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Winnipeg Jets Sign Colby Barlow To ELC

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The Winnipeg Jets took care of some business today as they announced that they’ve signed 2023 first-round pick Colby Barlow to a three-year entry-level deal. Barlow was drafted 18th overall back in June out of the OHL after he captained the Owen Sound Attack last season. The native of Orillia, Ontario had good numbers as a winger last season with the Attack registering 46 goals and 33 assists in 59 games. In two seasons in the OHL with the Attack, Barlow has 76 goals and 50 assists in 118 games.

On top of his short, but successful OHL career, Barlow has also seen a lot of success internationally. In 2022, Barlow helped the Canadians win gold at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup as well as a bronze medal at the 2023 IIHF U18 World Championship.

Barlow’s ELC will pay him an NHL salary of $950K to go along with a signing bonus that will be paid out in three-year installments of $95K. He will carry an annual cap hit of $1.2MM at the NHL level, and should he play in the minors, he would receive a salary of $82,500.

It’s unlikely that Barlow will make the Jets out of training camp, but he’s done enough to earn his first NHL contract and can hang his hat on that should he be sent back to the OHL for more seasoning.

Latest On The Jake DeBrusk Contract Situation

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Ty Anderson of 98.5 The Sports Hub wrote the latest on the Boston Bruins contract negotiations with pending unrestricted free agent forward Jake DeBrusk. Bruins General Manager Don Sweeney spoke with the media today and did little to hide the fact that the Bruins would like to re-sign the 26-year-old to a long-term contract extension.

Sweeney told reporters that the club would like to see DeBrusk remain with the Bruins and will continue to engage with him and his agent in hopes of finding common ground on an extension. The Bruins are tight to the cap for this upcoming season but at the moment are slated to have $28.5MM available in cap space (CapFriendly) next summer before any cap increases. Sweeney’s comments echo what DeBrusk told NHL.com Staff Writer Derek Van Diest back in August when he said he would like to remain in Boston long-term.

Given where both sides appear to be it seems likely that a deal can be reached, which would take one item off Boston’s to-do list over the next year. The Bruins will enter this season with tempered expectations after winning the President’s Trophy last season and suffering a historical upset at the hands of the Florida Panthers. Boston lost a lot of pieces to free agency and retirement and will have far less depth than they did last year.

The DeBrusk situation could have a happy ending after the relationship between the player and the club appeared rocky just a short time ago. Back in November of 2021, DeBrusk was benched by former Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy, and this prompted DeBrusk to request a trade. He eventually rescinded his trade request and had a terrific bounce-back last season posting 27 goals and 23 assists in 64 games.

Snapshots: Romanov, Mikheyev, Benoit

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New York Islanders defender Alexander Romanov was skating with the team’s first group as they started their training camp. This is a breath of fresh air after Romanov was announced as questionable for the start of camp, following shoulder surgery this summer. Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello recently expressed caution with Romanov’s injury, quipping, “We will be as cautious as we can… if it were up to [Romanov], he’d play with two broken legs.”

The 23-year-old Romanov played in his third NHL season last year, his first with New York. He netted 22 points in 76 games with the Islanders, bringing his career totals up to 41 points through 209 games. New York acquired Romanov in a high-profile trade that sent the 13th overall selection in the 2022 NHL Draft to Montreal in exchange for Romanov and a fourth-round pick. Montreal then sent 13th overall and a third-round pick to the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for Kirby Dach. The Blackhawks would go on to select Frank Nazar and Gavin Hayes with their respective selections, while the Islanders brought in Isaiah George with the fourth-round pick they received from Montreal.

Other notes from around the league:

  • The Vancouver Canucks announced that Ilya Mikheyev has left training camp for personal reasons. The Canucks acquired Mikheyev in advance of last season. He scored 13 goals and 28 points in 46 games with the club, although an ACL injury ended his season early. While his departure from camp doesn’t seem connected to that injury, it does add to the anticipation that Canucks fans face in waiting for Mikheyev’s return.
  • Toronto Maple Leafs defender Simon Benoit missed the team’s start to training camp, suffering from back spasms. The team signed the 25-year-old to a one-year, one-way contract this summer. No further details have been provided on how long Benoit may be out or what impacts it may have on how Toronto organizes its NHL and AHL rosters.

Injury Notes: Wideman, Kylington, Norris

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The Montreal Canadiens announced that defenseman Chris Wideman will be out indefinitely with a back injury. No further details have been provided.

This news comes as Montreal opens up its training camp with plenty of question marks surrounding its blue line. Including David Reinbacher, the Canadiens have nine different defenders competing for an NHL role. With Wideman out, the competition opens up more to young defenders like Justin Barron, Kaiden Guhle, and Jordan Harris. But without details of what’s holding Wideman out, it’s unclear how long those roster spots will remain open. Wideman is on the second year of a two-year contract signed last summer, carrying a cap hit of $762.5K into the 2023-24 season.

Other injury notes:

  • The Calgary Flames announced that the team’s medical and fitness testing determined that defender Oliver Kylington is unable to participate in the opening day of training camp. No further details were provided, in an effort to maintain Kylington’s privacy. The defender appeared in a career-high 73 games in 2021-22, recording nine goals and 31 points.
  • Ottawa Senators forward Joshua Norris was seen wearing a non-contact jersey as the team opened camp. The forward has been rehabbing from shoulder surgery in January and reportedly “tweaked” something at a recent team practice. General manager Pierre Dorion said that Norris pushed off wanting to wear a non-contact jersey but the team wants to be extra cautious. However, Dorion also shared that if the regular season started tomorrow, Norris would be in the starting lineup. That’s encouraging to hear, as Norris was held out of all but eight games last season, after recording 35 goals and 55 points in 66 games during the 2021-22 campaign. Norris will likely slot into the Senators’ top-six when they open up the regular season, although continuing to see how he progresses from this shoulder injury will be worth monitoring.

Sabres Notes: Savoie, Dahlin and Power, Quinn

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In a recent interview, Buffalo Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams said that Matthew Savoie is considered week-to-week with a left shoulder injury. This timeline puts Savoie at risk of missing the entirety of training camp, although Adams did mention there’s a chance that Savoie will be back before camp closes.

Either way, this is a tough blow for a player that many felt could break into the NHL lineup. Buffalo drafted Savoie ninth overall in the 2022 NHL Draft. As an encore to his strong draft year, Savoie put up 38 goals and 95 points in 62 WHL games last season, adding an additional 29 points in 19 playoff games. His regular season scoring ranked seventh in the league in total points and sixth in points per game. Now 19, there’s reason to question whether Savoie would benefit from another year in the WHL. To this end, the Sabres tried to petition the juniors league to provide Savoie with the same CHL exemption that Shane Wright recently received, although Buffalo isn’t optimistic that Savoie will receive it. With injury holding him out of the bulk of camp, it will be interesting to see where Savoie ends up this season.

Other Sabres Notes:

  • Adams also spoke to the intensifying contract negotiations the team is having with star defenders Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power. Buffalo News’ Lance Lysowski recently shared that Buffalo may have Dahlin inked to a long-term extension before the regular season begins, although the negotiations with Power seem to be a new development. The former first-overall pick will become a free agent next summer, although Buffalo will have exclusive negotiation rights as Power hasn’t accrued enough games to earn full RFA status. That certainly gives the team a leg up in talks, something that could be helpful, as Lysowski mentions the likelihood of Power signing a bridge deal to make room for Dahlin’s extension.
  • Adams also provided an update on Jack Quinn’s injury status, sharing that the winger is progressing well from his rehab but there is still a lot of work to be done before he’s fully back to action. Quinn ruptured his Achilles tendon and underwent surgery in June of this year. He was listed as being out for four to six months following the surgery, so it seems Quinn is progressing as expected. Quinn scored 14 goals and 37 points in 75 games last season, his rookie year in the NHL.

Buffalo Sabres Showing Interest In Patrick Kane

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Since it became apparent Patrick Kane would hit the free agent market this summer, speculation immediately turned toward him joining the up-and-coming Buffalo Sabres. After all, they are his hometown team, and without a return to either the Chicago Blackhawks or the New York Rangers due to cap constraints in the cards, it seemed like a logical option.

However, throughout the summer, multiple teams were mentioned as having shown interest in one of the greatest American wingers of all time, including teams such as the Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars and New York Islanders. Buffalo’s name never truly came up outside of pure speculation – until today. TSN’s Darren Dreger reports that as Kane nears recovery from offseason hip surgery, the Sabres do indeed have interest in adding him to their roster.

Dreger added that Kane’s rehab is going well and that he continues to train in Toronto, as he’s been doing for the past two months. He’s not expected to be ready for opening night should a team sign him before then, however, and requires at least another month before he’s ready to play. That’s still just a four-month recovery window from when he had the surgery in June, certainly on the short end of his timeline.

While Colorado always seemed like a natural fit given their vacancy in the top six left by captain Gabriel Landeskog’s injury, they decided earlier this month they weren’t willing to wait around for Kane to get healthy. They used most of their remaining LTIR relief from Landeskog to sign Slovak winger Tomas Tatar to a one-year deal, all but eliminating them from the running for Kane. Detroit had also been mentioned as a possible destination in some circles, but that had to do with Kane’s interest in playing there – not the other way around.

It leaves Buffalo as the only apparent option with a demonstrated interest in Kane that makes much sense. While the team is certainly of the mind to prioritize ice time for their young talent, the early-season absence of Jack Quinn will leave a noticeable void in the team’s top nine that could very well hamstring them out of the gate in a tough Atlantic Division. Banking on March trade acquisition Jordan Greenway to recoup much of Quinn’s lost value would be an unwise move given his own recent injury history and poor possession metrics.

Buffalo certainly has the cap space to make a deal work with $8.78MM in projected space remaining, per CapFriendly. It’s unlikely a short-term deal for Kane would cost anywhere close to that amount.

It’s also unlikely head coach Don Granato would consider breaking up the team’s top line of Jeff Skinner, Tage Thompson and Alex Tuch, which appears well on its way to being one of the best three-man units in the sport. He could, however, slide into a second-line role alongside Dylan Cozens and Casey Mittelstadt, which would allow Buffalo to drop Victor Olofsson down to a third-line spot – his ideal role at even strength. While skilled, he’s widely viewed as too much of a defensive liability to serve in a contending team’s top six.

The same could easily be said for Kane, although it remains to be seen how his hip procedure could impact his play for better or for worse. Kane has never been a dominant possession force, but his play-driving at both ends of the rink at even strength has ranked near the very bottom of the league for the last three seasons. That’s not to discount his skill fundamentals and power-play ability, which both remain well above average even as he enters his mid-30s.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Colorado Avalanche Sign Brandon Kozun To PTO

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The Colorado Avalanche have signed former Toronto Maple Leafs forward Brandon Kozun to a PTO, according to their training camp roster released yesterday. Kozun replaces Saku Maenalanen in camp, who Colorado released from his PTO yesterday after failing his physical.

Even diehard NHL fans might have a hard time remembering Kozun, a 2009 sixth-round pick of the Los Angeles Kings who eventually got his NHL shot with the Maple Leafs for 20 games in the 2014-15 season. A member of the now-forgotten pre-Auston Matthews era of Leafs hockey, the 5-foot-8 winger departed for Europe immediately after making his NHL debut, where he’s remained ever since.

Over the past eight seasons, Kozun has played exclusively in the KHL aside from the 2021-22 campaign, spent with the Swiss National League’s HC Ambrì-Piotta. He’s been rather productive in the process, recording 257 points in 347 games across stints with Jokerit Helsinki, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, Metallurg Magnitogorsk, and Dinamo Minsk. Kozun was, at one point, one of the best North American skaters playing overseas – translating into an Olympic appearance for Team Canada at the 2018 Winter Olympics. There, he recorded two assists in five games.

Given that track record, although his production has begun to trail off slightly at age 33, there’s a decent shot of him earning a contract with AHL Colorado at a minimum. The team is a little short on veteran depth for their minor-league affiliate, especially with the news that offseason signing Chris Wagner will be out through the new year after sustaining an Achilles injury this summer.

It’s likely unreasonable to expect him to turn this PTO into adding to his career NHL games played total, but stranger things have happened, and the Avalanche are quickly garnering a reputation as an injury-prone squad. Kozun is coming off a 2022-23 campaign in which he captained Minsk and recorded 24 points in 41 games. Despite his size, he does play with an edge and is a skilled passer.

Metropolitan Notes: Werenski, Danforth, Atkinson, Couturier, Mete, Arvanitis

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With training camps opening today for most teams, a few squads made some paper moves last night to properly represent players’ statuses heading into 2023-24. One of them was the Columbus Blue Jackets, who officially activated star defenseman Zach Werenski from injured reserve, according to CapFriendly. The move ends a more than ten-month stint on the injured list and clears the path for Werenski to resume his role as the team’s top defender on opening night.

Really, Werenski’s injury was incredibly symbolic for the Blue Jackets last season. A team with some promise after flashy offseason moves, like bringing in free agent prize Johnny Gaudreau, needed everything to go right to be competitive in the Eastern Conference. But a shoulder injury sustained just 13 games into the season would end Werenski’s campaign – during a game that also saw young defender Nick Blankenburg sustain an ankle injury that kept him out long-term. Adam Boqvist had gone down with a foot injury not too much earlier, and before long, Jake Bean joined the trio on the injured list with a season-ending shoulder injury – meaning Columbus had lost four of their top six defensemen to start the campaign within the season’s first 16 games. After a similarly flashy summer regarding player acquisitions, Werenski and the other Blue Jackets will look to avoid the same horrid injury luck.

Elsewhere in the Metropolitan Division this morning:

  • Columbus also took forward Justin Danforth off injured reserve, who played just six games last season before a shoulder injury ended his campaign. The 5-foot-9 winger had gotten off to a great start during his second season in Columbus, registering two goals and an assist through five contests and even sliding up into the top six at points. The 30-year-old, a pending UFA with a $975K cap hit, could be on the outside looking in for a roster spot, however. The team needs spots in the lineup for younger forwards like Yegor Chinakhov, Adam Fantilli, Alexandre Texier, and, likely, Russian rookie Dmitri Voronkov after a strong KHL season in 2022-23.
  • The Philadelphia Flyers made similar paper moves, per CapFriendly, activating forwards Cam Atkinson, Sean Couturier and defenseman Victor Mete off injured reserve. Both Atkinson and Couturier missed the entirety of 2022-23 due to upper-body and back injuries, respectively. The Flyers’ front office has said repeatedly throughout the summer that they expected both players back at full health for the start of the upcoming season. Mete, a July free agent signing, played just 17 games between the NHL and AHL last season with Toronto before a lower-body injury shut him down for the season in early December.
  • The New York Rangers have signed goaltender Brad Arvanitis to a PTO, according to a team announcement on X. He’ll be in camp as an extra body with an ECHL contract already secured with the Maine Mariners, the Boston Bruins’ affiliate, for next season. Arvanitis, 26, actually spent the majority of last season playing in the Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL), a league technically one rung below the ECHL but carries no direct NHL affiliation. However, SPHL teams often serve as a source of reserve players for ECHL squads, and the two leagues will often loan players to each other throughout the season. In his first full professional season after finishing his collegiate career at Division III school Babson College, Arvanitis posted a .919 save percentage, 2.71 goals-against average and a 9-6-2 record in 20 appearances with the SPHL’s Pensacola Ice Flyers.

Avalanche Notes: Toews, Cogliano, Manson, Wagner, Maenalanen

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Avalanche defenseman Devon Toews told reporters including Bennett Durando of The Denver Post that the two sides had some discussions about a possible contract extension.  The 29-year-old has dominated over the past two seasons, reaching the 50-point mark both times while logging over 25 minutes a night.  That’s the type of stat line for a number one defenseman but Toews is being paid nowhere near there with the AAV on his expiring deal checking in at $4.1MM; it wouldn’t be surprising to see him double that on a long-term contract.  Toews also made it known that his desire is to remain with Colorado but with the big-ticket deals they have on the books and Mikko Rantanen being UFA-eligible in 2025, it remains to be seen if they’ll be able to accommodate Toews’ preference.

More from Colorado:

  • Forward Andrew Cogliano will take part in training camp but is unlikely to suit up in the preseason, relays NHL.com’s Ryan Boulding (Twitter thread). He suffered a fractured vertebra in the playoffs against Seattle and it stands to reason that the Avs will opt to be careful with the 36-year-old who signed a one-year, $825K deal with them earlier this offseason.
  • Over the weekend, head coach Jared Bednar indicated that the expectation for defenseman Josh Manson would be that he’d be ready for the start of camp. While he’ll be able to meet that timeline, Bednar told Boulding that Manson is dealing with a lower-body injury and won’t be 100% recovered.  The 31-year-old battled injuries last season and was limited to just 27 games where he had 10 points but was limited to just 17:41 per game, a career low.
  • Offseason signing Chris Wagner won’t be able to push for a roster spot after all as Bednar told Boulding that the forward ruptured his Achilles tendon and will be out until sometime in 2024. The 32-year-old has 360 career NHL games under his belt and could have fit in on a new-look fourth line but instead, he’ll miss at least the first half of the season.
  • Saku Maenalanen was supposed to push for a roster spot while playing on a PTO but Peter Baugh of The Athletic relays (Twitter link) that the winger failed his physical and has been released from his deal. The 29-year-old had 10 points in 64 games with Winnipeg last season and will now look to catch on elsewhere.  Peter Holland and Joel Kiviranta are the remaining PTO forwards that will be aiming to secure a contract with the Avalanche.

Salary Cap Deep Dive: Buffalo Sabres

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Navigating the salary cap is one of the more important tasks for any GM.  Teams that can avoid total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful.  Those that don’t see struggles and front office changes.

PHR will look at every NHL team and give a thorough look at their cap situation heading into the 2023-24 season.  This will focus more on players who are regulars on the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL.  All cap figures are courtesy of CapFriendly.

Buffalo Sabres

Current Cap Hit: $74,723,570 (under the $83.5MM Upper Limit)

Entry-Level Contracts

F Peyton Krebs (one year, $863K)
G Devon Levi (two years, $925K)
F John-Jason Peterka (two years, $856K)
D Owen Power (one year, $916K)
F Jack Quinn (two years, $863K)

Potential Bonuses
Krebs: $412.5K
Levi: $925K
Peterka: $32.5K
Power: $1.85MM
Quinn: $850K
Total: $4.07MM

Krebs locked down a regular spot in Buffalo’s lineup last season but saw his per-game production drop along the way, failing to crack the double-digit goal mark in the process.  He’s still an important part of their future but unless he can jump into an impact role this year, a bridge deal around the $2MM mark looks like his likely outcome while he’s unlikely to hit his ‘A’ bonuses.  Quinn, on the other hand, already saw some top-six time last season and should get back to that role once he recovers from surgery.  If he gets into the 25-30-goal range, he’s a candidate to go for a long-term contract right away.  The injury will make it difficult for him to max on his four ‘A’ bonuses.

Peterka’s first full NHL campaign was a strong one given what was a bit of a limited role.  He doesn’t necessarily profile as the type of player who the Sabres would want to bypass a bridge deal with but again, if he can lock down a full-time top-six spot over the next two years, it’s possible he plays himself into that core role.  Peterka’s bonuses are of the games-played variety and as long as he stays healthy, he’ll hit them.

Power made his presence felt in his first full NHL season in 2022-23.  He logged nearly 24 minutes a night, seeing tough minutes in all situations.  He only scored four goals but added 31 assists, demonstrating that there is plenty of upside at that end of the rink.  The 2021 first-overall selection is extension-eligible now and GM Kevyn Adams has indicated a desire to get an early extension done.  Those contracts are rarely bridge agreements so a long-term pact will be coming his way.  The eight-year, $64.4MM extension given to Ottawa’s Jake Sanderson stands as the likely starting point for those discussions.  Notably, Power will have five years of club control next summer so a max-term deal will only give Buffalo three more years to work with.  He has four ‘A’ bonuses and $1MM in ‘B’ bonuses; the A’s are likely to be hit while the B ones are quite difficult to hit.

Levi had quite a run down the stretch after his college season ended as he quickly took over the number one role, helping the Sabres to stay in the playoff race.  Buffalo opted to not get another veteran to help ease him in so it’s fair to say he’s likely to get a big workload this year, giving him a chance to hit at least some of his four ‘A’ bonuses.  Assuming he can hold it down, he could be eyeing a bridge deal around the $4.5MM mark, similar to the ones that Jake Oettinger and Spencer Knight signed.  A long-term agreement would probably push past the $6MM mark.

Signed Through 2023-24, Non-Entry-Level

D Jacob Bryson ($1.85MM, RFA)
G Eric Comrie ($1.8MM, UFA)
D Rasmus Dahlin ($6MM, RFA)
F Zemgus Girgensons ($2.5MM, UFA)
D Erik Johnson ($3.25MM, UFA)
D Henri Jokiharju ($2.5MM, RFA)
F Tyson Jost ($2MM, UFA)
G Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen ($837.5K, RFA)
F Casey Mittelstadt ($2.5MM, RFA)
F Kyle Okposo ($2.5MM, UFA)
F Victor Olofsson ($4.75MM, UFA)
D Riley Stillman ($1.35MM, RFA)

Potential Bonuses
Okposo: $500K

It feels like Olofsson has been a speculative trade candidate for a few years now but yet, here he is still with Buffalo…for now at least.  He impressed with 28 goals last season but still found himself on the fourth line and even out of the lineup at times.  Buffalo has opted to keep giving him raises but if his ice time is limited again this season, the chances of another team seeing fit to do so next summer appear to be low.  Okposo opted not to test free agency this summer, instead accepting this deal, a considerable cut from his $6MM AAV last season.  He would have been hard-pressed to beat this the way the open market went and since he’ll be 36 in April, he’s likely going year-to-year from here on out.  His bonus is payable with a Stanley Cup victory.

Girgensons also elected not to test free agency, inking this deal to stay with the team that drafted him in the first round in 2012.  The market for bottom-six forwards wasn’t great so this looks like a wise move in hindsight.  If he’s back on the fourth line routinely next season, free agency might not be as kind to him a year from now.  Mittelstadt had a breakout campaign in 2022-23, setting new career bests across the board despite seeing a small dip in playing time.  Given how his first few years went, this is a case where both sides will want to wait and see what comes next.  A repeat showing could push his AAV toward the $6MM mark while if he takes a step back, it could land closer to $4MM.  Jost chose to take less than his qualifying offer to stick around in Buffalo.  He held his own after being claimed off waivers from Minnesota but will need to push for a regular top-nine spot if he wants to get another look as eventually, the Sabres will need to cut costs in their bottom six.

Dahlin’s situation has generated a lot of attention in recent weeks.  Some had suggested it was likely that an early extension was coming early in the summer.  Clearly, that hasn’t happened.  Then the target appeared to be the start of training camp but that hasn’t happened yet either.  A max-term agreement should push his AAV into the $10.5MM territory, give or take a couple hundred thousand either way.  At this point, it’s possible that the term of the deal is the hold up more than the cap hit.  If Dahlin opted for a medium-term pact, Buffalo would still gain several years of team control but he’d also be positioned to test the market while still being in his prime where a max-term pact could be more lucrative.  The AAV on a shorter-term pact should check in at or just below $10MM.

Johnson’s signing was a puzzling one on paper after his role and playing time dipped sharply in Colorado the last couple of years.  However, he adds some experience and leadership to a back end that didn’t have a ton of it before and it seems like Adams was willing to overpay for it.  If he stays around the 17-minute mark, his market value might be closer to half things next summer.  Jokiharju has struggled to stay healthy in the first two years of his bridge deal but has also logged more than 21 minutes a night in the 60 games per season he has played.  If that continues this year, he’ll be positioned to at least get past the $3MM mark with arbitration rights even without much in the way of offensive production.

Both Bryson and Stillman find themselves in a similar situation, trying to secure a full-time spot in the lineup.  Bryson looked like a future regular just a year ago but saw his playing time drop to under 15 minutes a game last season.  Stillman, meanwhile, is with his third team in less than a year and has yet to solidify himself as a regular yet.  Bryson needs to be qualified at $1.9MM and Stillman at $1.35MM.  If they can’t lock down a bigger role in the lineup, both could be non-tender candidates.

Luukkonen had a rough year with Buffalo last season, posting a 3.61 GAA and a .891 SV% but it was his first taste of extended NHL action.  He’s not ready to be a starter yet but he still is likely part of their future plans.  At the moment, his next deal might be in the $1.5MM territory but a good year could send that upward quickly.

Signed Through 2024-25

F Jordan Greenway ($3MM, UFA)
F Lukas Rousek ($775K, RFA)

Greenway came over in a midseason trade with Minnesota and didn’t exactly light it up.  Overall, he had just 11 points in 67 last season, numbers that are more in line with a fourth liner.  Power forwards get plenty of runway to develop though and he’ll have a chance to rebuild some value over the next couple of years.  Rousek is a contender to land a spot in training camp after a strong showing last season with Rochester.  If he’s able to do so, a seven-figure deal should be achievable in 2025.

Signed Through 2025-26

D Connor Clifton ($3.33MM, UFA)
F Alex Tuch ($4.75MM, UFA)

Tuch had shown flashes of top-six upside with Vegas and in his first stint with the Sabres but couldn’t sustain it consistently.  That changed last season as he became a bona fide top liner, shattering his previous benchmarks while passing the point-per-game mark for the first time.  Given the premium placed on big forwards, this contract is currently well below market value.

Clifton’s first taste of free agency was a good one, landing a deal whose AAV is almost as high as his career earnings to date.  He adds some sandpaper to Buffalo’s back end and should fill the spot of Ilya Lyubushkin who was traded to Anaheim earlier this summer.  This deal seemed a bit on the high side when it was signed although his market was relatively strong by all accounts.

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