BUFFALO, N.Y. (June 26, 2017) — The Buffalo Sabres today announced the team has tendered a qualifying offer to the following restricted free agents:
Forwards Marcus Foligno, Zemgus Girgensons, Johan Larsson, Evan Rodrigues; defenseman Nathan Beaulieu; goaltender Robin Lehner.
Posted in News Release
Tagged Evan Rodrigues, Johan Larsson, Marcus Foligno, Nathan Beaulieu, Robin Lehner, Zemgus Girgensons
BUFFALO, N.Y. (June 26, 2017) — The Buffalo Sabres today announced the team has signed defenseman Taylor Fedun to a two-year, two-way contract.
Fedun (6’1”, 198 lbs., 6/4/1988) appeared in 27 games with the Sabres last season, recording a career-high seven points (0+7) and a team-best plus-3 rating. He also led Sabres defensemen in assists per 60 (1.16) and his 5-on-5 shot attempts percentage (53.7%) ranked 23rd among all NHL defensemen with more than five games played in 2016-17.
The Edmonton, Alberta native also appeared in 29 AHL games for the Rochester Americans last season, totaling 23 points (5+18). His career-best .79 points per game were the most by an Amerks defenseman and ranked Fedun ninth among all AHL blueliners with at least five games played.
Through parts of four NHL seasons, Fedun has totaled 14 points (2+12) and a plus-3 rating. In 292 regular-season games throughout his five AHL seasons, he has recorded 155 points (37+118) and a plus-24 rating, adding eight points (4+4) in 28 playoff games.
BUFFALO, N.Y. (June 26, 2017) — The Buffalo Sabres today announced that General Manager Jason Botterill has hired Randy Sexton and Steve Greeley to serve as the team’s assistant general managers. Sexton will also serve as general manager of the Rochester Americans (AHL).
“Randy and I developed a positive working relationship during our time in Pittsburgh and I think his experience and insight will be advantageous for our front office,” said Sabres General Manager Jason Botterill. “In Steve, we have hired a talented hockey executive who will offer unique insight to our organization. They both have experience at all levels of the game and we think they will be valuable assets for the Buffalo Sabres moving forward.”
Sexton spent the last seven seasons with the Pittsburgh Penguins’ scouting department after joining the team as assistant director of amateur scouting in 2010-11, including the last two seasons as the team’s director of amateur scouting. In this role, he oversaw the team’s amateur scouting operations in North America and Europe.
Prior to his time with the Penguins, Sexton logged several years of NHL front office experience in stints with the Ottawa Senators (1990 to 1995) and the Florida Panthers (2007 to 2010). As one of the Senators’ founders, he was instrumental in helping to bring an NHL team back to Ottawa, eventually serving as the club’s president, chief executive officer and general manager during his time with the team. He served as assistant general manager for the Panthers for two seasons before being promoted to general manager in February 2009.
Greeley comes to the Sabres after two seasons as the assistant director of player personnel with the New York Rangers. Before his tenure with the Rangers, Greeley spent two seasons as an associate coach at Boston University, where he played a vital role in the school’s recruiting process. Greeley also spent seven seasons (2006-07 to 2012-13) in the scouting department for the Los Angeles Kings and served as a regional scout for the U.S. National Team Development Program from 2009 to 2012.
Mark Jakubowski, who has served as the Sabres’ assistant general manager since the 2014-15 season, will become the team’s vice president of hockey administration.
BUFFALO, N.Y. (June 24, 2017) — The Buffalo Sabres today announced the team’s schedule for its annual summer development camp from July 8 to 11. All on-ice sessions will be held at HarborCenter.
On-ice camp sessions throughout the week will be free and open to the public. The French Connection Tournament, an intra-squad 3-on-3 tournament, will highlight the final day of camp on Tuesday, July 11 beginning at 9:15 a.m.
The camp will feature current Sabres prospects, including several of the players selected at the 2017 NHL Draft. Attendees will take part in both on-ice and off-ice workouts.
The goals of the camp are to introduce prospective players to professional work habits and organizational standards. The players will have an opportunity to become familiar with the team and the resources available to them through the Sabres development staff and the performance team.
The full schedule of on-ice workouts open to the public at HarborCenter is below. All times are subject to change and any updates will be posted at Sabres.com.
| Sat., July 8 | 2 to 3:30 p.m. |
| 4 to 5:30 p.m. | |
| Sun., July 9 | 10 to 11:15 a.m. |
| 2 to 3:15 p.m. | |
| Mon., July 10 | 10:30 to 11:45 a.m. |
| 1:45 to 3:00 p.m. | |
| Tue., July 11 | French Connection Tournament: 9:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. |
Posted in News Release
CHICAGO (June 24, 2017) — The Buffalo Sabres selected five players on the second day of the 2017 NHL Draft at United Center in Chicago. These five selections join Buffalo’s first-round pick, forward Casey Mittelstadt, to complete the team’s 2017 draft class, which includes three forwards, two defensemen and a goaltender.
With the team’s first pick of the second day, the Sabres selected forward Marcus Davidsson (6’0”, 191 lbs., 11/18/1998) in the second round (37th overall). Ranked 12th among draft-eligible European skaters by NHL Central Scouting, the Huddinge, Sweden native recorded nine points (5+4) in 45 games with Djurgardens in Sweden’s top professional league last season. He added 10 points (6+4) in nine games with Djurgardens’ junior team in 2016-17, one year after earning the league’s playoff MVP honors while helping lead the club to a championship.
The Sabres used their other second-round pick (54th overall) to select the second goaltender of the draft. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (6’4”, 198 lbs., 3/9/1999) finished the season as NHL Central Scouting’s top-ranked European goaltender after backstopping HPK (Finland Jr.) to a championship with the league’s best goals-against average in both the regular season (1.78) and the postseason (2.01).
Buffalo chose defensemen with their next two picks, first going back to the Finnish junior league with the team’s third-round selection (89th overall), defenseman Oskari Laaksonen (6’1”, 165 lbs., 7/2/1999). Laaksonen appeared in his first season in Finland’s top junior league in 2016-17, recording nine points (6+3) and a plus-9 rating in 27 games for Ilves. He added 10 assists in 10 games during his second campaign with the Ilves Jr. B team.
With their fourth-round pick (99th overall), the Sabres chose defenseman Jacob Bryson (5’8”, 178 lbs., 11/18/1997). In his freshman season in 2016-17 at Providence College, Bryson ranked third among all Hockey East rookie defenseman with 20 points and ranked sixth among all NCAA rookie defensemen with 17 assists. Prior to joining the Friars, the London, Ontario native led all Omaha Lancers (USHL) defensemen with 31 points (3+28) in 2015-16, earning USHL All-Rookie First Team honors.
The Sabres rounded out the draft with forward Linus Weissbach (5’8”, 161 lbs., 4/19/1998). Weissbach led the Tri-City Storm (USHL) in goals (19), assists (28) and points (47) in his first North American season in 2016-17, one year after ranking third in Sweden’s top junior league with 31 assists and 48 points as a member of Frölunda. Weissbach has committed to the University of Wisconsin for the 2017-18 season.
Buffalo Sabres 2017 Draft Class:
Round (Overall) – Player (Pos.) / 2016-17 Team
1 (8) – Casey Mittelstadt (C) / Eden Prairie, Minn. H.S.
2 (37) – Marcus Davidsson (C) / Djurgardens, Sweden
2 (54) – Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (G) / HPK, Finland (Jr.)
3 (89) – Oskari Laaksonen (D) / Ilves, Finland (Jr.)
4 (99) – Jacob Bryson (D) / Providence, NCAA – Hockey East
7 (192) – Linus Weissbach (LW) / Tri-City, USHL
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Tagged Jacob Bryson, Linus Weissbach, Marcus Davidsson, Oskari Laaksonen, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen
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