Building the 2019-20 Buffalo Sabres roster--LW, Jimmy Vesey

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 8-30-2019


In this series we build the 2019-20 Buffalo Sabres roster one by one leading up to the season opener on October 3.


LW--Jimmy Vesey 
26 yrs. old
6'3" 199 lbs.
2012, third round (66th, NSH)

Career stats: 240 games | 50 goals | 40 assists | 90 points | -37


The Buffalo Sabres ultimately traded two third round picks for Jimmy Vesey. The first time they did it was on June 20, 2016 when then general manger Tim Murray sent a third rounder to the Nashville Predators for exclusive negotiating rights. However, the Harvard graduate and 2016 Hobey Baker winner was steadfast in his wish to test the free agent market and the Preds gladly took a third-rounder for him. 

Murray, who was loaded with picks and prospects at the time, thought it a calculated gamble to trade the pick for Vesey and felt that the Sabres could convince him to sign in Buffalo. It didn't work out that way as Vesey signed a two-year deal with the NY Rangers in August after he became a free agent. The forward would go on to sign another two-year deal with the Rangers in July 2018 and on July 1, 2019 they traded their pending unrestricted free agent to the Sabres for a 2020 third round pick.

So Jimmy Vesey cost the Sabres two third round picks and what will they be getting from him as a player?

Building the 2019-20 Buffalo Sabres roster--C, Casey Mittelstadt

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 8-29-2019


In this series we build the 2019-20 Buffalo Sabres roster one by one leading up to the season opener on October 3.

C--Casey Mittelstadt
20 yrs. old
6'1" 202 lbs.
2017, eighth-overall

Career stats: 80 games | 13 goal |17 assists | 25 points | -18

Last year during our roster build, we quoted The Athletic's Scott Wheeler who made Sabres rookie center Casey Mittlestadt one of his 10 Gifted prospects to watch heading into the 2018-19 campaign. Wheeler wrote of the 19 yr. old Mittelstadt, who'd just turned pro after one year of college, "[he's] already extremely talented yet super, super raw."

Mittelstadt had battled hard at the University of Minnesota as the Gophers only real threat (outside of maybe sophomore, Rem Pitlick) and finished his lone season with a rather average 30 points (11+19) in 34 games. He hit the NHL and had an impressive six-game debut with a goal and four assists. The trade of No. 2 center Ryan O'Reilly created an opening behind Jack Eichel and only Mittelstadt and veteran Patrik Berglund seemed to be in the running for that opening. Berglund would end up being the choice for the Sabres with the rookie starting out on the third line.

Building the 2019-20 Buffalo Sabres roster--G, Carter Hutton

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 8-28-2019


In this series we build the 2019-20 Buffalo Sabres roster one by one leading up to the season opener on October 3.

G--Carter Hutton
33 yrs. old
6'0" 198 lbs.
Undrafted FA (PHI)

Career stats: 188 games | 81-64-22 record | 2.58 GAA | .913 Sv% | 11 shutouts

The Buffalo Sabres organization knew quite a bit about goalie Carter Hutton when they signed him to a 3yr./$8.250 million free agent deal last July. Jerry Forton, director of college scouting, former goalie coach Andrew Allen and former head coach Phil Housley all had a first hand look at Hutton from his time at UMASS-Lowell (Forton) to the Chicago Blackhawks (Allen) to the Nashville Predators (Housley.) All could vouch for the character he brought to the dressing room and his performance on the ice, which was in a backup role at the NHL level.

However, what none of them knew, including Sabres general manager Jason Botterill, was how he would perform as first-time starter for a Buffalo team that was coming off of it's third last place finish in five years and had the NHL's third-worst goals-against average (3.39) in 2017-18.

"There was a real comfort level with him," Botterill told the gathered media at the time of the signing. "He was a guy our scouts had focused in on, our analytics department certainly liked him a lot, and then you get the character check. It allowed us to have a lot of confidence in making the decision to bring Carter into our group."

Building the 2019-20 Buffalo Sabres roster--RHD, Brandon Montour

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 8-27-2019


In this series we build the 2019-20 Buffalo Sabres roster one by one leading up to the season opener on October 3.

RHD--Brandon Montour
25 yrs. old
6'0" 193 lbs.
2014, 55th-overall (ANA)

Career Stats:  189 games | 19 goals | 54 assists | 73 points | +7


If Buffalo GM Jason Botterill were able to pull off the trade for Anaheim Ducks defenseman Brandon Montour a month or two earlier, perhaps things may have gone a bit differently for the Sabres last season. Then again, with the way the team hit the skids while plummeting to the lower portions of the league, adding Montour in late December or January may not have made much of a difference.

Many, this writer included, really liked what Botterill was able to do in bolstering his defense corps with the trade for Montour. The second-year GM gave up a d-prospect in Brendan Guhle who at one time showed great promise but whose development curve had taken a turn for the worse over the prior nine months. The very athletic Guhle who'd shown offensive promise still has all the physical tools to be an NHL regular on the blueline, and contribute meaningfully, but something happened in the 2018 AHL playoffs that rattled him and Botterill felt that he was expendable. Especially when it comes to the immediate help that Montour brings.

In addition to Guhle, Botterill surrendered a 2019 first round pick that ended up being the 29th-overall pick thanks to the Western Conference Finals run the San Jose Sharks went on and the wild success of the Stanley Cup winning St. Louis Blues. With the 29th overall pick Anaheim selected LW, Brayden Tracey. Two picks later the Sabres selected defenseman Ryan Johnson with the Blues pick.

Building the 2019-20 Buffalo Sabres roster--LD, Rasmus Dahlin

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 8-26-2019


In this series we build the 2019-20 Buffalo Sabres roster one by one leading up to the season opener on October 3.


LHD--Rasmus Dahlin
19 yrs. old
6'3" 190 lbs.

2018 first-overall

Career Stats:  82 games | 9 goals | 35 assists | 44 points | -13


Picture yourself as an 18 yr. old defenseman from across the pond coming to the National Hockey League with a team that just finished last in the league. For some of us older folk it might be a little more difficult to take oneself back to run around in the shoes of an 18 yr. old, but for most being a teenager transitioning to adulthood was difficult enough. Rasmus Dahlin did just that last season. The first-overall pick in the 2018 NHL Draft came to North America after playing two pro seasons in his native Sweden and jumped right into the fire of the NHL.

Dahlin was touted as a franchise defensemen with some using the word 'generational' and calling him the best d-prospect since Denis Potvin. As we got a glimpse of him during Buffalo's Prospect Challenge and deep into training camp, we began to see first-hand why he was touted as such. With fluid skating and the poise of a veteran, Dahlin made all those projections come to life and left most in awe of his potential.

Building the 2019-20 Buffalo Sabres roster--RW, Sam Reinhart

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 8-25-2019


In this series we build the 2019-20 Buffalo Sabres roster one by one leading up to the season opener on October 3.
RW--Sam Reinhart
23 yrs. old
6'1" 192 lbs.
2014, 2nd-overall

Career Stats: 331 games | 87 goals | 118 assists | 205 points | -54


Sam Reinhart was the first official player of the tank-era to be drafted by the Buffalo Sabres. The 2014 second-overall pick was selected out of the WHL as a center but through the years has found his way to a home on the wing and that's where he looks to be this year despite the Sabres lacking a more veteran-type, No. 2 pivot heading into the 2019-20 campaign.

Reinhart enjoyed a breakout season last year with 22 goals and 43 assists and unlike fellow second-overall pick Jack Eichel, who also enjoyed an increase in production of around 30%, the Vancouver, BC native may be close to settling in on an annual production rate. Having said that, being on a line with Eichel, who still has enough upside to approach triple-digits, and 40-goal scorer Jeff Skinner, as well as being on the No. 1 powerplay unit with those two makes for a very intriguing case that Reinhart could hit a point/game in any given season.

Building the 2019-20 Buffalo Sabres roster--LW, Jeff Skinner

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 8-24-2019


In this series we build the 2019-20 Buffalo Sabres roster one by one leading up to the season opener on October 3.

LW--Jeff Skinner
27 yrs. old
5'11" 187 lbs.
2010, seventh-overall (CAR)

Career stats: 661 games | 244 goals | 198 assists | 442 points | -96


"The book on Jeff Skinner is that he likes the puck on his stick, has the speed, wicked maneuverability and stickwork to get into prime scoring areas and, obviously, has the skill-level to finish."

That's what we wrote last year prior to the Markham, Ontario native's first season with the Buffalo Sabres. And that's what we got.

Sabres fans had an opportunity to see Skinner first-hand on a regular basis in 2018-19 and what he was able to do in the first half of the season was eye-opening as we watched him cut tight circles while finding his way to open ice before depositing the puck. The thought of Buffalo actually landing a player of his caliber for what amounted to very little in a trade made Sabreland giggle. Skinner was everything he was touted to be and the chemistry between him and center Jack Eichel was unmistakable.

During Buffalo's 10-game-winning streak in November Eichel dished and Skinner finished to the tune of 10 goals for the new Sabre. He would finish with 28 goals through 41 games in the first half of last season which put him on a pace to become Buffalo's first 50-goal scorer since 1992-93.

It didn't happen.

Building the 2019-20 Buffalo Sabres roster--C, Jack Eichel

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 8-23-2019


In this series we build the 2019-20 Buffalo Sabres roster one by one leading up to the season opener on October 3.


C--Jack Eichel
6'2" 200 lbs.
22 yrs. old
2015, 2nd-overall

Career Stats: 286 games | 101 goals | 158 assists | 259 points | -65


Not long after being hired by the Buffalo Sabres as their new head coach, Ralph Krueger jumped on a plane to Slovakia, host of the 2019 IIHF World Hockey Championships. Krueger flew over 4,000 miles to see and talk with two principle players of the Sabres who were competing in the tournament--Jack Eichel and Sam Reinhart.

"It was a real natural conversation. We were both pleased at the end," Kruger told TSN's Darren Dreger back in May of his conversation with Eichel. "We could feel the common purpose that drives me here to the job and Jack to his daily job with the Sabres."

GM Jason Botterill has a solid farm system in place

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 8-20-2019


Buffalo Sabres general manager Jason Botterill inherited a broken hockey department when he took the job in 2017. Consecutive tank seasons from 2013-15 yielded consecutive top-two picks but it came at a steep cost as the farm system was bankrupt. That system included a prospect pool that had plenty of players but, as it turned out, very little quality. In his two seasons as general manger Botterill was able to correct the problems at the lower levels of the hockey department and in three drafts he's been able to stabilize his feeder system.

Last season, due in large part to the selection of defenseman Rasmus Dahlin first overall at the 2018 NHL Draft as well as drafting center Casey Mittelstadt eighth-overall in 2017, most observers rightfully felt that the Sabres had the best prospect pool in the NHL. A year later, things have changed a bit. "Any team that loses multiple premier prospects to graduation is going to take a fall in the preseasons rankings," wrote The Sportsnet's Steve Kournianos in his just released NHL farm rankings, "so it helps to look at Buffalo's talented pool with perspective."

Kournianos points out that "each of Buffalo's five first-round picks since 2014 are either full-time with the Sabres or were traded for quality help."

Here's the breakdown:

2014--C, Sam Reinhart (second-overall) is still with the team playing a predominant role
2015--C, Jack Eichel (second-overall) is Buffalo's captain
2016--LW, Alexander Nylander (eighth-overall) traded to Chicago for defenseman Henri Jokiharju
2017--C, Casey Mittelstadt (eighth-overall) just completed his first full NHL season
2018--D, Rasmus Dahlin (first-overall) just completed his first full season

Jets with small-market blues? Can you handle another year of Risto?

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 8-18-2019


The Winnipeg Jets are having a devil of a time right now as they're trying to extend two very important restricted free agents. Wingers Kyle Connor and Patrick Laine are finished with their entry-level deals and their production has placed them in the upper-levels of the salary structure. The 22 yr. old Connor is a speedy, versatile, all-around forward who's averaged 0.78 pts/game over his first two NHL seasons while increasing his production on a year over year. His 65 goals over that span is second only to Laine who scored 74 goals in the last two seasons. Laine took the league by storm as an 18 yr. old in 2016-17 scoring 36 goals in his rookie year finishing second to phenom Auston Matthews in the Calder Trophy running that year.

With the way salaries have escalated, both players are due for a significant increase and re-signing both would take up most, if not all, of the $17.5 million (according to CapFriendly) the Jets have in cap-space.

There's a huge log-jam right now in the RFA market as an impressive group of young players coming off of their ELC are waiting for someone to set the market. That someone might very well be Toronto's Mitch Marner, who some believe will command an eight-figure salary on his new deal.

How difficult will it be for the Buffalo Sabres to make the playoffs?

As of now pretty difficult and it really doesn't have a lot to do with what they've done internally.

The Buffalo Sabres have some pretty good top-end talent. That we know. Center Jack Eichel has established himself as a dominant pivot whose 82 points (28+54,) the most points in Buffalo since 2006-07, wasn't even considered a breakout season. Winger Jeff Skinner scored 40 goals, the first time a Sabres player had done so since '06/'07, and forward Sam Reinhart once again increased his output chiming in with 22 goals and 43 assists.

On defense, Rasmus Dahlin looks to be every bit the franchise defenseman he was touted to be when Buffalo selected him first-overall in 2018. Dahlin's 44 points were third-most by a Sabres rookie defenseman in franchise history and although he struggled at times with some of the nuances of the NHL game, the 18 yr. old often times used his elite skill-package to mitigate those deficiencies.

That core, along with a support group that clicked along with goaltending that came up big when it needed to, rode a franchise-tying 10-game winning streak to the top of the league in November. Eventually teams figured out just how to throttle their offense and take advantage of weaknesses both on defense and in goal and in the end the Sabres fell apart and finished a very disappointing 26th-overall.

The Rasmus Ristolainen saga is front and center once again

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 8-11-2019

"I have seen so much sh**."

Such were the translated words of Buffalo Sabres defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen as he talked with a Finnish TV station back in mid-January after a 4-3 loss to the Vancouver Canucks. With that loss, the Sabres dropped to 24-18-6 in a season where they started out great, floundered a bit then plummeted to a 26th place finish in the NHL. It was the eighth consecutive season Buffalo missed the playoffs, the sixth time with Ristolainen on the team. 

Seven months later, the 24 yr. old Turku, Finland native would be back in front of Finnish MTV Sports expressing more frustration. "I have not been able to help the team win," he said via Google translation, "Recent seasons have been tough and I haven't been able to enjoy hockey."

Where have we heard that before?

If there's something up Jason Botterill's sleeve, he's giving no indication

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 8-8-2019


Buffalo Sabres general manager Jason Botterill has all the players signed he's ready to enter training camp with. Botterill and the arbitration system got Buffalo through the final four cases when the arbiter decided terms for Evan Rodrigues, Remi Elie and goalie Linus Ullmark while the Sabres and Jake McCabe reached a two-year agreement prior to his case. In all, Buffalo has used up 46 of the 50 allotted pro contracts and are presently about $1.1 million over the NHL's cap ceiling for 2019-20, which doesn't bother him one bit.

As a capologist for the Pittsburgh Penguins, among other duties that come with the title of Associate General Manger, Botterill was responsible for keeping the Pens on track and under the cap with a top-heavy roster featuring a combined cap-hit of over $25 million for Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang (which by today's standards doesn't seem like a lot for three probable Hall of Famers.) Botterill wasn't phased by the cap problem facing the Sabres as he told the hosts of The Instigators yesterday, "We don't have to do anything until the start of October," he told hosts Andrew Peters and Craig Rivet while also stressing that the team was not pressed into dealing one of their players. "We like the situation we're in right now. We don't have to make a trade to be cap compliant. We've gone over a 'zillion' different scenarios, and we don't have to make a trade to be cap compliant."