Published by hockeybuzz.com, 5-25-2018
Center--Jacob Josefson
DOB: March 2, 1991 (Age, 27)
Draft: 2009, 1st round (20th-overall,) NJD
How acquired: FA
Last contract signed: July 1, 2017, 1yr./$700,000
Final year of contract: 2017-18
2017-18 Stats: 39 games played | 2 goals | 2 assists | 4 points | -4 | 11:23 ATOI
Buffalo Career Stats: 39 games | 2 goals | 2 assists | 4 points | -4 | 11:23 ATOI
What we wrote preseason: A Reinhart move back to center will directly affect Jacob Josefson as it means he's probably in the pressbox.
Josefson was signed by the Sabres in the off season as a depth move by GM Jason Botterill and we're not sure what we have yet in him. The 26 yr. old center was labeled "an enigma" by Amanda Rosko of The Hockey Writers back in November, 2015. She also wrote that he "exhibits a solid skill-set" but lacks "physicality and finish" and Rosko goes on to perpetuate the curious case of Jacob Josefson when she writes, "the mystery continues when a person examines Josefson’s shootout record and ability. When number 16 takes the ice for the Devils, it is almost automatically assumed that he will beat the oppositional goaltender regardless of whom it is when the game goes beyond 65-minutes. He excels and stands out in the skills competition."
The past five seasons Josefson has gone 11/20 (55%) in the shootout and is tops in the league over that period for players with 20 or more shootout attempts. The Sabres were 25th in the league scoring at a 22% rate (6/27) last season.
What we wrote mid-season: He was playing extremely well before being felled by an injury. Things haven't gone as expected for Josefson since being drafted by the New Jersey Devils 20th-overall in 2009 but it looks as if he'll manage to scrap out a long career in a journeyman's role, much like David Legwand did. Josefson was skating with the team last week and Housley listed him as week-to-week but liked what he saw. When he comes back, Josefson will more than likely be the team's fourth-line center.
Impressions on his play this year: The "enigma" moniker stuck with Josefson this season. When he wasn't injured he played well, although not as well as Legwand did, which isn't saying a whole helluva lot. And, true to form, Josefson was on-point in the shootout going 2/3. In all, however, he was overpaid at $700K and his fourth-line/reserve center role will be taken up by a young player this season without losing anything, except in the shootout.
Questions moving forward: None as the Stokholm, Sweden native is reported to be returning home on a four-year deal to play for Djurgarden of the Swedish Hockey League
Contract info via CapFriendly, stats via sabres.com and hockey reference.com.
Showing posts with label Jacob Josefson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jacob Josefson. Show all posts
Saturday, May 26, 2018
Tuesday, November 28, 2017
Some are in, others are out and one is heading to Rochester
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 11-27-2017
The Buffalo Sabres blueline has been ravaged by injuries so far this season. But they're getting healthier.
During the first quarter of the season for Buffalo, players came and players went and one of them, Zach Bogosian, still hasn't hit ice for a game. The Sabres have dressed nine defenseman thus far and recalled another one, Casey Nelson, who never dressed. Every d-man save for Jake McCabe and Victor Antipin has spent time on the injured list this season and that includes top-pairing defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen who missed nine games recently. Ristolainen returned on Friday and played in Buffalo's back-to-back against the Edmonton Oilers and Montreal Canadiens and was his usual self logging 27:32 and 25:49 of ice-time, respectively.
After playing six games in nine nights (1-5-0) the Sabres had Sunday off and were back at practice today. Word from the rink had Bogosian at center ice leading the stretch and participating for the first time since a lower-body injury took him out in the last preseason game. According the media at the rink, coach Phil Housley said after practice that they will see how Bogosian responds to a full practice and that he will be a game-time decision.
Housley also told the gathered media that center Jacob Josefson "tweaked his ankle" in the Montreal game and will be out "four to six weeks." Jacobsen missed 14 games after an injury in Anaheim but returned with two strong performances (1 goal, 1 assist, +2 rating) before injuring his ankle in the first period against the Canadiens. He centered what was arguably Buffalo's best line over those two games as he Kyle Okposo and Jordan Nolan combined for four goals, four assists, and were a cumulative plus-7 in a third-line role.
The injury to Josefson provided a golden opportunity for forward Seth Griffith to stick with the club, but Housley said he"thought a lot of the games [Griffith] was looking to pass instead of shoot. When you're not doing well, you're going to make changes."
Griffith was waived yesterday, cleared today and was sent to Rochester. In 18 games he had three points (2+1,) was a minus-4 and registered 14 shots on goal.
The Sabres now have only 12 healthy forwards with the club. Housley sais that they may bring a forward up from Rochester. In lieu of that, these were the lines from today's practice:
Kane-Eichel-Reinhart
Pouliot-O'Reilly-Okposo
Nolan-Larsson-Pominville
Girgensons-Criscuolo-Moulson
Two Rochester forwards who might get consideration for a call-up are CJ Smith who leads the team in scoring with 19 points (6+13) in 19 games and Evan Rodrigues who has six points (2+4) in five games after missing the season with an injury.
With Bogosian back practicing, reports from the rink had these pairings:
Ristolainen-Scandella
McCabe-Antipin
Beaulieu-Falk
Gorges-Bogosian
*****
Housley also said that they'd be taking a hard look at their 30th-ranked powerplay and according to WGR550's Paul Hamilton, he made some changes with these being the units today.
PP1: Kane Eichel Reinhart Antipin Beaulieu
PP2: Okposo O’Reilly Moulson Ristolainen Pominville
The Sabres haven't scored a powerplay goal in the last six games going 0/15 in the process. During that time they went 1-5-0 losing two games by one goal and two more by two goals.
The Buffalo Sabres blueline has been ravaged by injuries so far this season. But they're getting healthier.
During the first quarter of the season for Buffalo, players came and players went and one of them, Zach Bogosian, still hasn't hit ice for a game. The Sabres have dressed nine defenseman thus far and recalled another one, Casey Nelson, who never dressed. Every d-man save for Jake McCabe and Victor Antipin has spent time on the injured list this season and that includes top-pairing defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen who missed nine games recently. Ristolainen returned on Friday and played in Buffalo's back-to-back against the Edmonton Oilers and Montreal Canadiens and was his usual self logging 27:32 and 25:49 of ice-time, respectively.
After playing six games in nine nights (1-5-0) the Sabres had Sunday off and were back at practice today. Word from the rink had Bogosian at center ice leading the stretch and participating for the first time since a lower-body injury took him out in the last preseason game. According the media at the rink, coach Phil Housley said after practice that they will see how Bogosian responds to a full practice and that he will be a game-time decision.
Housley also told the gathered media that center Jacob Josefson "tweaked his ankle" in the Montreal game and will be out "four to six weeks." Jacobsen missed 14 games after an injury in Anaheim but returned with two strong performances (1 goal, 1 assist, +2 rating) before injuring his ankle in the first period against the Canadiens. He centered what was arguably Buffalo's best line over those two games as he Kyle Okposo and Jordan Nolan combined for four goals, four assists, and were a cumulative plus-7 in a third-line role.
The injury to Josefson provided a golden opportunity for forward Seth Griffith to stick with the club, but Housley said he"thought a lot of the games [Griffith] was looking to pass instead of shoot. When you're not doing well, you're going to make changes."
Griffith was waived yesterday, cleared today and was sent to Rochester. In 18 games he had three points (2+1,) was a minus-4 and registered 14 shots on goal.
The Sabres now have only 12 healthy forwards with the club. Housley sais that they may bring a forward up from Rochester. In lieu of that, these were the lines from today's practice:
Kane-Eichel-Reinhart
Pouliot-O'Reilly-Okposo
Nolan-Larsson-Pominville
Girgensons-Criscuolo-Moulson
Two Rochester forwards who might get consideration for a call-up are CJ Smith who leads the team in scoring with 19 points (6+13) in 19 games and Evan Rodrigues who has six points (2+4) in five games after missing the season with an injury.
With Bogosian back practicing, reports from the rink had these pairings:
Ristolainen-Scandella
McCabe-Antipin
Beaulieu-Falk
Gorges-Bogosian
*****
Housley also said that they'd be taking a hard look at their 30th-ranked powerplay and according to WGR550's Paul Hamilton, he made some changes with these being the units today.
PP1: Kane Eichel Reinhart Antipin Beaulieu
PP2: Okposo O’Reilly Moulson Ristolainen Pominville
The Sabres haven't scored a powerplay goal in the last six games going 0/15 in the process. During that time they went 1-5-0 losing two games by one goal and two more by two goals.
Friday, November 24, 2017
Will health help the Sabres climb out of the morass their in?
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 11-22-2017
The 5-12-4 record says it all and the attendance figures at KeyBank Center lately (announced attendance for the last game was 16,551 but looked like a lot less) backs up the notion that the product on the ice in Buffalo isn't really that good.
So much for the Captain Obvious moment.
Why this Buffalo Sabres team is off to such a horrible start is varied, dependent upon who you ask, and it's a multitude of things that are keeping this team to depths of the standings right now. The tangibles include a lack of overall team speed and talent, namely in the support roles while lack of compete and leadership headline the intangible side of the equation. Other aspects like injuries and a rookie head coach should also be factored in as well.
With that said, the Sabres head into tonight's matchup against the Minnesota Wild a little healthier up front as center Jacob Josefson is expected to return to the lineup. Josefson went down in a game at Anaheim back in October.
It's not like the return of the 26 yr. old center is expected to single-handedly turn this thing around, but he adds positive elements to a team in need of all the positives they can get their hands on. Josefson will once again anchor the fourth line and will stabilize the middle of the ice. "[Josefson] is somebody you can trust to play in any situation, especially on our penalty kill," said Housley to the gathered media yesterday after practice. "He can relieve some minutes off of our top guys.
"He provides speed and positionally he's one of the best on our team. Very reliable."
Josefson, a former first round pick (20th-overall, NJD) was signed on July 1 by Sabres GM Jason Botterill, had zero points in five-plus games for Buffalo before his injury. At yesterday's practice Housley had him centering Jordan Nolan and Kyle Okposo.
Okposo was dropped by Housley to the fourth line due to largely ineffective play. As we saw with the demotion of Jack Eichel to the third line, only to be back up on the first line at practice yesterday, it might simply be an attempt to jar him out of his slump.
"Kyle's a tremendous competitor," said Housley of Okposo. "He evaluates his game and really gets down on himself. Obviously he would really like to contribute more offensively and he holds that burden on himself. But I think if he continues to work at both ends of the rink and [take] what the game can give him and keep going hard to the net he's going to continue to get those opportunities."
Okposo has two goals and eight points in 19 games this year and is a second-worst minus-12 on the team.
The Sabres had an optional skate today, but these were the lines from yesterday's practice according to Sabres.com:
Kane-Eichel-Pominville
Pouliot-O'Reilly-Reinhart
Girgensons-Larsson-Criscuolo
Nolan-Josefson-Okposo
Matt Moulson and Seth Griffith were the extras.
*****
Reports from the rink had two inured defensemen skating at today's optional practice--Zach Bogosian and Rasmus Ristolainen.
Bogosian has yet to play this season and Ristolainen has missed the last eight Sabres games.
Buffalo's blueline has been ravaged by injuries this season to the tune of 10 defensemen dressing for the club so far this season with another in Casey Nelson who was called up but has yet to play. Players like Matt Tennyson (who is currently injured) and Justin Falk (who started the season on IR) have played as good as can be expected considering they were placed in positions well above their talent-level. Buffalo's ninth and 10th d-men--Zach Redmond and Taylor Fedun (who is also on the injured list)--were also place in difficult positions and did the best they could with Fedun looking like a legit NHL'er.
Having Bogosian go down is one thing as not only was this a seemingly annual trip to IR for the 27 yr. old, he was also slated for second-pairing duties, but losing Ristolainen really hurt.
Most will say that Ristolainen was having a rough year both in production and overall play, but he was a workhorse once again for the Sabres on the back-end averaging 27:09 a night, 20:24 at even strength. When he went down with his upper body injury he was tied with d-partner Marco Scandella at a minus-4 plus which was tops amongst Sabres defensemen.
As was mentioned in the last blog, the Sabres have been atrocious in his absence. A quick update has them on a six-game winless streak (0-4-2) and are 1-5-2 without him in the lineup. The team has scored 14 goals and has allowed 26 goals against.
Falk has been skating on the top pair in Ristolainen's absence and has been doing yeoman's work despite playing a role that's a couple spots higher than where he should be, which is true for all the defensemen not named Scandella.
At yesterday's skate, here's what the pairings were:
Falk-Scandella
McCabe-Antipin
Gorges-Beaulieu
*****
Robin Lehner took part in the optional skate today, according to John Vogl of The Buffalo News. Vogl tweeted that the others on the ice were Ristolainen, Bogosian, Tennyson, Nelson, Nolan, Griffith, Criscuolo, Josefson, Moulson.
*****
One final note, forwards Tyler Ennis and Marcus Foligno are back in town to face off against their former team for the first time. The duo was traded to the Minnesota Wild for Scandella and Pominville on June 30th.
Ennis, who was a first round pick for Buffalo (26th, 2008) has five points (3+2) in 20 games for Minnesota while Foligno has seven points (3+4) in 19 games.
While Foligno chose his father Mike's old number 17 to wear in Minnesota, Ennis will be donning a more familiar #63.
The 5-12-4 record says it all and the attendance figures at KeyBank Center lately (announced attendance for the last game was 16,551 but looked like a lot less) backs up the notion that the product on the ice in Buffalo isn't really that good.
So much for the Captain Obvious moment.
Why this Buffalo Sabres team is off to such a horrible start is varied, dependent upon who you ask, and it's a multitude of things that are keeping this team to depths of the standings right now. The tangibles include a lack of overall team speed and talent, namely in the support roles while lack of compete and leadership headline the intangible side of the equation. Other aspects like injuries and a rookie head coach should also be factored in as well.
With that said, the Sabres head into tonight's matchup against the Minnesota Wild a little healthier up front as center Jacob Josefson is expected to return to the lineup. Josefson went down in a game at Anaheim back in October.
It's not like the return of the 26 yr. old center is expected to single-handedly turn this thing around, but he adds positive elements to a team in need of all the positives they can get their hands on. Josefson will once again anchor the fourth line and will stabilize the middle of the ice. "[Josefson] is somebody you can trust to play in any situation, especially on our penalty kill," said Housley to the gathered media yesterday after practice. "He can relieve some minutes off of our top guys.
"He provides speed and positionally he's one of the best on our team. Very reliable."
Josefson, a former first round pick (20th-overall, NJD) was signed on July 1 by Sabres GM Jason Botterill, had zero points in five-plus games for Buffalo before his injury. At yesterday's practice Housley had him centering Jordan Nolan and Kyle Okposo.
Okposo was dropped by Housley to the fourth line due to largely ineffective play. As we saw with the demotion of Jack Eichel to the third line, only to be back up on the first line at practice yesterday, it might simply be an attempt to jar him out of his slump.
"Kyle's a tremendous competitor," said Housley of Okposo. "He evaluates his game and really gets down on himself. Obviously he would really like to contribute more offensively and he holds that burden on himself. But I think if he continues to work at both ends of the rink and [take] what the game can give him and keep going hard to the net he's going to continue to get those opportunities."
Okposo has two goals and eight points in 19 games this year and is a second-worst minus-12 on the team.
The Sabres had an optional skate today, but these were the lines from yesterday's practice according to Sabres.com:
Kane-Eichel-Pominville
Pouliot-O'Reilly-Reinhart
Girgensons-Larsson-Criscuolo
Nolan-Josefson-Okposo
Matt Moulson and Seth Griffith were the extras.
*****
Reports from the rink had two inured defensemen skating at today's optional practice--Zach Bogosian and Rasmus Ristolainen.
Bogosian has yet to play this season and Ristolainen has missed the last eight Sabres games.
Buffalo's blueline has been ravaged by injuries this season to the tune of 10 defensemen dressing for the club so far this season with another in Casey Nelson who was called up but has yet to play. Players like Matt Tennyson (who is currently injured) and Justin Falk (who started the season on IR) have played as good as can be expected considering they were placed in positions well above their talent-level. Buffalo's ninth and 10th d-men--Zach Redmond and Taylor Fedun (who is also on the injured list)--were also place in difficult positions and did the best they could with Fedun looking like a legit NHL'er.
Having Bogosian go down is one thing as not only was this a seemingly annual trip to IR for the 27 yr. old, he was also slated for second-pairing duties, but losing Ristolainen really hurt.
Most will say that Ristolainen was having a rough year both in production and overall play, but he was a workhorse once again for the Sabres on the back-end averaging 27:09 a night, 20:24 at even strength. When he went down with his upper body injury he was tied with d-partner Marco Scandella at a minus-4 plus which was tops amongst Sabres defensemen.
As was mentioned in the last blog, the Sabres have been atrocious in his absence. A quick update has them on a six-game winless streak (0-4-2) and are 1-5-2 without him in the lineup. The team has scored 14 goals and has allowed 26 goals against.
Falk has been skating on the top pair in Ristolainen's absence and has been doing yeoman's work despite playing a role that's a couple spots higher than where he should be, which is true for all the defensemen not named Scandella.
At yesterday's skate, here's what the pairings were:
Falk-Scandella
McCabe-Antipin
Gorges-Beaulieu
*****
Robin Lehner took part in the optional skate today, according to John Vogl of The Buffalo News. Vogl tweeted that the others on the ice were Ristolainen, Bogosian, Tennyson, Nelson, Nolan, Griffith, Criscuolo, Josefson, Moulson.
*****
One final note, forwards Tyler Ennis and Marcus Foligno are back in town to face off against their former team for the first time. The duo was traded to the Minnesota Wild for Scandella and Pominville on June 30th.
Ennis, who was a first round pick for Buffalo (26th, 2008) has five points (3+2) in 20 games for Minnesota while Foligno has seven points (3+4) in 19 games.
While Foligno chose his father Mike's old number 17 to wear in Minnesota, Ennis will be donning a more familiar #63.
Friday, September 22, 2017
Building the 2017-18 Buffalo Sabres roster--The Fourth Line
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 9-21-2017
There are a lot of variables that need to play out in the top-nine before a fourth line can be established, most notably what coach Phil Housley wants to do with Sam Reinhart. Moving him to center would push Johan Larsson down a spot which and with Jason Pominville moving into Reinhart's spot in the top-six, a third-line right wing spot is open.
What Housley does with another forward will also dictate what happens on the fourth line.
LW, Zemgus Girgensons
6'2" 207 lbs.
23 yrs. old
2012, 14th-overall
Career stats: 277 games | 37 goals | 49 assists | 86 points | -29
Housley has given Girgensons first crack at landing a spot in the top-six on a wing with Ryan O'Reilly and Kyle Okposo. The 6'2" 207 lb. native of Latvia has the speed and will to get the forecheck going and once he gets the puck on his stick along the boards, the opposition can't get it away from him.
Girgensons' trials and tribulations under former head coach Dan Bylsma have been well documented as had been his 15-goal season prior to Bylsma coming to Buffalo. All that has been changed now with Housley behind the bench. In Buffalo's first pre-season game against Carolina, Girgensons skated 18:38 with three of the line's eight shots on goal. Although they didn't hit the score sheet, that line spent an abundant amount of time in the offensive zone.
"I thought that line was terrific," said Housley post game to the gathered media. "They provided a lot of energy. When we needed a big shift, they gave it to us, they changed the momentum of the game."
Housley also pointed out that they had a lot of looks, however that line failed to hit the scoresheet.
Girgensons has the will and desire to make a difference in the top-six, but any offensive acumen he may have had seemed to get lost under Bylsma. A golden opportunity is right in front of him, and the only question is, does he have enough offensive acumen to stick in that top-six role?
C, Jacob Josefson
6'0" 196 lbs.
26 yrs. old
2009, 20th-overall (NJD)
Signed by Buffalo in 2017.
Career stats: 276 games | 18 goals | 42 assists | 60 points | -17
A Reinhart move back to center will directly affect Jacob Josefson as it means he's probably in the pressbox.
Josefson was signed by the Sabres in the off season as a depth move as GM Jason Botterill and were not sure what we have yet in him. The 26 yr. old center was labeled "an enigma" by Amanda Rosko of The Hockey Writers back in November, 2015. She wrote that he "exhibits a solid skill-set" but lacks "physicality and finish" and goes on to perpetuate the curious case of Jacob Josefson when she writes, "the mystery continues when a person examines Josefson’s shootout record and ability. When number 16 takes the ice for the Devils, it is almost automatically assumed that he will beat the oppositional goaltender regardless of whom it is when the game goes beyond 65-minutes. He excels and stands out in the skills competition."
The past five seasons Josefson has gone 11/20 (55%) in the shootout and is tops in the league over that period for players with 20 or more shootout attempts. The Sabres were 25th in the league scoring at a 22% rate (6/27) last season.
RW, Matt Moulson
33 yrs. old
6'1" 203 lbs.
2003, 9th round (263rd-overall, PIT)
Signed by Buffalo to a five year FA contract in 2014
Career stats: 636 games | 176 goals | 193 assists | 369 points | -33
Forward Matt Moulson has had a rough for the better part of his three seasons in Buffalo as he's not been able to regain his 30-goal form from his time with the NY Islanders.
Moulson's first season in Buffalo was promising as he totaled 41 points (13+28) on Buffalo's top line for an offensively inept Sabres team. However he's had trouble in the two seasons since. In 2015-16, under Bylsma, he fell down the depth chart in large part due to improper off-season conditioning. He came back in much better shape, and with a renewed desire last season, but was relegated to powerplay specialist status as 11 of his 14 goals came with the man advantage.
He has two years left on his contract with a $5 million cap-hit. Buying him out would have been impractical this season but next year may be a different story.
Moulson is a great guy, who even took rookie Jack Eichel into his home to help him adjust. However, the speed of the game may have passed him by.
Building the 2017-18 Buffalo Sabres roster:
LW, Evander Kane / C, Jack Eichel / RW, Sam Reinhart
LW, Benoit Pouliot / C, Ryan O'Reilly / RW, Kyle Okposo
LW, Evan Rodrigues / C, Johan Larsson / RW, Jason Pominville
D, Marco Scandella / D, Rasmus Ristolainen
D, Jake McCabe / D, Zach Bogosian
D, Nathan Beaulieu / D, Victor Antipin
G, Robin Lehner
G, Chad Johnson
Follow me on twitter @boosbuzzsabres
There are a lot of variables that need to play out in the top-nine before a fourth line can be established, most notably what coach Phil Housley wants to do with Sam Reinhart. Moving him to center would push Johan Larsson down a spot which and with Jason Pominville moving into Reinhart's spot in the top-six, a third-line right wing spot is open.
What Housley does with another forward will also dictate what happens on the fourth line.
LW, Zemgus Girgensons
6'2" 207 lbs.
23 yrs. old
2012, 14th-overall
Career stats: 277 games | 37 goals | 49 assists | 86 points | -29
Housley has given Girgensons first crack at landing a spot in the top-six on a wing with Ryan O'Reilly and Kyle Okposo. The 6'2" 207 lb. native of Latvia has the speed and will to get the forecheck going and once he gets the puck on his stick along the boards, the opposition can't get it away from him.
Girgensons' trials and tribulations under former head coach Dan Bylsma have been well documented as had been his 15-goal season prior to Bylsma coming to Buffalo. All that has been changed now with Housley behind the bench. In Buffalo's first pre-season game against Carolina, Girgensons skated 18:38 with three of the line's eight shots on goal. Although they didn't hit the score sheet, that line spent an abundant amount of time in the offensive zone.
"I thought that line was terrific," said Housley post game to the gathered media. "They provided a lot of energy. When we needed a big shift, they gave it to us, they changed the momentum of the game."
Housley also pointed out that they had a lot of looks, however that line failed to hit the scoresheet.
Girgensons has the will and desire to make a difference in the top-six, but any offensive acumen he may have had seemed to get lost under Bylsma. A golden opportunity is right in front of him, and the only question is, does he have enough offensive acumen to stick in that top-six role?
C, Jacob Josefson
6'0" 196 lbs.
26 yrs. old
2009, 20th-overall (NJD)
Signed by Buffalo in 2017.
Career stats: 276 games | 18 goals | 42 assists | 60 points | -17
A Reinhart move back to center will directly affect Jacob Josefson as it means he's probably in the pressbox.
Josefson was signed by the Sabres in the off season as a depth move as GM Jason Botterill and were not sure what we have yet in him. The 26 yr. old center was labeled "an enigma" by Amanda Rosko of The Hockey Writers back in November, 2015. She wrote that he "exhibits a solid skill-set" but lacks "physicality and finish" and goes on to perpetuate the curious case of Jacob Josefson when she writes, "the mystery continues when a person examines Josefson’s shootout record and ability. When number 16 takes the ice for the Devils, it is almost automatically assumed that he will beat the oppositional goaltender regardless of whom it is when the game goes beyond 65-minutes. He excels and stands out in the skills competition."
The past five seasons Josefson has gone 11/20 (55%) in the shootout and is tops in the league over that period for players with 20 or more shootout attempts. The Sabres were 25th in the league scoring at a 22% rate (6/27) last season.
RW, Matt Moulson
33 yrs. old
6'1" 203 lbs.
2003, 9th round (263rd-overall, PIT)
Signed by Buffalo to a five year FA contract in 2014
Career stats: 636 games | 176 goals | 193 assists | 369 points | -33
Forward Matt Moulson has had a rough for the better part of his three seasons in Buffalo as he's not been able to regain his 30-goal form from his time with the NY Islanders.
Moulson's first season in Buffalo was promising as he totaled 41 points (13+28) on Buffalo's top line for an offensively inept Sabres team. However he's had trouble in the two seasons since. In 2015-16, under Bylsma, he fell down the depth chart in large part due to improper off-season conditioning. He came back in much better shape, and with a renewed desire last season, but was relegated to powerplay specialist status as 11 of his 14 goals came with the man advantage.
He has two years left on his contract with a $5 million cap-hit. Buying him out would have been impractical this season but next year may be a different story.
Moulson is a great guy, who even took rookie Jack Eichel into his home to help him adjust. However, the speed of the game may have passed him by.
Building the 2017-18 Buffalo Sabres roster:
LW, Evander Kane / C, Jack Eichel / RW, Sam Reinhart
LW, Benoit Pouliot / C, Ryan O'Reilly / RW, Kyle Okposo
LW, Evan Rodrigues / C, Johan Larsson / RW, Jason Pominville
D, Marco Scandella / D, Rasmus Ristolainen
D, Nathan Beaulieu / D, Victor Antipin
G, Robin Lehner
G, Chad Johnson
Follow me on twitter @boosbuzzsabres
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)