7/15: The team has officially announced the signing. Baptiste will carry a $787.5K cap hit at the NHL level and will be paid $70K in the minor leagues.
7/14: The Buffalo Sabres have signed restricted free agent Nicholas Baptiste to a one-year, two-way contract, according to TVA’s Renaud Lavoie. The 22-year-old winger will make $788K next season.
Baptiste has developed nicely in the Sabres’ system as he scored 25 goals with the Rochester Americans of the AHL in the 2016-17 season and followed that up by splitting time between Rochester and Buffalo this year. With injuries hampering the Sabres’ squad, Baptiste was able to get into 33 games this past season, putting up four goals and six points in limited time. Playing in a bottom-six role, he averaged just 9:58 of ATOI.
At 6-foot-1, 205 pounds, the forward has both the size and speed to be a solid player, but has struggled to put it all together at the NHL level as he has received some time at the top-six. The team may be looking at Baptiste as either a trade chip or more of a permanent bottom-six rotation player, but he will get one more year to prove that he can take that next step in Buffalo. That might be more challenging with the Sabres’ adding more talent this season, including some veterans like Patrik Berglund and Vladimir Sobotka, which could force Baptiste back to Buffalo.