawinigan, Louis-Etienne St. Pierre.

St. Pierre can all three forward positions. Last season as a member of the Cataractes, he scored 21 goals and added 40 assists for 61 points in 70 games. Over his QMJHL career, he has 135 points (49 G - 86 A) in 138 games. He needs more development, since he's better off staying in junior, but we will definitely have a look during camp.

Age: 18, Height: 5 foot 11, Weight: 160 lbs

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Physical                        Mental                          Technical
============================================================================================
Acceleration         16         Aggression            11        Checking              17
Agility               9         Anticipation          14        Deflections            8
Balance              16         Bravery               11        Deking                 8
Speed                15         Creativity            15        Faceoffs              15
Stamina              12         Determination          8        Hitting               14
Strength             13         Flair                 12        Getting Open          12
                                Influence             16        Passing               14
                                Teamwork              18        Pokecheck             16
                                Work Rate             19        Positioning           11
                                                                Slapshot              12
                                                                Stickhandling         12
                                                                Wristshot             13

Consistency: 13

His scouting report is very impressive, with all but one of his areas that is not at least an A- rating:

Code: Select all

Hockey Sense         A          Poise               B-
Puckhandling         A-         Size/Strength       A-
Defense              A+         Leadership          A
Shot/Scoring         A          Skating             A+

Mental Characteristics: Independent

His defense and skating are two things that excite me. I value two-way players, and I think he will be a very good NHL players for years to come. He is a very mature player for his age. He works hard, he has great defensive instincts given his age, and he can get the points if he needs to. I'm not concerned with his size. With proper development he will become a very good player.

2nd Round

31st Overall: The Buffalo Sabres select, from the Kingston Frontenacs, Charles-Philippe McGlade

McGlade is a center who bails from Bowmanville, Ontario. In the 2024-25 season, he scored 9 goals and added 20 assists in 50 games in his first season in the OHL. He's not NHL ready, but he has a lot of great qualities.

Age: 18, Height: 6 foot 2, Weight: 168 lbs

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Physical                        Mental                          Technical
============================================================================================
Acceleration         14         Aggression            17        Checking              12
Agility              10         Anticipation           8        Deflections           13
Balance              13         Bravery               13        Deking                12
Speed                18         Creativity            14        Faceoffs              12
Stamina               8         Determination         20        Hitting               12
Strength             20         Flair                 14        Getting Open          11
                                Influence             14        Passing               13
                                Teamwork              15        Pokecheck             12
                                Work Rate              9        Positioning           10
                                                                Slapshot              12
                                                                Stickhandling         13
                                                                Wristshot             13

Consistency: 12

He also has a solid report card:

Code: Select all

Hockey Sense         C+         Poise               A+
Puckhandling         A          Size/Strength       A+
Defense              A-         Leadership          A
Shot/Scoring         A-         Skating             A+

Mental Characteristics: Driven, Competitive, Loyal, Aggressive

He has well balanced attributes in all areas. Wished he had better Work Rate, but overall, he's a solid prospect.

32nd Overall: The Buffalo Sabres select, from the Plymouth Whalers, defenseman Vitezslav Sedlacek

Sedlacek is a Czech defensemen who hails from Prague. He scored 16 goals and added 35 assists for 51 points in 68 games for the Memorial Cup champions in his first year in junior hockey. He's a strong offensive defenseman who needs to improve defense.

Age: 18, Height: 6 foot 2, Weight: 174 lbs

Code: Select all

Physical                        Mental                          Technical
============================================================================================
Acceleration         14         Aggression             5        Checking              12
Agility              12         Anticipation           7        Deflections           10
Balance              16         Bravery               20        Deking                10
Speed                12         Creativity            14        Faceoffs               1
Stamina              13         Determination         13        Hitting                7
Strength             18         Flair                  5        Getting Open          11
                                Influence             11        Passing               13
                                Teamwork              18        Pokecheck             15
                                Work Rate             10        Positioning           13
                                                                Slapshot              12
                                                                Stickhandling         13
                                                                Wristshot             11

Consistency: 17

He really does need to improve the defensive side of the game, as he won't be that good at the NHL. But he's still young, and he has a lot of attributes that I like. You can't always have players who are good at everything, and he's solid with room to grow.

Code: Select all

Hockey Sense         C          Poise               A+
Puckhandling         A          Size/Strength       A+
Defense              B-         Leadership          A+
Shot/Scoring         B+         Skating             A

Mental Characteristics: Professional, Very Ambitious, Mercenary, Relaxed

The scouts agree that his defense needs to be better. However, he can skate, has size, and can get the points. The defensemen last season were really bad skaters, so one thing I wanted was for our players to be good skaters, otherwise you can't succeed in today's NHL.

50th Overall: The Buffalo Sabres select, from HC Energie Karlovy Vary in the Czech Republic, defenseman Roman Sedlacek.

No relation to VIteslav, Roman is similar because they're both offensive defensemen. He's another great skater (better than Viteslav), and has a lot of strengths. However, he is a project, and might come to North America early to get used to the North American style of play. He scored 5 goals and added 9 assists in 30 games last season in the Czech league.

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Physical                        Mental                          Technical
============================================================================================
Acceleration         17         Aggression             6        Checking              11
Agility              12         Anticipation           7        Deflections            9
Balance              15         Bravery               11        Deking                10
Speed                15         Creativity             6        Faceoffs               1
Stamina              18         Determination         18        Hitting                7
Strength             19         Flair                  5        Getting Open          12
                                Influence             18        Passing               12
                                Teamwork              16        Pokecheck              9
                                Work Rate             12        Positioning           15
                                                                Slapshot              12
                                                                Stickhandling         11
                                                                Wristshot             11

Consistency: 10

Here is his report card:

Code: Select all

Hockey Sense         C          Poise               A
Puckhandling         B+         Size/Strength       A+
Defense              B-         Leadership          A
Shot/Scoring         B+         Skating             A+

Mental Characteristics: Competitive, Loyal

He's another strong and quick skater that we need for the future.

3rd Round

62nd Overall: The Buffalo Sabres select, from the Owen Sound Attack, Jimmy Pageau

Pageau is another defenseman who unlike the previous two picks, is a defensive defenseman. In 68 games with the Attack, Pageau scored 2 goals and added 17 assists while playing in all 68 regular season contests. He's been compared to Ryan McDonagh, which is a good sign!

Age: 17, Height: 6 foot 1, Weight: 180 lbs

Code: Select all

Physical                        Mental                          Technical
============================================================================================
Acceleration         14         Aggression            13        Checking              13
Agility              14         Anticipation           8        Deflections           11
Balance               9         Bravery               11        Deking                10
Speed                11         Creativity            12        Faceoffs               3
Stamina              10         Determination         13        Hitting               14
Strength             16         Flair                  8        Getting Open          11
                                Influence             14        Passing               11
                                Teamwork              18        Pokecheck             14
                                Work Rate              8        Positioning            5
                                                                Slapshot              11
                                                                Stickhandling         10
                                                                Wristshot             10

Consistency: 16

He's a bit of project, his skills will make him a solid OHL player but he needs to keep honing those three important technical attributes of checking, hitting, and positioning, the latter which is only a 5.

Code: Select all

Hockey Sense         B-         Poise               A
Puckhandling         B+         Size/Strength       A+
Defense              A          Leadership          A
Shot/Scoring         B+         Skating             A-

Mental Characteristics: Ambitious

He's got solid makeup for a 3rd Round pick. Like a lot of youngsters, hockey sense isn't a strength, but hopefully with maturity he will improve. Once again, I want mobile players, and he's another strong kid who can skate.

6th Round

152nd Overall: The Buffalo Sabres select, from the Plymouth Whalers, Bowen Voth

In the 6th round, it's where your scouting is really important, and with Voth, I think we got a steal of a pick. Voth has a lot of experience in the OHL, having just finished his 3rd season with them. Last season, he scored 38 goals and added 41 assists, for 79 points in only 64 games. He's been compared to Kyle Okposo, a guy who was a top 10 pick. He has a lot of good qualities. He can play right wing or center.

Age: 18, Height: 5 foot 10, Weight: 187 lbs

Code: Select all

Physical                        Mental                          Technical
============================================================================================
Acceleration         17         Aggression            15        Checking              12
Agility              16         Anticipation          11        Deflections           10
Balance               9         Bravery               13        Deking                 8
Speed                13         Creativity             5        Faceoffs               7
Stamina              15         Determination         13        Hitting                9
Strength             16         Flair                 10        Getting Open          10
                                Influence              3        Passing               11
                                Teamwork              17        Pokecheck             10
                                Work Rate             17        Positioning           13
                                                                Slapshot              14
                                                                Stickhandling         10
                                                                Wristshot             14

Consistency: 11

This kid has good speed and quickness, and he's another team player and hard worker. He needs to work on his technical attributes at the junior level, but he's a solid prospect.

Code: Select all

Hockey Sense         B+         Poise               A
Puckhandling         B          Size/Strength       A+
Defense              B          Leadership          C+
Shot/Scoring         A          Skating             A

Mental Characteristics: Ambitious, Strong Character, Aggressive

Another strong character player. He probably fell because of his age (he's turning 19 in October), but I think we got a gem. He's the perfect player for us.

7th Round

182nd Overall: The Buffalo Sabres select, from the USHL's Des Moines Buccaneers, Bruce McInnis

With our final pick of the draft, we select Bruce McInnis, a forward from Lincoln, Rhode Island. He'll be going to the college route next season, and playing for the WCHA's St. Cloud State Huskies. He placed 2nd in the USHL scoring race with 49 goals and 62 assists for 111 points in 59 games. In his USHL career, he has 99 goals, 110 assists, and 209 points in 119 games. The scouts consider him in the mold of Justin Abdelkader, which is pretty good for a 7th round pick.

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Physical                        Mental                          Technical
============================================================================================
Acceleration         15         Aggression            19        Checking              15
Agility              15         Anticipation          11        Deflections           11
Balance              16         Bravery               16        Deking                 9
Speed                 9         Creativity            11        Faceoffs               7
Stamina              16         Determination         14        Hitting               19
Strength             17         Flair                  3        Getting Open          13
                                Influence             15        Passing               13
                                Teamwork              18        Pokecheck             13
                                Work Rate             20        Positioning           12
                                                                Slapshot              12
                                                                Stickhandling         13
                                                                Wristshot             13

Consistency: 11

He's perfectly the guy I want, a good skater (despite he lacks that extra year in pure speed), a hard worker and good teammate, and good defensive instincts but also has good offensive skill. Hopefully next season in college, he'll have a great season, and we will evaluate him at the end of his college season.

Code: Select all

Hockey Sense         B+         Poise               A+
Puckhandling         A          Size/Strength       A+
Defense              A+         Leadership          A+
Shot/Scoring         A-         Skating             A

Mental Characteristics: Ambitious, Determined, Fickle, Strong Character, Very Aggressive

Great makeup and fits the criteria and identity I want for this team. You can't go wrong with a 7th round pick. I'll be happy if he can become a solid pro.

Throughout this draft, I prioritized making the solid pick. Nothing too risky in this draft, and getting players with good mental makeup. I don't mind an ambitious group, at least they have desire to get better.

Top Prospects

With the end of the draft, here's our top prospects list:

1. Darryl Brady (LW/C) - 19 - Buffalo Sabres (NHL)

2. Marc-Antoine Stone (C) - 18 - Tri-City Americans (WHL)

3. Louis-Etienne St. Pierre (C/LW/RW) - 18 - Shawinigan Cataractes (QMJHL)

4. Vitezslav Sedlacek (RD/LD) - 18 - Plymouth Whalers (OHL)

5. Charles-Philippe McGlade (C) - 18 - Kingston Frontenacs (OHL)

6. Roman Sedlacek (RD/LD) - 18 - HC Energie Karlovy Vary (Czech Extraliga)

7. Joel Balbino (RD) - 21 - Rochester Americans (AHL)

8. Tony Leppanen (RW/LW) - 19 - Rochester Americans (AHL)

9. Jimmy Pageau (LD) - 17 - Owen Sound Attack (OHL)

10. Kamil Vrba (LD) - 19 - Buffalo Sabres (NHL)

11. Andy Lehoux (RW) - 19 - Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL)

12. Quentin Fougere (LW/RW) - 19- Vancouver Giants (WHL)

Our influx of new prospects has given us much needed depth. Joel Balbino went from our 3rd best prospect down to 7th. This a really good sign seeing that we added four very good young players to our group.

Up Next:

It's free agency. We'll be big players, mainly because we need to sign players to even reach the cap floor.

[rancer890]

2025-2026 Buffalo Sabres - Offseason

The off-season is always the favourite part for fans, to see which players GMs across the league will sign to bolster their rosters. The Sabres are no different.

Unfortunately, after all these signings, we're still below the cap floor, so we'll have to claim someone before the season to get above it (and there will be players out there to claim, because the AI just seem to like signing everyone with no regard for roster limits or salary cap).

June 30: The following players have been released:

• LW/C Leon Hjelm (signed with Djurgarden in Swedish Elitserien)
  C Cody Bass (retired)
  LD Jim Meyer (signed with San Jose Sharks)
  C Eric Staal (unsigned)
  W Jordan Caron (signed with Winnipeg Jets)
  D Nicklas Grossman (retired)
  W Thomas Vanek (retired)
  RD Justin Faulk (signed with Minnesota Wild)
  D Jimmy Smith (released, RFA, later traded)
  C/RW Skylar Proulx (released, RFA, later resigned)
  LD Ctibor Jankovych (signed with Montreal Canadiens)
  RW/C Max Cyr (signed with Koln in the German DEL)
  RW Nolan Gaudet (released, RFA, later resigned)

July 5: Sabres sign free agent defenseman Patrik Rak to a 3 year, $7.68 million contract ($2.56 million per year). Rak, 29, is a 10 year NHL veteran. A former 1st round pick of the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft, the Prague, Czech Republic native has 579 games of experience with Tampa Bay and the New York Islanders, with 13 goals and 84 assists. He has always played 60 games with the Czech national team on 7 different occasions, including the 2022 Winter Olympics, tallying 12 assists.

He's a rugged defensive defenseman, which is what we need moving forward. I don't mind committing for 3 seasons, because you need these type of players.

Patrik Rak - 29 years old - 6 foot 1, 213 lbs

Code: Select all

Physical                        Mental                          Technical
============================================================================================
Acceleration         17         Aggression            10        Checking              17
Agility              16         Anticipation           8        Deflections           13
Balance              17         Bravery               15        Deking                10
Speed                12         Creativity            17        Faceoffs               1
Stamina              20         Determination         17        Hitting               17
Strength             20         Flair                 12        Getting Open          14
                                Influence             11        Passing               14
                                Teamwork              16        Pokecheck             20
                                Work Rate             19        Positioning           16
                                                                Slapshot              16
                                                               Stickhandling         14
                                                                Wristshot             11

Consistency: 18


Hockey Sense         D+         Poise               A
Puckhandling         B+         Size/Strength       A+
Defense              A          Leadership          B
Shot/Scoring         B          Skating             A-

Mental Characteristics: Determined, Independent

The Sabres have also signed our second round pick in the most recent NHL Entry Draft, defenseman Roman Sedlacek, to a 3 year, entry level contract. (Refer to NHL Draft post for attributes, pretty much the same)

July 6: The Buffalo Sabres have signed the following players: G Antonin Cech, RW/C Nikolai Grachev, and 2024 2nd overall pick C Marc-Antoine Stone, to 3 year, entry-level contracts. They have also resigned C/RW Skylar Proulx to a 3 year deal, worth a total of $6.78 million ($2.26 million per year).

Cech, 20, was the Sabres 5th Round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft. He spent the past 3 seasons in North America playing junior hockey with the Gatineau Olympiques, compiling a 74-39-5 record in 136 games, with a 2.60 GAA, and an appearance in the Mastercard Memorial Cup in the 2023-24 season.

Antonin Cech - 20 years old - 6 foot, 180 lbs

Code: Select all

Physical                        Mental                          Technical
============================================================================================
Acceleration         12         Aggression             7        Blocker               11
Agility              16         Anticipation          10        Glove                 11
Balance              16         Bravery               12        Passing                1
Speed                14         Creativity             1        Pokecheck             10
Stamina              14         Determination         15        Positioning           14
Strength             16         Flair                 10        Rebound Control       11
                                Influence             16        Recovery              10
                                Teamwork              10        Reflexes              12
                                Work Rate             19        Stickhandling         11

Consistency: 12


Hockey Sense         C          Poise               B
Puckhandling         C+         Size/Strength       A-
Athleticism          A          Blocker             C+
Glove                C+         Lateral Movement    A-

Mental Characteristics: Realist, Determined

Grachev, 20, was a 7th Round draft choice by the Sabres in the 2024 NHL Draft. He spent 2 years with the OHL's Erie Otters, with 49 goals and 47 assists in 113 games. He had also played for the Mastercard Memorial Cup in the 2022-23 season, held scoreless in 3 games.

Nikolai Grachev - 20 years old - 5 foot 11, 163 lbs

Code: Select all

Physical                        Mental                          Technical
============================================================================================
Acceleration         17         Aggression             4        Checking               8
Agility              11         Anticipation           8        Deflections           10
Balance               7         Bravery                8        Deking                13
Speed                12         Creativity             7        Faceoffs              10
Stamina              12         Determination          8        Hitting                6
Strength              6         Flair                 15        Getting Open          14
                                Influence             12        Passing               14
                                Teamwork              12        Pokecheck              8
                                Work Rate             13        Positioning           15
                                                                Slapshot              11
                                                                Stickhandling         15
                                                                Wristshot             13

Consistency: 14


Hockey Sense         D+         Poise               D+
Puckhandling         A-         Size/Strength       E+
Defense              D          Leadership          C
Shot/Scoring         B-         Skating             B-

Mental Characteristics: Realist, Relaxed

Stone, 19, has just completed his third season with the WHL's Tri-City Americans, and had also won the WHL Player of the Year award. He is what you want from a power forward, and he'll either play a few games with the Sabres in the regular season and stay, or get sent back to Tri-City to dominate junior.

Marc-Antoine Stone - 19 years old - 6 foot 4, 211 lbs

Code: Select all

Physical                        Mental                          Technical
============================================================================================
Acceleration         15         Aggression            14        Checking              12
Agility              14         Anticipation          11        Deflections           15
Balance               7         Bravery               15        Deking                14
Speed                 9         Creativity            13        Faceoffs              20
Stamina              13         Determination         12        Hitting               11
Strength             20         Flair                 15        Getting Open          14
                                Influence             14        Passing               17
                                Teamwork              15        Pokecheck             15
                                Work Rate             14        Positioning           14
                                                                Slapshot              12
                                                                Stickhandling         15
                                                                Wristshot             13

Consistency: 14


Hockey Sense         B          Poise               A-
Puckhandling         A          Size/Strength       A+
Defense              B          Leadership          A
Shot/Scoring         B+         Skating             B-

Mental Characteristics: Ordinary

There was also a trade, as we sent defenseman Jimmy Smith to the Calgary Flames in exchange for their 1st Round pick in the 2026 NHL Entry Draft. I wasn't going to want anything less, so I'm happy to get a potentially good young player for a 27 year old top 4 defenseman.

July 14: The Sabres sign defenseman Klas Sundqvist to a 2 year, $1.44 million contract ($720,000 per year). Sundqvist is a 28 year old Swede who has played in 569 games, with 19 goals and 90 assists with Pittsburgh, St. Louis, New Jersey, and San Jose. He's a good 3rd line defenseman who can give us depth.

Code: Select all

Physical                        Mental                          Technical
============================================================================================
Acceleration         14         Aggression            11        Checking              13
Agility               9         Anticipation          14        Deflections            7
Balance              13         Bravery               13        Deking                14
Speed                18         Creativity            14        Faceoffs               3
Stamina              18         Determination          9        Hitting               11
Strength             20         Flair                  9        Getting Open          14
                                Influence             10        Passing               14
                                Teamwork              18        Pokecheck             13
                                Work Rate              6        Positioning           11
                                                                Slapshot              14
                                                                Stickhandling         15
                                                                Wristshot             11

Consistency: 18


Hockey Sense         B+         Poise               C+
Puckhandling         A-         Size/Strength       A+
Defense              B-         Leadership          C+
Shot/Scoring         B-         Skating             A-

Mental Characteristics: Independent, Strong Character

July 16: In need for a good centerman, the Buffalo Sabres sign C/LW Aron Fredriksson to a big 3 year, $14.94 million commitment ($4.98 million per year). The 8th overall pick (drafted by the Winnipeg Jets) of the 2014 NHL Draft, Fredriksson has gone on to play in 762 games, with 181 goals and 355 assists for 536 points with the Jets and Nashville Predators. In the past two seasons, he has 93 points (24 G-69 A) and 78 points (27 G - 51 A) in 162 games, all with the Predators.

Aron Fredriksson - 29 years old, 6 foot 5, 229 lbs

Code: Select all

Physical                        Mental                          Technical
============================================================================================
Acceleration         16         Aggression            11        Checking              13
Agility              13         Anticipation          20        Deflections           16
Balance              18         Bravery               13        Deking                16
Speed                 9         Creativity            14        Faceoffs              19
Stamina              17         Determination         12        Hitting               10
Strength             17         Flair                 20        Getting Open          16
                                Influence             14        Passing               14
                                Teamwork              17        Pokecheck             15
                                Work Rate             20        Positioning           17
                                                                Slapshot              16
                                                                Stickhandling         16
                                                                Wristshot             14

Consistency: 19


Hockey Sense         A+         Poise               B-
Puckhandling         A          Size/Strength       A+
Defense              C+         Leadership          B
Shot/Scoring         A-         Skating             B+

Mental Characteristics: Ordinary

They also have resigned Nolan Gaudet to a 2 year, 2 way contract.

August 10: With the free agency avenue to acquiring talent dying up, the other way is through trades, and the Sabres swung another deal again, acquiring another defenseman, Roy Clayton, from the Tampa Bay Lightning, for young 21 year old prospect Jaromir Malinsky, who was one of our top 12 prospects last season.

Clayton, 24, has played 4 seasons in the NHL already, with 309 career games, all with the Lightning, who drafted him as the 3rd overall pick in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. He hasn't quite reached the potential with that selection, with 15 goals, and 75 assists for 90 points. He's a solid addition to the group with strong NHL smarts and skill to compensate for his lack of speed. He will earn $2.29 million for the next two seasons.

Roy Clayton - 24 years old, 6 foot 3, 196 lbs

Code: Select all

Physical                        Mental                          Technical
============================================================================================
Acceleration         11         Aggression             8        Checking              14
Agility              12         Anticipation          14        Deflections           12
Balance              16         Bravery               12        Deking                17
Speed                11         Creativity            16        Faceoffs               1
Stamina              15         Determination          8        Hitting                8
Strength             14         Flair                 15        Getting Open          14
                                Influence             17        Passing               16
                                Teamwork              17        Pokecheck             15
                                Work Rate             16        Positioning           15
                                                                Slapshot              15
                                                                Stickhandling         15
                                                                Wristshot             13

Consistency: 8


Hockey Sense         B+         Poise               C
Puckhandling         A-         Size/Strength       B+
Defense              C+         Leadership          B+
Shot/Scoring         B+         Skating             B-

Mental Characteristics: Independent, Strong Character

Staff Signings

On July 7th, the Sabres named their new head coach, 46 year old Jeremi Campbell, to a 4 year contract. Campbell most recently was coaching at the NCAA level, with the Maine Black Bears. He has also coached at the NHL level with the Toronto Maple Leafs, as well as in Europe, with Austrian club EC Red Bull Salzburg.

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Mental                                  Technical
=============================================================================
Adaptability                  16        Coaching Goalies                    8
Determination                 14        Coaching Defensemen                17
Level of Discipline           17        Coaching Forwards                  12
Man Management                11        Judging Player Ability             14
Motivating                    12        Judging Player Potential           14
Working with Youngsters       14        Tactical Knowledge                 14

Preferred Tactics - Prefers a straightforward style of play

Former NHL defenseman Ulf Samuelsson has also joined the staff as an Assistant Coach with a 4 year contract. The 61 year old spent the past 6 seasons as the Head Coach of the CHL's Fort Wayne Comets, and has spent many seasons as the Head Coach of Swedish club MODO.

Code: Select all

Mental                                  Technical
=============================================================================
Adaptability                  16        Coaching Goalies                    6
Determination                 18        Coaching Defensemen                17
Level of Discipline           18        Coaching Forwards                  12
Man Management                13        Judging Player Ability             12
Motivating                    19        Judging Player Potential           13
Working with Youngsters       14        Tactical Knowledge                 14

Preferred Tactics - Prefers a defensive style of play

Longtime assistant coach James Patrick didn't have his contract renewed.

The club has also signed scouts Rob Trumbley (16 JPA/16 JPP) from French club Rouen, Steve Gainey (19/17) from the WHL's Saskatoon Blades, Jean-Francois Allison (20/20) from German club Wolfsburg, and Patrick Savard (17/16) from the QMJHL's Moncton Wildcats.

Scouts Rick Hand (15/13), Eric Weismann (14/14), Angelo Gendron (13/15), and Jason Deskins (9/20) were relieved of their duties.

Training Camp

With Training Camp now among us, it's time to see which our new players finally in action in scrimmages and pre-season games. For now, we got 30 players who are going to attend camp, and it will increase. All of our recent draft picks who aren't committed to college hockey are in camp, including our top choice Louis-Etienne St.Pierre. The defense is much improved with our off-season additions, and there's 10 players fighting for 7 spots. There will also be battles to fight for spots across all four forward lines. It's going to be an interesting pre-season.

[rancer890]

Buffalo Sabres - 2025-26 Season Preview

Thew new NHL season is coming upon us, and the 2025-26 season will definitely be as exciting as ever. First, here's a preview of all 30 NHL teams:

• 1. Toronto Maple Leafs - Team MVP: Tyler Seguin, Key New Face: T.J. Oshie
  2. Los Angeles Kings - Team MVP: Tyler Myers, Key New Face: Kris Letang
  3. Calgary Flames - Team MVP: Tommy Orzetti, Key New Face: Simon Halmosi
  4. New York Islanders - Team MVP: Kyle Okposo, Key New Face: Erik Karlsson
  5. Vancouver Canucks - Team MVP: Michael Del Zotto, Key New Face: Marc-Andre Gragnani
  6. Washington Capitals - Team MVP: Nicklas Backstrom, Key New Face: Kris Russell
  7. San Jose Sharks - Team MVP: Luis Ethier, Key New Face: P.K. Subban
  8. Ottawa Senators - Team MVP: Victor Larsen, Key New Face: Logan Couture
  9. Florida Panthers - Team MVP: Taylor Hall, Key New Face: Ryan Murray
  10. Philadelphia Flyers - Team MVP: Steven Stamkos, Key New Face: Patrice Fisher
  11. Tampa Bay Lightning - Team MVP: Michal Neuvirth, Key New Face: Jakub Voracek
  12. Chicago Blackhawks - Team MVP: Jonathan Toews, Key New Face: Bobby Ryan
  13. Colorado Avalanche - Team MVP: Erik Johnson, Key New Face: Tyler Ennis
  14. Montreal Canadiens - Team MVP: Kenyan Doran, Key New Face: Joe Morrow
  15. Nashville Predators - Team MVP: Vadim Petrov, Key New Face: Glen Coles
  16. St. Louis Blues - Team MVP: Brett Connolly, Key New Face: Pippo Toivonen
  17. Boston Bruins - Team MVP: Alex Pietrangelo, Key New Face: John Carlson
  18. Edmonton Oilers - Team MVP: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Key New Face: Justin Braun
  19. Dallas Stars - Team MVP: James Hampton, Key New Face: Joel Armia
  20. Detroit Red Wings - Team MVP: John Tavares, Key New Face: Evgeni Malkin
  21. New Jersey Devils - Team MVP: Jordan Staal, Key New Face: Travis Hamonic
  22. Anaheim Ducks - Team MVP: Jari Miettinen, Key New Face: Jamie Benn
  23. New York Rangers - Team MVP: Chris Kreider, Key New Face: Drew Doughty
  24. Pittsburgh Penguins - Team MVP: Eric Tangradi, Key New Face: Sam Gagner
  25. Minnesota WIld - Team MVP: Matt Duchene, Key New Face: Artyom Kukushkin
  26. Winnipeg Jets - Team MVP: Courtney Dixon, Key New Face: Joe Colborne
  27. Columbus Blue Jackets - Team MVP: Jack Hart, Key New Face: David Krejci
  28. Carolina Hurricanes - Team MVP: Ales Kraft, Key New Face: Anatoniy Demers
  29. Buffalo Sabres - Team MVP: Wendell Bowtell, Key New Face: Aron Fredriksson
  30. Phoenix Coyotes - Team MVP: Barrett Fraser, Key New Face: Maxime Sauver

The media don't really expect the Sabres to accomplish much, which is within reason as we didn't make any big big signings, and we're still in the rebuilding phase, or as I like to call it, the 'restocking phase' because before my arrival, we lacked key prospects.

The following lists are the player rankings by position, as well as the league's top prospects:

Goalies

• 1. James Hampton (Dallas Stars)
  2. Alec Janosz (Florida Panthers)
  3. Ales Kraft (Carolina Hurricanes)
  4. Samu Moilanen (Washington Capitals)
  5. Jonathan Quick (San Jose Sharks)
  6. Carey Price (Vancouver Canucks)
  7. Panu Salo (Florida Panthers)
  8. Semyon Varlamov (New York Islanders)
  9. Kirill Ogordnikov (Toronto Maple Leafs)
  10. Jonathan Bernier (Calgary Flames)

Defensemen

• 1. Joar Larsson (New York Islanders)
  2. Joben Kudo (Los Angeles Kings)
  3. Chamirand Pollard (Florida Panthers)
  4. Leo Matejovsky (Toronto Maple Leafs)
  5. Mike Green (Philadelphia Flyers)
  6. Juraj Duris (St. Louis Blues)
  7. Tyler Myers (Los Angeles Kings)
  8. Erik Gudbranson (Florida Panthers)
  9. Oliver Robinson (Washington Capitals)
  10. Kris Letang (Los Angeles Kings)

Left Wingers

• 1. Nicolas Lewis (Dallas Stars)
  2. Nichlas Edin (Calgary Flames)
  3. Taylor Hall (Florida Panthers)
  4. Gabriel Landeskog (Boston Bruins)
  5. Gord McConnell (Los Angeles Kings)
  6. Devon Carter (Buffalo Sabres)
  7. Lubos Voskar (Anaheim Ducks)
  8. James van Riemsdyk (New York Islanders)
  9. Barrett Fraser (Phoenix Coyotes)
  10. Tyler Ennis (Colorado Avalanche)

Center

• 1. Steven Stamkos (Philadelphia Flyers)
  2. John Tavares (Detroit Red Wings)
  3. Sidney Crosby (Nashville Predators)
  4. Ales Vojta (Washington Capitals)
  5. Nicklas Backstrom (Washington Capitals)
  6. Claude Giroux (Tampa Bay Lightning)
  7. Tommy Orzetti (Calgary Flames)
  8. Jonathan Toews (Chicago Blackhawks)
  9. Tyler Seguin (Toronto Maple Leafs)
  10. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (Edmonton Oilers)

Right Wing

• 1. Simon Halmosi (Calgary Flames)
  2. Vojtech Herman (Vancouver Canucks)
  3. Jean-Luc Groleau (Montreal Canadiens)
  4. Patrick Kane (San Jose Sharks)
  5. Jari Miettinen (Anaheim Ducks)
  6. Dima Shevchuk (Toronto Maple Leafs)
  7. Victor Larsen (Ottawa Senators)
  8. Ty Rattie (New Jersey Devils)
  9. Jakub Voracek (Tampa Bay Lightning)
  10. Rod Carnevale (Buffalo Sabres)

Top Prospects

• 1. RW Ola Gustavsson (Florida Panthers)
  2. G Jyri Ruuttu (Philadelphia Flyers)
  3. LW Rolf Ericsson (New York Rangers)
  4. G Chaz MacLellan (Pittsburgh Penguins)
  5. C Eric Smotherman (Philadelphia Flyers)
  6. RW Vlastimil Matejka (New Jersey Devils)
  7. C Kirby Wheaton (Florida Panthers)
  8. G Pirmin Aubry (Tampa Bay Lightning)
  9. LW Rafael Zachupejko (Los Angeles Kings)
  10. G Corey MacKinnon (Ottawa Senators)

We have Carter and Carnevale among the top 10 at their position, which is not bad. Our prospects are not among the top 10 prospects, which is a bit disappointing, but nice to see the two Panthers players who I drafted (both 2nd Rounders) in the top 10 prospects list.

With October coming around, we will all soon be able to see the players representing the 2025-26 Buffalo Sabres to start the season.

[rancer890]

Buffalo Sabres - 2025-26 Season Preview

We're a few days from the start of the 2025-26 regular season, and the 23-man roster has been set. There have been a few surprises, which some players impressing at camp so much, some NHL regulars last season were exposed to waivers and claimed by other teams. The Sabres waived both W Pete Sillanpaa and D Toby Yovanic, only for both to be claimed by New Jersey and Winnipeg, respectively. Bill Komm was waived and cleared waivers, but an injury to newly acquired Royce Clayton means that Komm will at least begin the season in Buffalo, barring any last minute waiver claims.

===

Goalies

Code: Select all

Name (Nationality)                  | Height, Weight     | Age  | 2025-26 Cap Hit | Acquired (DD/MM/YYYY)     | 2024-25 Season Stats (Team/League)
=======================================================================================================================================================================================================================
Vlastimil Korcok (Slovakia)         | 6 foot, 187 lbs    |  24  | $1.95 million   | Trade w/PHX, 16/06/2025   | 34 GP - 4 W - 20 L - 2 SOL - 4.11 GAA (Phoenix/NHL), 6 GP - 3 W - 3 L - 0 SOL - 2.01 GAA (Portland/AHL)
Lubomir Svetlik (Czech Republic)    | 6 foot 3, 209 lbs  |  28  | $924,000        | FA, 12/07/2024            | 28 GP - 5 W - 10 L - 1 SOL - 3.99 GAA (Buffalo/NHL)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Salary Total                                                      $2.874 million

Our goaltending combo to start the season. I would have to admit our goaltending is a big weakness, since both of them played for the 2 worst teams in the league last season. However, I can't attribute everything to be our goalie's fault. I wouldn't even consider last season the fault of Trenton Watt, now property of the Phoenix Coyotes. The whole team will have to be better defensively, and that includes our goaltending.

Defensemen

Code: Select all

Name (Nationality)                  | Height, Weight     | Age  | 2025-26 Cap Hit | Acquired (DD/MM/YYYY)     | 2024-25 Season Stats (Team/League)
=======================================================================================================================================================================================================================
Joel Balbino (Canada)               | 6 foot, 213 lbs    |  21  | $1.027 million  | 2022 Draft (Rd 1, 8)      | 10 GP - 1 G - 5 A - 6 PTS (Buffalo/NHL), 59 GP - 4 G - 21 A - 25 PTS (Rochester/AHL)
Roy Clayton (United States)         | 6 foot 3, 196 lbs  |  24  | $2.31 million   | Trade w/TB, 10/08/2025    | 70 GP - 3 G - 16 A - 19 PTS (Tampa Bay/NHL)
Henrick Ferhl (Canada)              | 6 foot, 194 lbs    |  25  | $1.1 million    | Trade w/FLA, 17/06/2025   | 14 GP - 0 G - 2 A - 2 PTS (Florida/NHL)
Airat Khudyakov (Russia)            | 6 foot, 198 lbs    |  20  | $529,000        | 2023 Draft (Rd 2, 35)     | 60 GP - 9 G - 8 A - 17 PTS (Buffalo/NHL), 18 GP - 5 G - 9 A - 14 PTS (Rochester/AHL)
Bill Komm (United States)           | 6 foot, 189 lbs    |  25  | $850,000        | Waivers f/WPG, 24/01/2025 | 25 GP - 1 G - 8 A - 9 PTS (Buffalo/NHL), 13 GP - 0 G - 1 A - 1 PT (Winnipeg/NHL)
Patrik Rak (Czech Republic)         | 6 foot 1, 213 lbs  |  29  | $2.583 million  | FA, 05/07/2025            | 49 GP - 0 G - 10 A - 10 PTS (NY Islanders/NHL), 19 GP - 0 G - 2 A - 2 PTS (Tampa Bay/NHL)
Klas Sundqvist (Sweden)             | 6 foot 3, 205 lbs  |  28  | $747,000        | FA, 14/07/2025            | 48 GP - 1 G - 9 A - 10 PTS (San Jose/NHL), 5 GP - 0 G - 1 A - 1 PT (New Jersey (NHL)
Bohuslav Zabransky (Czech Republic) | 5 foot 11, 189 lbs |  23  | $1.625 million  | 2020 Draft (Rd 1, 13)     | 82 GP - 7 G - 25 A - 32 PTS (Buffalo/NHL)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Salary Total                                                      $10.771 million

We have a decent group of defensemen, although they're all the 3-4 or 5-6 pairing type...

Forwards

Code: Select all

Name-Position (Nationality)         | Height, Weight     | Age  | 2025-26 Cap Hit | Acquired (DD/MM/YYYY)     | 2024-25 Season Stats (Team/League)
=======================================================================================================================================================================
Harry Beauchemin - C/RW (Canada)    | 6 foot 2, 222 lbs  |  28  | $2.79 million   | Trade w/PHX, 23/02/2025   | 53 GP - 2 G - 9 A - 11 PTS (Phoenix/NHL), 21 GP - 8 G - 10 A - 18 PTS (Buffalo/NHL)
Bill Bonneau - W (Canada)           | 6 foot 1, 202 lbs  |  27  | $1.245 million  | Waivers f/TOR, 29/09/2024 | 76 GP - 18 G - 39 A - 57 PTS (Buffalo/NHL)
Wendell Bowtell - C/RW (Canada)     | 6 foot 5, 238 lbs  |  28  | $4.145 million  | FA, 13/07/2024            | 74 GP - 29 G - 34 A - 63 PTS (Buffalo/NHL)
Devon Carter - W (Canada)           | 5 foot 10, 174 lbs |  26  | $3.27 million   | 2017 Draft (Rd 1, 27)     | 78 GP - 35 G - 38 A - 73 PTS (Buffalo/NHL)
Rod Carnevale - W (Canada)          | 5 foot 8, 176 lbs  |  24  | $2.884 million  | 2019 Draft (Rd 1, 5)      | 81 GP - 34 G - 46 A - 80 PTS (Buffalo/NHL)
Victor Ekegren - LW/C (Sweden)      | 6 foot 2, 218 lbs  |  23  | $650,000        | Trade w/FLA, 08/08/2024   | 80 GP - 15 G - 42 A - 57 PTS (Rochester/AHL)
Serge Fournier - RW/LW (Canada)     | 5 foot 11, 205 lbs |  23  | $715,000        | 2020 Draft (Rd 2, 43)     | 65 GP - 8 G - 21 A - 29 PTS (Rochester/AHL), 4 GP - 0 G - 1 A - 1 PT (Buffalo/NHL)
Aron Fredriksson - C/LW (Sweden)    | 6 foot 5, 229 lbs  |  29  | $5.017 million  | FA, 16/07/2025            | 80 GP - 27 G - 51 A - 78 PTS (Nashville/NHL)
Bruno Haley - F (Canada)            | 6 foot, 200 lbs    |  26  | $1.34 million   | Trade w/CGY, 28/01/2025   | 51 GP - 7 G - 9 A - 16 PTS (Calgary/NHL), 22 GP - 5 G - 4 A - 9 PTS (Buffalo/NHL)
Gordon Hunter - LW (United States)  | 6 foot 1, 224 lbs  |  26  | $1.627 million  | Trade w/FLA, 04/10/2024   | 75 GP - 12 G - 23 A - 35 PTS (Buffalo/NHL)
Juho Konttinen - RW (Finland)       | 6 foot 2, 211 lbs  |  23  | $585,000        | Trade w/FLA, 08/08/2024   | 80 GP - 15 G - 20 A - 35 PTS (Rochester/AHL)
Anders Paterson - W (United States) | 6 foot 4, 211 lbs  |  28  | $907,000        | Waivers f/BOS, 06/02/2025 | 50 GP - 4 G - 9 A - 13 PTS (Boston/NHL), 26 GP - 1 G - 7 A - 8 PTS (Buffalo/NHL)
Skylar Proulx - C/RW (Canada)       | 5 foot 11, 191 lbs |  24  | $2.282 million  | Trade w/FLA, 08/11/2024   | 55 GP - 7 G - 23 A - 30 PTS (Buffalo/NHL), 13 GP - 0 G - 2 A - 2 PTS (Florida/NHL)
Marc-Antoine Stone - C (Canada)     | 6 foot 4, 211 lbs  |  19  | $934,000        | 2023 Draft (Rd 1, 2)      | 64 GP - 34 G - 60 A - 94 PTS (Tri-City/WHL)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Salary Total                                                      $28.391 million

We have a solid group of forwards. A lot of our players are very young, but hopefully this group can help us improve upon last year's spot.

As for Stone, he will start the season with the Sabres (probably at most 3-4 games at first), but he could get loaned back to Tri-City if he doesn't get enough ice time.

Our total salary is $42.036 million, which is unfortunately below the cap floor of $43.4 million.

Top Prospects:

Our top prospects heading into the start of the NHL regular season:

Code: Select all

Rank | Name (Pos)                   | Age | Team (League)      | GP |  G |  A | PTS | +/- | PIM | AvR
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  1  | Marc-Antoine Stone (C)       |  19 | Buffalo (NHL)      |  - |  - |  - |   - |   - |   - | -.--
  2  | Louis-Etienne St. Pierre (F) |  18 | Shawinigan (QMJHL) |  5 |  0 |  6 |   6 |  +1 |   0 | 8.00
  3  | Vitezslav Sedlacek (D)       |  18 | Plymouth (OHL)     |  5 |  0 |  2 |   2 |  -1 |   2 | 6.80
  4  | Charles-Philippe McGlade (C) |  18 | Kingston (OHL)     |  4 |  1 |  0 |   1 |   0 |  14 | 7.75
  5  | Darryl Brady (LW/C)          |  20 | Rochester (AHL)    |  - |  - |  - |   - |   - |   - | -.--
  6  | Roman Sedlacek (D)           |  18 | Rochester (AHL)    |  - |  - |  - |   - |   - |   - | -.--
  7  | Joel Balbino (RD)            |  21 | Buffalo (NHL)      |  - |  - |  - |   - |   - |   - | -.--
  8  | Boris Popikhin (D)           |  19 | SKA (KHL)          |  3 |  0 |  0 |   0 |   0 |   6 | 6.33
  9  | Jimmy Pageau (LD)            |  18 | Owen Sound (OHL)   |  4 |  0 |  1 |   1 |  +4 |   4 | 7.25
  10 | Quentin Fougere (W)          |  19 | Vancouver (WHL)    |  3 |  2 |  4 |   6 |   0 |   7 | 8.33
  11 | Andy Lehoux (RW)             |  19 | Halifax (QMJHL)    |  4 |  0 |  2 |   2 |  +2 |   2 | 7.00
  12 | Tony Leppanen (W)            |  20 | Rochester (AHL)    |  - |  - |  - |   - |   - |   - | -.--

There's also one interesting notable not in the top 12:

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Name (Pos)        | Age | Team (League)  | GP |  G |  A | PTS | +/- | PIM | AvR
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Bowen Voth (RW/C) |  18 | Plymouth (OHL) |  5 |  5 |  5 |  10 |   0 |   0 | 8.60    

Voth won the OHL Player of the Month award in September. It'll be interesting to see how he does in the next month.

[rancer890]

Buffalo Sabres - October 2025

Team Record: 12 GP - 4 W - 5 L - 3 OTL - 35 GF - 44 GA - 11 PTS (12th in East/21st overall)

October Record: 12 GP - 4 W - 5 L - 3 OTL - 35 GF - 44 GA - 11 PTS

Player Stats:

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Regular Season Player Stats (* = not with team)

Rank  | Player (POS)            | GP |  G |  A | PTS | +/- | PIM | SOG | Sh%  | ATOI  | AvR
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 1st  | Harry Beauchemin (C/RW) | 12 |  5 |  7 |  12 | +10 |  28 |  21 | 23.8 | 16:33 | 8.92
 2nd  | Aron Fredriksson (C/LW) | 12 |  4 |  8 |  12 |  +2 |  24 |  33 | 12.1 | 20:20 | 8.83
 3rd  | Rod Carnevale (W)       | 12 |  4 |  7 |  11 |  -1 |   4 |  30 | 13.3 | 18:54 | 7.33
 4th  | Devon Carter (W)        |  8 |  4 |  4 |   8 |  +1 |  10 |  24 | 16.7 | 17:37 | 7.63
 5th  | Wendell Bowtell (C/RW)  | 11 |  5 |  2 |   7 |  +4 |  40 |  35 | 14.3 | 19:43 | 8.73
 6th  | Gordon Hunter (LW)      | 11 |  3 |  3 |   6 |  -2 |  16 |  15 | 20.0 | 10:43 | 6.82
 7th  | Bohuslav Zabransky (RD) | 12 |  2 |  3 |   5 |  -4 |   6 |  24 |  8.3 | 24:44 | 6.92
 8th  | Skylar Proulx (C/RW)    | 12 |  2 |  2 |   4 |  +1 |  22 |  17 | 11.8 | 13:25 | 6.82
 9th  | Anders Paterson (W)     |  9 |  2 |  2 |   4 |  +1 |  37 |  10 | 20.0 | 14:19 | 6.89
 10th | Bill Bonneau (W)        | 11 |  1 |  2 |   3 |  -4 |   4 |  18 |  5.6 | 13:25 | 6.82
 11th | Bruno Haley (F)         | 11 |  0 |  3 |   3 |  -1 |   4 |   7 |  0.0 |  9:21 | 6.64
 12th | Marc-Antoine Stone (C)* |  6 |  0 |  3 |   3 |  -4 |  10 |   8 |  0.0 |  9:13 | 6.83
 13th | Henrick Fehri (D)       | 12 |  1 |  1 |   2 |  +3 |  12 |   7 | 14.3 | 13:38 | 7.00
 14th | Serge Fournier (W)      | 11 |  1 |  1 |   2 |   0 |  17 |  10 | 10.0 |  8:32 | 7.09
 15th | Joel Balbino (RD)       | 11 |  0 |  2 |   2 |  +3 |   6 |  10 |  0.0 | 22:16 | 7.18
 16th | Patrik Rak (LD)         | 11 |  0 |  2 |   2 |   0 |   6 |   4 |  0.0 | 21:30 | 7.18
 17th | Roy Clayton (D)         |  6 |  0 |  2 |   2 |  +1 |  10 |  11 |  0.0 | 21:18 | 7.50
 18th | Victor Ekegren (LW/C)   |  5 |  1 |  0 |   1 |   0 |   6 |   8 | 12.5 |  7:47 | 7.40
 19th | Roman Sedlacek (D)*     |  1 |  0 |  1 |   1 |  +1 |   0 |   1 |  0.0 | 16:54 | 7.00
 20th | Airat Khudyakov (LD)    |  9 |  0 |  1 |   1 |  -3 |   0 |  10 |  0.0 | 22:28 | 7.00
 21st | Klas Sundqvist (LD)     |  7 |  0 |  1 |   1 |  +2 |   4 |  15 |  0.0 | 20:17 | 7.71
 22nd | Hartley Picard (C)*     |  7 |  0 |  1 |   1 |  -3 |  10 |   2 |  0.0 |  7:46 | 6.14
 23rd | Bill Komm (LD)*         |  3 |  0 |  0 |   0 |  +1 |   0 |   1 |  0.0 | 11:44 | 6.33
 24th | Lubomir Svetlik (G)     |  3 |  0 |  0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |  --- | 55:00 | 8.33
 25th | Vlastimil Korcok (G)    | 10 |  0 |  0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |  --- | 56:48 | 7.70
 26th | Nolan Gaudet (RW)       |  5 |  0 |  0 |   0 |   0 |   2 |   6 |  0.0 | 10:09 | 6.80
 27th | Juho Konttinen (RW)*    |  1 |  0 |  0 |   0 |   0 |   2 |   0 |  0.0 |  5:08 | 6.00

Goalie Stats:

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Regular Season Goalie Stats (* = not with team)

Rank  | Player                  | GP |  W |  L | OTL | Mins |  GA | GAA  | SV%   | AvR  | SO
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 1st  | Lubomir Svetlik         |  3 |  0 |  1 |   1 |  165 |   9 | 3.27 | 0.900 | 8.33 |  0
 2nd  | Vlastimil Korcok        | 10 |  4 |  4 |   2 |  568 |  31 | 3.27 | 0.890 | 7.70 |  0

Games:

Oct. 3: vs Boston - SOL 4-5 (0 W - 0 L - 1 OTL - 1 pt)
Oct. 6: at Toronto - W 3-1 (1 W - 0 L - 1 OTL - 3 pts)
Oct. 8: vs LA Kings - L 1-5 (1 W - 1 L - 1 OTL - 3 pts)
Oct. 11: at Winnipeg - SOL 3-4 (1 W - 1 L - 2 OTL - 4 pts)
Oct. 13: vs Nashville - L 1-3 (1 W - 2 L - 2 OTL - 5 pts)
Oct. 16: at Edmonton - L 2-6 (1 W - 3 L - 2 OTL - 6 pts)
Oct. 18: at Minnesota - W 4-1 (2 W - 3 L - 2 OTL - 8 pts)
Oct. 20: at Calgary - L 2-4 (2 W - 4 L - 2 OTL - 8 pts)
Oct. 23: vs Montreal - L 4-5 (2 W - 5 L - 2 OTL - 8 pts)
Oct. 25: at Montreal - W 5-4 (3 W - 5 L - 2 OTL - 10 pts)
Oct. 27: vs Pittsburgh - SOL 2-3 (3 W - 5 L - 3 OTL - 11 pts)
Oct. 30: vs Florida - W 4-3 (4 W - 5 L - 3 OTL - 13 pts)

Transactions:

Sept. 13: The Sabres sign 28 year old C Hartley Picard. He was a former 1st Round pick of the Edmonton Oilers in the 2015 NHL Draft. Unfortunately, he has not lived up to expectations, with only 75 games of NHL experience, all with the Florida Panthers, with 7 goals and 21 assists. He has spent most of his time in the AHL, scoring 78 goals and adding 118 assists in 295 games with the Oklahoma City Barons and San Antonio Rampage. The past three seasons, he played for the KHL's Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, scoring 45 goals and 76 assists for 121 points in 153 career games. He was named the Fan's Player of the Year for all three seasons. He was signed by the Rochester Americans before getting an invite to Sabres training camp and earning a 1 year, 1 way contract. (He was recently sent down to Rochester after clearing waivers)

Oct. 22: The Sabres sign 28 year old defenseman Itan Sauerto a 1 year, 1 way contract. Undrafted out of the NCAA with St. Lawrence University, Sauer has spent the majority of his career in the minors at the ECHL and AHL level. He has spent 3 plus seasons in the ECHL with Binghamton, Gwinnett, and Albany, with 18 goals and 32 assists in 156 games. He has also spent 3 seasons at the AHL level with Springfield, San Antonio, and Bridgeport, with 5 goals and 23 assists in 140 games.

Oct. 31: The Buffalo Sabres have acquired 29 year old RD Jordan Thomson from the St. Louis Blues for 21 year old RW Derek Stuart. Thomson has spent the past 4 seasons prior with Nurnberg in Germany's DEL and Farjestad in the Swedish second league. Originally a 2nd round pick by the Minnesota Wild in the 2014 Draft, he has spent time at the AHL level with Houston, Texas, and Peoria, and Idaho of the ECHL. Thomson will be used for depth at the NHL level as well as the AHL level if he can pass through waivers.

On the Farm:

AHL: Rochester Americans (9 GP - 3 W - 5 L - 1 OTL - 7 pts) - 6th in East DIvision

Leaders:

Goals: Tommy Wikner (7)
Assists: Darryl Brady (10)
Points: Darryl Brady (14)
Plus/Minus: Marcel Vrba (+6)
PIM: Bill Komm (31)

Wins: Daniel Lesko (2)
GAA: Daniel Lesko (3.15)
Shutouts: 0

ECHL: Gwinnett Gladiators (6 GP - 4 W - 1 L - 1 OTL - 9 pts) - 2nd in South Division

(No Sabres prospects)

Top Prospects:

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Rank | Name (Pos)                   | Age | Team (League)      | GP |  G |  A | PTS | +/- | PIM | AvR
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  1  | Marc-Antoine Stone (C)       |  19 | Tri-City (WHL)     |  4 |  3 |  4 |   7 |  +3 |   8 | 9.75
  2  | Louis-Etienne St. Pierre (F) |  18 | Shawinigan (QMJHL) | 18 |  4 | 17 |  21 |  +7 |   8 | 7.83
  3  | Vitezslav Sedlacek (D)       |  18 | Plymouth (OHL)     | 14 |  3 | 10 |  13 |  +5 |   8 | 7.86
  4  | Charles-Philippe McGlade (C) |  18 | Kingston (OHL)     | 13 |  6 |  5 |  11 |  +2 |  34 | 7.85
  5  | Roman Sedlacek (D)           |  18 | Rochester (AHL)    |  9 |  2 |  4 |   6 |  -1 |   4 | 7.00
  6  | Darryl Brady (LW/C)          |  20 | Rochester (AHL)    |  8 |  4 | 10 |  14 |  -4 |  10 | 7.88
  7  | Joel Balbino (RD)            |  21 | Buffalo (NHL)      | 11 |  0 |  2 |   2 |  +3 |   6 | 7.18
  8  | Boris Popikhin (D)           |  19 | SKA (KHL)          | 12 |  0 |  1 |   1 |   0 |  10 | 6.50
  9  | Jimmy Pageau (LD)            |  18 | Owen Sound (OHL)   | 14 |  1 |  4 |   5 | +11 |  31 | 7.36
  10 | Quentin Fougere (W)          |  19 | Vancouver (WHL)    | 15 |  9 | 14 |  23 |  +9 |  25 | 8.20
  11 | Andy Lehoux (RW)             |  19 | Halifax (QMJHL)    | 16 |  6 | 15 |  21 |  +5 |  16 | 7.56
  12 | Tony Leppanen (W)            |  20 | Rochester (AHL)    |  9 |  4 |  6 |  10 |   0 |   4 | 7.22

• Marc-Antoine Stone: He won the WHL Player of the Month award with only 4 games after returning to junior.
  Louis-Etienne St. Pierre: Tied for the team lead in points, and 19th overall.
  Vitezslav Sedlacek: The offensive defenseman is 3rd among OHL blueliners in scoring
  Charles-Philippe McGlade: Has started to pick it up after a slow start to the season. He's 3rd in icetime among forwards
  Roman Sedlacek: Adapting very well to North American hockey and even got a callup to the Sabres, getting an assist in his first NHL game
  Darryl Brady: The youngster is leading the Americans in scoring and getting top line minutes
  Joel Balbino: He's adapting well to the NHL pace, but needs to be durable. He's currently out 3 weeks with a hip flexor strain
  Boris Popikhin: It's always a challenge in any pro league as a teenager, but Popikhin is holding his own
  Jimmy Pageau: This 6 foot 2, 187 lbs bruising defenseman is doing his job well for the 2nd place Attack in the early season
  Quentin Fougere: The soon to be 20 year old (on November 21st) is 2nd in points for the Giants and 8th in the WHL
  Andy Lehoux: After a rough season last year, he's on pace to easily shatter last season's points total by the end of next month
  Tony Leppanen: The young Finn is performing well as the 1st-line RW for the Americans

Other Notables:

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Name (Pos)        | Age | Team (League)          | GP |  G |  A | PTS | +/- | PIM | AvR
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Bruce McInnis (F) |  18 | St. Cloud State (WCHA) | 10 |  4 |  4 |   8 |  +2 |  15 | 8.40
Bowen Voth (RW/C) |  18 | Plymouth (OHL)         | 14 | 12 |  9 |  21 |   0 |   2 | 8.00

• Bruce McInnis: He's getting a ton of playing time with St. Cloud State and the freshman is their leading scorer
  Bowen Voth: He hasn't slowed down at time in the past month, and he's 3rd in the OHL point totals.