News Sabres Team Notes

T. McGee’s GM For a Day – 2025 Offseason Edition

DBTB – Here’s my GM For A Day – the ’25 Off-season. Enjoy. And flame away in the comments section! FRONT OFFICE: Promote Kevyn Adams to President of Hockey Operations. Hire Dale Tallon away from Vancouver, make him Senior Advisor. Promote Jason Karmanos to General Manager. Hire Andrew Brunette as Assistant Coach in charge of offense (Ruff did well with him…

Source
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.diebytheblade.com/t-mcgees-gm-for-a-day-2025-offseason-edition/
 
2025 Buffalo Sabres Player Report Card: Connor Clifton

Total Season Stats: 1G, 15A | 16 PTS | -6 | 45 PIM Age: 30 Contract Status: Signed through 2025-26, $3.33 million AAV The biggest piece of what defenseman Connor Clifton brought to the Buffalo Sabres this season was his physical presence on the ice. We need only to look at the number of hits he threw (208) to realize how much of an impact he (literally) had on the opponent.

Source
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.diebytheblade.com/2025-buffalo-sabres-player-report-card-connor-clifton/
 
2025 Buffalo Sabres Player Report Card: JJ Peterka

Total Season Stats: GP 77, G 27, A 41, PTS 68 -1 Age: 23 Contract Status Ending 3 year deal, $855,834 per season, RFA Buffalo’s rising star is a wanted man. His services are being sought after through trade and possible offer sheets. He is due for a new contract and his new deal will be a major bump up in pay. He has earned it. JJ Peterka had himself quite a season for the Buffalo…

Source
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.diebytheblade.com/2025-buffalo-sabres-player-report-card-jj-peterka/
 
Buffalo Sabres Hire Jarmo Kekalainen

On Friday morning, the Buffalo Sabres announced the hiring of Jarmo Kekäläinen as a senior advisor. Per the team’s announcement, Kekäläinen will report to Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams and be involved in all areas of the hockey department. Kekäläinen, 58, became the first European general manager in NHL history when he was hired by the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2013, but his time in the…

Source
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.diebytheblade.com/buffalo-sabres-hire-jarmo-kekalainen/
 
2025 Buffalo Sabres Player Report Card: Owen Power

Total Season Stats: GP 79, G 7, A 33, PTS 40 -13 Age: 22 Contract Status: 7 year contract, $8,350,000 cap hit, UFA in 2031 Owen Power finished the 24-25 season for Buffalo with career highs in goals, assists and points. He also finished the season out of the lineup with injury. Owen missed the last 3 games and it was speculated he would need surgery. The good news is he will not.

Source
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.diebytheblade.com/2025-buffalo-sabres-player-report-card-owen-power/
 
2025 Buffalo Sabres Player Report Card: Mattias Samuelsson

Total Season Stats: 4-10-14 in 62 Games Age: 25 Contract Status: Signed through 2030 – 4.286 Mil Cap Hit Samuelsson had established himself as the defensive compliment to Dahlin’s offensive game on the top pair in previous seasons. His biggest struggle has been to stay healthy. There was optimism going into this season with Samuelsson receiving an “A” and a new coach preaching…

Source
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.diebytheblade.com/2025-buffalo-sabres-player-report-card-mattias-samuelsson/
 
Stanley Cup Final Open Thread – Wk of 6/2

Looks like this is the year of the threes. The Atlantic Division’s third ranked team and also Stanley Cup defending champions Florida Panthers have scrapped their way back to the Final for the third straight year, where they will take on the Pacific Division’s third placed side Edmonton Oilers in a repeat of last season’s Final where the Panthers beat the Oilers 4-3 after jumping into a three-game…

Source
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.diebytheblade.com/stanley-cup-final-open-thread-wk-of-6-2/
 
2025 Buffalo Sabres Player Report Card: Sam Lafferty

Total Season Stats: 4 G, 3 A, 7 pts, -15 in 60 games Age: 30 Contract Status: Signed – going into second year of two-year, $4 million contract signed in August 2023 Sam Lafferty was added to the Sabres roster as a bottom six forward that could possibly help shore up the team defense and chip in with a few valuable points. The long and short of it is that he didn’t.

Source
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.diebytheblade.com/2025-buffalo-sabres-player-report-card-sam-lafferty/
 
Really? Is the NHL Looking to Expand Even More?

Let me get this out of the way early. As far as I’m concerned, the NHL is fine as it is right now. It took years to get the league balanced. Eight teams in every division, sixteen per conference and a nice even thirty two teams in the NHL. Hockey now matches the NFL for having the most teams in their respective leagues. Major League Baseball and the NBA have thirty teams each. Now, as most know…

Source
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.diebytheblade.com/really-is-the-nhl-looking-to-expand-even-more/
 
T. McGee’s Mock NHL Draft

DBTB – We’re back everyone, and less than a month away from the Draft, it’s getting down to the wire. I’ll have one more Mock Draft with over-agers included, as well as a final Big Board for those of you who are interested to follow along with on Draft Day. Hope everyone is doing great and looking forward to a productive Draft weekend! Let’s get into it. About a month ago…

Source
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.diebytheblade.com/t-mcgees-mock-nhl-draft/
 
Jedi Council

The Buffalo Sabres enter the 2025 NHL draft deep into a 14 year playoff drought with frustration galore to go around. Real progression was expected last season for this club, instead they fell on their face again. Somehow, someway the coaching staff still remains (especially the assistants) as does GM Kevyn Adams. Buffalo did add to their staff though, as Jarmo Kekäläinen was hired as senior…

Source
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.diebytheblade.com/jedi-council-7/
 
Florida Panthers Win Back to Back Stanley Cups

The juggernaut that is the Florida Panthers made it look fairly easy. Once again they defeated Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers in the Finals. It’s been 32 years since a team in Canada last lifted the Stanley Cup. Florida is crafted as a near unstoppable team, built for playoff hockey. They could easily make a run at it again next year. They have the perfect blend of skill, scoring…

Source
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.diebytheblade.com/florida-panthers-win-back-to-back-stanley-cups/
 
What is JJ Peterka’s trade value?

A number of Buffalo Sabres’ names have come up in recent weeks as being possible trade bait, or rumored to be dissatisfied with the direction the franchise is taking given that they own one of the longest ever playoff droughts in modern hockey. The latest to hit the rumor mill is forward JJ Peterka, who despite the general malaise among the Sabres, put together a tidy season with 27 goals…

Source
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.diebytheblade.com/what-is-jj-peterkas-trade-value/
 
2025 NHL Draft Week Open Thread

The 2024-25 season is now officially over, and once again the Buffalo Sabres watched the postseason fun from the outside, making it the longest playoff drought in NHL history at 14 seasons. Still, if you want some straws to clutch at, the current NHL darlings Florida Panthers who have now made three straight Stanley Cup Final appearances winning the last two also went through an eleven-year…

Source
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.diebytheblade.com/2025-nhl-draft-week-open-thread/
 
Sabres trade Peterka to Utah for Kesselring & Doan

With how emphatic Buffalo Sabres General Manager Kevyn Adams sounded about winger JJ Peterka’s future in his media availability earlier on Wednesday, you knew it was a matter of time before the forward was shipped out. That trade and trade partner were confirmed just before midnight when news broke that the 23-year-old was going to the Utah Mammoth, with right-handed defenseman Michael…

Source
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.diebytheblade.com/sabres-trade-peterka-to-utah-for-kesselring-doan/
 
Thoughts on the Peterka Trade to Utah

Late Wednesday night the Buffalo Sabres dealt seemingly disgruntled forward JJ Peterka to the Utah Mammoth. In some inner circles it was believed to be his agent in his ear behind all of this. Either way, Peterka is gone now and joins a growing list of players to have left Buffalo. A sad reality until this team starts winning again. In return, Buffalo has acquired Michael Kesselring…

Source
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.diebytheblade.com/thoughts-on-the-peterka-trade-to-utah/
 
Buffalo Sabres Trade Connor Clifton & Draft Pick to Pittsburgh Penguins

The Buffalo Sabres opened Saturday’s second round of the NHL draft with a trade, sending defenseman Connor Clifton and the 39th overall pick to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for defensemen Conor Timmins and Isaac Belliveau. Timmins, 26 (6′ 2″, 214lbs) is a pending restricted free agent. His previous cap hit was $1.1 million. This past season, the St. Catharines…

Source
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.diebytheblade.com/buffalo-sabres-trade-connor-clifton-draft-pick/
 
2025 NHL Draft – How To Watch, Draft Order & Rounds 2-7 Open Thread

On Friday night, the Buffalo Sabres selected defenseman Radim Mrtka with the ninth overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft. Other than that, it was a pretty quiet night for the Sabres – and in general. There were a handful of trades involving draft picks, but other than that, the four-hour-long affair from Los Angeles was relatively uneventful. The NHL Draft resumes on Saturday at 12 noon.

Source
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.diebytheblade.com/2025-nhl-draft-how-to-watch-draft-order-rounds-2-7-open-thread/
 
Buffalo Sabres Don’t Sleep on Bedkowski

The Buffalo Sabres ticked me off on Saturday, dealing away their 2nd round draft pick. Especially with several 1st round level players still on the board. Big, physical hockey players who play with an edge – that was the theme of Buffalo’s drafting this year. They had a primo opportunity to grab one of the best available. Alas, they made a deal with Pittsburgh instead that hopefully works out for…

Source
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.diebytheblade.com/buffalo-sabres-dont-sleep-on-bedkowski/
 
2025 NHL Free Agency Open Thread

We’re at a very interesting juncture of the off-season with the 2025 NHL Entry Draft now behind us and NHL Free Agency coming up. Free agency begins on Tuesday at noon ET with the NHL salary cap increasing $7.5 million to $95.5 million next season. That’s the largest season-to-season jump since the salary cap was implemented in 2005, giving teams more money to spend to upgrade their rosters.

Source
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.diebytheblade.com/2025-nhl-free-agency-open-thread/
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top