Impressions of, and questions concerning--D, Josh Gorges

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 5-28-2018


Defenseman--Josh Gorges
DOB:  August 14, 1984 (Age, 33)
Draft:  Undrafted
How acquired:  FA
Last contract signed:  January 1, 2014, 6yrs./$23.4 million 
Final year of contract: 2017-18


2017-18 Stats:  34 games played | 0 goals | 2 assists | 2 points | -4 | 14:56 ATOI

Buffalo Career Stats:  223 games | 3 goals | 23 assists | 26 points | -42 | 19:25 ATOI


What we wrote preseason:  Gorges was part of a veteran trio that Murray brought in on July 1, 2014 to help guide the youngins through what was about to become a very difficult transition.

As a defensive defenseman with some sandpaper to his game, Gorges was a good compliment to young defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen through those years. Although he struggled to keep pace with the best the opposition had to offer as a top-pairing defenseman, he held his own and was especially adept on the penalty kill. In Buffalo's first season out of the basement, the Sabres finished ninth in the league on the kill with a 82.6% success rate.

Gorges slowly moved down the depth-chart last season, and rightfully so, as the speed of the game began to pass him by. At 33 yrs. old and with a lot of wear and tear on his body after playing years as a rugged defenseman, playing on the third-pairing while also playing key minutes short-handed was an ideal situation for him. He's always been dependable but the game has changed and with Botterill bringing in three mobile defenseman who are more to what Housley is looking for, Gorges looks to be the odd man out.
What we wrote mid-season:  At one point during an extremely rough stretch, the Sabres needed a solid, defensive-defenseman like Gorges just to settle down the entire d-corps. It started in San Jose' as the Sabres were coming off back-to-back drubbings only three games into the season and Gorges got the job done. Of all the players who've played 15 games or more this season, he's is the only player on the positive side of the plus/minus rating (plus-1.) Gorges the consummate good soldier and will probably be acquired by a playoff team for depth. It would be great to see him hoist the Stanley Cup.

Impressions on his play this year:  He never got traded and probably will never be on a Stanley Cup-winning team, but were he to hang up his skates this year, Gorges will be able to look back on a long career of 783 regular season and 68 playoff games. Not bad for an undrafted free agent.

Gorges is a free agent once again and for many in Buffalo, the end of his contract couldn't have come soon enough. It was a difficult season for him and an extremely difficult four seasons since being acquired from the Montreal Canadiens in the summer of 2014. At locker cleanout he told the gathered media. "Throughout the course of this year, especially, it was get to the end of the year, and then when that's done, get away from everything hockey," he said with a smile, "spend some time with my family, get back home and try not to think about hockey at all."

Despite the difficult season for him where he was used very little on a last place team, Gorges remained the consummate professional and still held true to what he was told years ago. "To play in this league is a privilege," he said, "it's not a right, you don't deserve to play here, it's a privilege. Take every day because you don't know when it could be your last."

Questions moving forward:  Will an NHL team find a spot for him?


Contract info via CapFriendly, stats via sabres.com and hockey reference.com.

Gorges locker cleanout video via sabres.com:

Gamenight. Finally. Plus, Bogosian, Nelson and Lehner

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 1-18-2018


If it seems like it's been a long time between games for the Buffalo Sabres, it has. Buffalo has been on their bye week since a 3-1 win vs. Columbus and based upon what we've been seeing within the last few threads, hockey's return in Sabreland couldn't come soon enough. For as bad as the Sabres have been for most of the season, discussing players, systems and coaching ends up being much less personal than, say, things like politics.

It's off the 'bye week' and into Madison Square Gardens tonight as Buffalo takes on the NY Rangers at 7:30 pm on NBCSN. In their only other meeting this season, the Rangers topped Buffalo 3-2 in overtime at CitiField in the 10th Winter Classic on January 1. The Sabres are 3-5-2 in their last 10 games vs. NY and 4-4-2 on the road.

The Rangers are fourth in the Metropolitan Division, two points behind the Columbus Blue Jackets and are in the first wildcard slot, tied with the Pittsburgh Penguins (who have played two more games,) one point ahead of the NY Islanders. The Blueshirts, who went through a re-tool this past off season, have been riding the back of goaltender Henrik Lundqvist who's faced the second-most shots in the league (1115.) His .924 save percentage is tied for third amongst goaltenders who have played in 20 or more games and after his 5-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday, Lundqvist became the first goalie in NHL history to win 20 games 13 consecutive seasons.


*****

Buffalo heads into the game tonight as the league's 30th place team with a league-low 2.41 goals/per game, a number of players who might be dealt at the trade deadline and d-corps that's been depleted by injury and/or illness.

The big hit to the blueline came when Zach Bogosian went down during an intense practice just over a week ago. Bogosian, who started out the season injured, is expected to be out at least another four weeks with a lower body injury.

It's been rough and rocky travelling for Bogosian, a former first round pick (2008, 3rd-overall) of the Atlanta Flames. His time in Buffalo has been marked by inconsistent play, with some of it being unwatchable, as the Sabres are saddled with a nearly immovable contract that carries a cap-hit of $5.14 million for the next two seasons.

Since acquiring him in February, 2015 the NHL has relied less on his rugged style of play from the back end and more on speed and finesse leaving Bogosian searching for his game. The East is loaded with speed and his bruiser mentality seems to have gotten lost in the quick Lilliputians skating circles around him. Bogosian may be better suited to the Western Conference where there's still a lot of speed, but size and a heavy style of play can still be effective vs. much of the conference.

Word on the street (viaWGR550's Howard Simon) is that the Los Angeles Kings might be interested in Bogosian or fellow Sabres d-man Josh Gorges, among a few others, to help bolster their blueline. The Kings have about $3.8 million in cap-space this season so the Sabres would need to eat a good portion, probably half, for it to work out financially for Los Angeles.

Methinks that if the Kings wanted to work a deal for Bogosian, Sabres GM Jason Botterill would jump at it.


*****

In addition to Bogosian, the Sabres also have had the flu bug hit two defensemen.

Rookie Victor Antipin got it in December and that bout helped extend the number of games since he's played to 10 games. Antipin was a healthy scratch in the two games prior to the Christmas break and missed the last eight as a result of his bout with the flu. He said he lost 10 pounds during his illness and during the bye week he's been trying to add weight and strength for a return to the lineup.

Defenseman Nathan Beaulieu missed practice yesterday and won't play tonight as he's listed as day-to-day with an illness.

With Bogosian and Beaulieu out and Antipin a game-time decision, the Sabres were down to five healthy defensemen--Rasmus Ristolainen, Marco Scandella, Jake McCabe, Justin Falk and Gorges--so they called up Casey Nelson from the Rochester Americans.

Nelson was a 2016 free agent signee who played in seven games for the Sabres registering four assists through a three-game point-streak to start his NHL career. Many thought he could jump right in but he had a terrible go of it in 11 appearances early in the 2016-17 season and was sent to Rochester for seasoning. It took a while for him to get acclimated, but finished his rookie season with 21 points (7+14) in 56 games but had a minus-10 plus/minus rating. This year he's been playing bigger minutes, has 11 points (2+9) in 37 games and leads the team with a plus-11 rating.

The well-earned promotion has Nelson excited and somewhat nervous. After yesterday's practice he told the gathered media that he's "just going to go out there and try to stay loose and hopefully capitalize on this opportunity."

This wouldn't be the first time that Nelson bounced back from a rough start. He had a rough go of it his first season at Minnesota State and spent plenty of time out of the lineup early in his freshman year. But according to his coach, Mike Hastings, instead of pooh, poohing, Nelson "immersed himself" in preparation and by the end of his junior year was one of the most sought after college free agents.

Nelson came to the pros as an offensive, puck-moving defenseman but has spent the last season-and-a-half working on his defensive game. When asked if he felt the improvement in his game, he said, "absolutely, especially on defense.

"I don't have a lot of chances on the powerplay this year, which is fine, because my game has totally changed on the backend," he continued. "I just feel more comfortable out there."


*****

Yesterday we brought up a potential trade destination for Buffalo goalie Robin Lehner--the NY Islanders--were the Sabres interested in trading him. However, with word out that Corey Crawford may be done for the season in Chicago, it would seem as if the Blackhawks may also be a possible landing spot.

Reporter Paul Skrbina of the Chicago Tribune wrote, "with the trade deadline looming Feb. 26 and the playoff race thick, finding a trading partner could be dicey for the Hawks." Skrbina then offered up a few goalies "who will be free agents after this season, should the Hawks find a willing trade partner, most likely a team that isn’t in playoff contention"--Lehner, Petr Mrazek (DET,) and Annti Raanta (ARI.)

The Hawks are three points out of the second wild card spot in the Western Conference, but are also right up against the cap-ceiling. However, they could get some relief if they put Crawford on long-term injured reserve.

It might be something to keep an eye on.

Thoughts...

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 10-17-2017


If we in Sabreland want to believe that this team is ready to step out of the abyss and begin to rise, then tonight is a must win.

Period.

The Sabres have been playing much better than the two stinkers they put together at Brooklyn against the NY Islanders and at home vs. the New Jersey Devils. A West Coast road trip has shaken them out of their collective slumber and got them focusing upon playing as a team on the entire sheet of ice.

Buffalo started their four-game trip at San Jose' to take on a winless Sharks' team at the SAP Center and proceeded to drop a 3-2 decision. The Sabres headed south to Los Angeles where they hadn't beaten the Kings since 2010 and worse yet hadn't scored a goal in four tries as they lost each of them by the exact 2-0 score. Zemgus Girgensons ended that scoring drought in the first and the team was looking to grab at least a point until an Evander Kane penalty with 2:04 left in the game squashed those dreams. The Kings scored :04 seconds later, added an empty-netter and sent Buffalo to a 4-2 defeat.

Sunday night in Anaheim the Sabres got off the schneid and won their first game of the season against a depleted Ducks lineup by the score of 3-1. Perhaps the most endearing quality of that win was that they finally got some secondary scoring as call-up Justin Bailey, Sam Reinhart and Johan Larsson (empty-net) all scored for the Sabres.

As we've watched this team through the last three games we seen them progress nicely  as a team while individually some players have started to come to life.

Tonight they face the expansion Vegas Golden Knights to wrap up their road trip.

Vegas has been pretty feisty in their surprising 4-1-0 start and coach Gerald Gallant has them playing smart, team hockey. “Anytime you’re going to have success in this league it’s about your forwards working hard with your defensemen,” Gallant told the local media yesterday. “We always talk about five-man connection; it’s a big word for our team. When you play five men in the D-zone, you play five men in the neutral zone and you play five men offensively you’re going to have a chance to win most nights.”

The Golden Knights don't have the horses to play a speed game as shown in their 6-3 defeat at the hands of the Detroit Red Wings. But they followed that up with a win vs. the Boston Bruins. "We played a good, solid, hard-working game (against Boston,)" said the coach. "It wasn’t a game like the other night where it was a lot faster paced. (Sunday) was more of a checkers match; there wasn’t a whole lot of scoring chances either way. I thought we played a good, solid game and it was a good, solid defensive effort for sure.”

That's what the Sabres will be up against tonight, an effort by Vegas to play a tight-checking game. Which is fine. But regardless of what they're up against, the fact is that they're facing an expansion team with a backup goalie in net who has three starts under his belt.

There's no excuse for Buffalo not to come away with two points. That is, if they want us to believe that the ship is righted and moving ahead.


*****

Justin Bailey was a force against Anaheim. He scored his first goal of the season in the first shift of his first game this year. For the rest of the game he was as advertised, a big, fast powerforward who can play a rambunctious yet controlled style of play and get to the puck quickly.

Bailey's been able to score at the AHL-level but has yet to see that transfer to the NHL. Prior to last nights game he had four points (2+2) in 40 NHL games and although much of the time he played well, the fact that he wasn't hitting the scoresheet was troubling.

This is Bailey's best shot at sticking with the team and to do so he'll not only need to play exactly the way he did against Anaheim, but he'll also need to hit the score sheet with some regularity.


*****

Sabres defenseman Josh Gorges has taken a beating in social media hockey circles because his advanced stats are press box worthy. Yet Gorges did something for this club that doesn't show up in Corsi, Fenwick, puck possession or any other fancy stat--he helped stabilize the defense.

Prior to him getting the start in San Jose', the Buffalo defense was a trainwreck as that corps, as well as the forward group, were thinking all offense. In looking to jump into the play and create offense they forgot about their own zone and gave up six goals in back-to-back games.

Gorges will never be an analytics darling much less a scorer, but having someone back their locked into defensive assignments has helped the team refocus their energies a bit. The Sabres have gotten progressively better on this road trip and despite Gorges' known shortcomings, he's a big part of why they've been able to pull it together on defense.


*****

Jack Eichel was named the game's first star in Anaheim on Sunday, yet he didn't hit the scoresheet. Just goes to show that he was a strong presence the entire game, most notably in the d-zone where he backchecked hard and was on constantly on the puck making it difficult for the Ducks players.

Eichel needs to continue doing what he's been doing and that includes a focus on defense.

Perhaps he's learning what it's like to be a leader and he's finally discovering that the great player that lies within him can lift those around him. Seven points (2+6) in six games was expected although some may have thought that the goal-total would be a bit higher, but regardless, he's showing why many had him close to Connor McDavid heading into the 2015 NHL Draft.


*****

Both Ryan O'Reilly and Sam Reinhart finally seem to be engaged and played probably their best games of the season on Sunday. Too bad it took so long, but it's good to see them coming to life.

Reinhart scored the game-winner late in the second period against Anaheim. After losing credit for the goal to Benoit Pouliot the NHL reversed their reversal and credited Reinhart with his first goal of the season. You could see the relief in his face at the huge monkey was lifted off of his back.

O'Reilly's yet to score a goal, but he's a professional and has been through this before. The big thing for the two-way center was to be fully engaged in a two-way game, something that was missing through the first three games. He's been progressively better throughout this road trip and it's no wonder that the team has gotten better as he has.


*****

Gorges has played well in a third-pairing role but up top the duo of Rasmus Ristolainen and Marco Scandella have picked up their game as well. It was mentioned by WGR550 Radio's Paul Hamilton that their focus has been on the defensive zone and that once their more comfortable, Ristolainen will be able to join the rush a little more.

Although they haven't been perfect, they've only been together for three games. It seems as if they've developed some chemistry already and furthering that means that they'll only get better.


*****

Chad Johnson will reportedly be in net for Buffalo tonight. It's something he earned with an extremely strong performance in Anaheim.

It's a rather bold move by coach Phil Housley, but they won their first game of the season with Johnson so why change?


*****

However, it's also been reported that Housley has changed up his powerplay units a bit in an effort to bring them to life. The Sabres are only 2 for 22 (9.1%) with the man advantage this year and worse yet, they've given up a league-leading five shorthanded goals.

O'Reilly was moved to the second unit to make room for Kyle Okposo who's returning from illness.

The PP units from the morning skate according to the local media in attendance:

PP1--Eichel, Okposo, Reinhart, Pominville, Ristolainen
PP2--O'Reilly, Kane, Moulson, Beaulieu, Tennyson


*****

And, finally, Dear Evander Kane. Please stay out of the penalty box. Not only does it hurt your team, but you can't score from there either.

Love,

Sabreland

Building the 2017-18 Buffalo Sabres roster--The Reserves

It was a big weekend for cuts as the Buffalo Sabres sent forward Cliff Pu back to his junior club and 14 players to the Rochester Americans. Pu had an excellent training camp and Prospects Challenge tournament while also impressing the Sabres brass to the point where he stuck with the team for Friday's game in Toronto. Although he missed his London Knights opener, he would come back the next night to record two primary assists, including one in overtime, as the Knights won 3-2.

With the Rochester Americans set to open camp today, 14 players were sent east on I-90:

Forwards: Kevin Porter (subject to waivers), Stevie Moses, Eric Cornel, Vaclav Karabacek, Kyle Criscuolo, Hudson Fasching, C.J. Smith

Defensemen Casey Nelson, Brycen Martin, Devante Stephens, Brendan Guhle

Goaltenders Adam Wilcox, Jonas Johansson, Jason Kasdorf

The Amerks open up their preseason schedule with a back-to-back with the Toronto Marlies this Friday and Saturday.

The Sabres have two more preseason games before they begin the regular season on Thursday, October 5 when the Montreal Canadiens visit KeyBank Center. This weekend wasn't kind to the club as they suffered back-to-back losses at the hands of the rival Toronto Maple Leafs. With the team still adapting to coach Phil Housley's system and Housley himself still adjusting to being an NHL head coach, the Leafs came away with 3-0 and 3-1 victories against Buffalo with three of Toronto's goals coming in the form of empty-netters.

Amongst the positives for Buffalo was the goaltending of Linus Ullmark who stopped 32 of 33 shots in the first game and Robin Lehner who stopped 30 of 32 in the second game. Buffalo's penalty kill also did some yeoman's work as they went 11/13 (84%) while being shorthanded.

Bubble roster players only have two more games to make an impression with the final preseason game normally used as a tune-up for the opening night roster. With a new system being put in place for both clubs, and GM Jason Botterill's commitment to not only proper seasoning for his young players, but also making Rochester more competitive, it's not surprising to see players like Guhle and Hudson Fasching get sent down. And it also may be an indication of who amongst the remaining 12 skaters will stick with Buffalo in a reserve role when the season opens.


Nicolas Deslauriers
26 yrs. old
6'1" 215 lbs.
2009 third-round (84th-overall, LAK)
Acquired from the LA Kings in a trade on March 5, 2104

Career stats:  211 games  |  12 goals  |  18 assists  |  30 points  |  -54

When former Sabres GM Tim Murray took the reigns of the club in January, 2014, it would seem as if he wanted to build a club in the mold of the LA Kings. The two-time Cup-winning Kings played a physical, heavy Western Conference style of play and Murray went right to the source to snag two "heavies" in Nicolas Deslauriers and Hudson Fasching in a trade with Los Angeles.

Deslauriers was a converted defenseman playing wing in a bottom-six role. At 215 lbs. he has the heft, wasn't afraid to through that weight around, would drop the gloves and could skate pretty well too. He had a solid first full NHL season in Buffalo registering 15 points (5+10) in a fourth-line role while playing in all 82 games for the Sabres in 2015-16.

However, despite scoring one more goal in 12 less games for Buffalo last season, Deslauriers looked like he took a step back. The big powerforward seemed slow to react to what was transpiring on the ice and as the speed of the game went up, his ice-time went down from 10:20 to 7:25.

Deslauriers has had a good training camp and may have done enough to warrant a spot on the roster in a reserve role.


Justin Bailey
22 yrs. old
6'4" 214 lbs.
2013, 52nd-overall

Career stats:  40 games  |  2 goals  |  2 assists  |  4 points  |  -2

This might go against what was laid out earlier, but there are a few factors involved in Bailey making the Sabres opening night roster.

The first one is the injury to Evan Rodrigues. The forward was hit hard into the boards over the weekend and his status is up in the air. Although the 24 yr. old Rodrigues wasn't a shoe-in to make the roster, he was having an extremely strong camp and was getting noticed for all the right reasons by the Sabres brass. If he's out there's room for Justin Bailey in the bottom-six in Buffalo.

Second in is Bailey's maturity and his success at the AHL-level. Although only 22 yrs. old, the big powerforward with impressive skating ability he seems to have learned about all he can from the minors with 81 points (43+38) in 122 AHL games.

Thirdly, he's made an impression on the penalty kill during preseason which is something that helped separate him  from other roster-bubble players. It's a change in philosophy short-handed that may have given him an in to the Sabres roster. According to Bailey, the coaches want more aggressiveness on the kill. "I'm a big guy and I have a long reach with my stick," he told the gathered media this weekend, "and one of my best assets is my legs, so whether it's a loose puck or a rebound or anything like that they want us to be going hard and physical at the guy."

He's smart enough to realize that if the PK is his ticket to the big club, than so be it.


Josh Gorges
33 yrs. old
6'1" 204 lbs.
Undrafted FA
Acquired from the Montreal Canadiens July 1, 2014

Career stats:  749 games  |  17 goals  |  105 assists  |  122 points  |  -2

Gorges was part of a veteran trio that Murray brought in on July 1, 2014 to help guide the youngins through what was about to become a very difficult transition. He, Brian Gionta and Matt Moulson all wore letters for the abysmal 2014-15 season and the transitional 2015-16 season.

As a defensive defenseman with some sandpaper to his game, Gorges was a good compliment to young defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen through those years. Although he struggled to keep pace with the best the opposition had to offer as a top-pairing defenseman, he held his own and was especially adept on the penalty kill. In Buffalo's first season out of the basement, the Sabres finished ninth in the league on the kill with a 82.6% success rate.

Gorges slowly moved down the depth-chart last season, and rightfully so, as the speed of the game began to pass him by. At 33 yrs. old and with a lot of wear and tear on his body after playing years as a rugged defenseman, playing on the third-pairing while also playing key minutes short-handed was an ideal situation for him. He's always been dependable but the game has changed and with Botterill bringing in three mobile defenseman who are more to what Housley is looking for, Gorges looks to be the odd man out.

When injuries hit, he'll get the call and there's a possibility that he could end up on the trade block at the trade-deadline next year as he's in the final year of his contract.


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
LW, Zemgus Girgensons / C, Jacob Josefson / RW, Matt Moulson

Nicolas Deslauriers /  Justin Bailey

D, Marco Scandella / D, Rasmus Ristolainen
D, Jake McCabe / D, Zach Bogosian
D, Nathan Beaulieu / D, Victor Antipin

Josh Gorges


G, Robin Lehner
G, Chad Johnson

No reason for the Sabres to buy out any player this season.

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 6-14-2017


Buyout season has begun and the big name so far is Dan Girardi. The 33 yr. old veteran was bought out by the NY Rangers and because of it they opened up a spot on their protected list for the expansion draft.  The undrafted Welland, Ontario native played in 788 games for the Rangers and compiled 230 points. He had a cap-hit of $5.5 million and according to a TSN report, "Girardi will count for $2.6 million against the cap next season, $3.6 million in the next two years and $1.1 million for the following three seasons starting with 2020-21."

Unlike the NY Rangers, the Buffalo Sabres really don't need a protected spot to free up. In fact they actually have an opening in the 7 forwards, 3 defensemen, 1 goalie protected format and would gladly trade for a top-four d-man to add to their roster.

New GM Jason Botterill was known for his cap wizardry in Pittsburgh where the Penguins had $32.2 million tied up for just four players--Evgeni Malikin ($9.5M,) Sidney Crosby (8.7,) Kris Letang (7.2,) Phil Kessel (6.8)--and had another $5.5 million cap-hit for goalie Marc-Andre Fleury. Those five players took up over half the $73 million cap-ceiling and Botterill was in charge of filling the other 18 roster spots with only $35 million to spend.

Buffalo finished last season close to the cap and right now, according to CapFriendly, they have less than $52 million against the cap, which includes the $750K cap-hit goalie Linus Ullmark signed for. As of right now they have over $20 million to use on six roster openings--3 forwards, 2 defense and one goalie.

Let's project that goalie Robin Lehner will sign for $4.5 million and that forwards Nick Baptiste (718K) and Justin Bailey (670K) along with defenseman Victor Antipin (925K) are all on the roster at the beginning of the season. That adds about $6.2M to the cap giving the Sabres just under $15M to use on one forward and one defenseman.

Botterill has said that bolstering the defense will be a top priority and I'm sure he'll jump at the opportunity to upgrade any position on the roster. And as much as he'd probably like to rid himself of an undesirable contract, conceivably he could go into this season and this season alone without having to resort to a buyout.

The Sabres have four undesired contracts that are of concern on various levels. Based upon term remaining, they belong to Zach Bogosian (three years,) Tyler Ennis (two years,) Matt Moulson (two years) and Josh Gorges one year.) When buyouts were first mentioned during their very disappointing season, Moulson was the name that popped up most frequently. Gorges was a close second.

Moulson has two years remaining on his contract that pays him $5 million/yr. The former 30-goal scorer has seen his numbers decline drastically the last two seasons as he posted only eight goals in 2015-16 and 14 goals last season. In 2016-17 he was basically reduced to the role of a powerplay specialist in that 11 of those goals were scored on the powerplay.  CapFriendly has a buyout cap-hit of $2.83M this year, $3.83M next year and $833K for the remaining two years.

It's something that doesn't make a lot of sense.

Nor does buying out Gorges.

Gorges has only one year remaining on his contract and his cap-hit is $3.9M. Although the numbers are favorable $1.3M buyout cap-hit for the next two seasons, they can keep him in a bottom-pairing/penalty kill role and if things don't work out for the Sabres when the calendar turns, they can explore trading him at the trade deadline.

As for Bogosian and Ennis, the former has three years left on his deal and buying him out would mean his six more years of a cap-hit with the final three being close to $2M. Ennis would have the Sabres eating $2.6M over the first two seasons and $1.6M after that.

Both Bogosain and Ennis have value to the club right now and it would seem as if Botterill would have one more option to rid himself of one of those contracts--the expansion draft.

The Las Vegas Golden Knights will fill their roster with one player from every NHL team and GM George McPhee knows that there are teams desperate to rid themselves of contracts. Through various interactions with many GM's throughout the league, he's letting it be know that he's the man for a job like that. But it won't come cheap.

Apparently trades have been agreed to already and we're not sure if Botterill is in on any of them at this point. My guess is that he will be able to send a particular player to Las Vegas--it's my belief it will be Ennis--thereby giving himself even more wiggle room both this year and next, when Jack Eichel, Sam Reinhart and possibly Evander Kane will start new contracts.

The Sabres have done plenty of buyouts the last few seasons, but this year they can back off if need be.

"It's a playoff atmosphere for us from here on out."

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 2-4-2017


Thus spoke Sabres defenseman Josh Gorges as he's ready to return to the lineup for the first time since January 7 when he was sidelined with a hip injury.

Both he and fellow defenseman Jake McCabe were cleared to play and will jump right into the fire without going through a practice with the team. Granted, this is will be Buffalo's 51st game of the season so the duo should be well versed in their jobs and this will be the Sabres fourth meeting with the Ottawa Senators so they should to expect from their Atlantic Division rival.

Getting into something resembling game-shape was the big hurdle for Gorges and McCabe, as well as the countless others that have had to come back from injury. February is a particularly busy month as Buffalo plays 14 games in the shortest month of the year plus will have their bye-week later in month. Practice time will be scarce so the Sabres relied upon rehab specialist Dennis Miller.

Jourdon LaBarber of Sabres.com writes that Miller rehabbing involves "battle drills," something we've been hearing quite often but never associating a name with. LaBarber quotes Gorges as saying this about Miller, ""The old school mentality of stand on the line and coach with a whistle and a stop watch and say 'go,' and you keep skating and skating and skating, that might get your lungs ready but playing hockey is so much different than straight-line skating back and forth.

"I think Dennis, he does such a great job of not only what I need as a player, but specific to me as a defenseman. He factors in all these different things so he gets you ready so when you're back you're ready to step right back in again."

And they're gonna need it.

Despite Buffalo's 2-0-1 record this season against Ottawa, playing the Senators is always a battle. All three games this year have been decided by one goal as were two of four last season. The Sabres beat Ottawa 2-1 in early November and lost 2-1 in the shootout four days later. Both games were played while Jack Eichel was on the injured list. Eichel came back for the last game of November and help skate Buffalo to a 5-4 win with a goal and an assists in his 2016-17 debut. Ryan O'Reilly had two goals and an assist in that game as well.

O'Reilly spent some time on the injured list as did winger Evander Kane, but the forward ranks, at least in the top nine are about as healthy as they've been all season long. Unfortunatley the injury troubles the forwards had has shifted to the defense-corps.

Although the Sabres are getting Gorges and McCabe back, Zach Bogosian injured his ribs in the first period on Thursday night. Buffalo played with five defenseman against a very fast and highly skilled NY Rangers team and almost pulled it off as they came from  behind in the third period but ended up falling in overtime, 2-1.

I guess one out but two back in is better than the other way around. With the return of Gorges and McCabe, the Sabres now have one extra defenseman and head coach Dan Bylsma chose to sit Taylor Fedun who's done yeoman's work for the entirety of 2017 thus far. Bylsma's keeping Justin Falk in the lineup and he'll be playing his off side opposite Gorges according to the projected lineup for Sabres.com. Rasmus Ristolainen and Dmitry Kulikov will continue on the top pairing while McCabe will be on the left and Cody Franson on the right in the second pairing.

The Sabres suffered another injury up front as Will Carrier went down with a knee injury, according to Bylsma, but Buffalo called up the red hot Justin Bailey from Rochester.

Bailey has been on a tear for the Amerks since mid-December when he started a seven-game goal streak which featured his first NHL goal against Henrik Lundqvist and the NY Rangers while he was on a call-up right in the middle of the streak. His 19 goals leads the Amerks and places him tied for fifth overall in the American Hockey League.

Bylsma had nothing but great things to say about Bailey as he spoke with the gathered media today.  He acknowledged with definitive nods that Bailey has been dominating the AHL then talked about the 21 yr. old power forward's game. "You saw it when he was last with us," said the coach, "the speed he showed on the forecheck against the Rangers, the turnover and getting his goal .Also late in that game you saw his speed up the ice and his ability to sling the puck at the net. He beat Lundqvist for a second time but hit the post.

"If you watched his last few games in Rochester, it's six, seven, eight times a game he's [with] his speed and his ability to put pressure on teams with that speed, he's a force."

No one knows how much of that he'll be able to use as Bylsma has Bailey on the fourth line with defenseman-turned-winger-turned fourth-line center in Nicolas Deslauriers and Tyler Ennis, but he'll need to make the best of what time he's given by playing the way that got him noticed.

The rest of the forward lines look to be the same, according to Sabres.com:

Moulson-O'Reilly-Okposo
Foligno-Eichel-Reinhart
Kane-Girgensons-Gionta.

Robin Lehner gets the nod in net.

With 32 games left to play and a lot of work to be done just to get into the middle of a clump of playoff hopefuls, there's no time like the present to get the ball rolling. Buffalo's on a three-game winless skid (0-2-1) and time's a wastin'.

To rivals going at it at Key Bank center with the home team (hopefully) desperate for a win should make for a playoff atmosphere in Buffalo. Which is the way it should be at this time of year.

Impressions of, and questions concerning--D, Josh Gorges

Reprinted with permission from hockeybuzz.com


Defenseman--Josh Gorges
DOB:  August 14, 1984 (age, 31)
Draft:  Undrafted free agent signed by San Jose' Sharks, 2002
How acquired:  Trade with Montreal, July 1, 2014
Last contract signed:  2012, 6yr./$23.4M
Final year of contract:  2017-18

2015-16 Stats:  77 games, 2 goals, 10 assists, 12 points, -7


What we wrote preseason:  The trade to Buffalo, while shunning Toronto was "a decision that weighed heavily on him last season, especially with his first child on the way (born four days after the trade,) and it affected his play as he found himself in unfamiliar territory on a team barreling towards the bottom of the league.

"Last year he was shelved for the last 26 games after playing on a bad knee that got worse as the season progressed. As one of the few left-handed defensemen on the roster right now, Gorges looks to have a spot in the top-four amidst a major roster overhaul that has occurred in the last six months. A healthy Gorges (in both mind and body) will be a big boost to the Sabres blueline. He's accustomed to big, shutdown minutes and being sound in his own end no matter who he's paired with. This year, especially, he may see a multitude of d-partners as the team tries to figure out where everybody fits in. And it will be his job, along with others, to lead by example most notably by doing what they do best in whatever role they're in."

What we wrote mid-season:  "has been playing an underrated, shutdown game for the Sabres while being on the top-pairing with Ristolainen. Gorges had some injury problems last season which affected his game and ultimately affected how he was perceived by those in Sabreland. Although he doesn't look out of place next to a stud like Ristolainen, a second-pairing spot where he can be a shutdown force may be in the cards for him sometime in the near future. Should Buffalo find that top-pairing, left-handed d-man (and who knows, it may end up possibly being McCabe) then having Gorges on the second-pairing with top-PK duties would be a great thing for the defense.

Impressions on his play this year:  Steady defensive play, minimal offensive production. For a player who ranked third on the team in even-strength average time on ice/game (18:07) and second amongst defensemen in ATOI on the penalty kill (2:16,) a $3.9M cap-hit is quite the value. He also lead the team in blocked shots with an average of 2.2/game and lead the team in hits with 143 which only adds to his value.

Gorges was playing a notch above his skill-level on the top-pairing, but still managed to come away with a minus-7 rating as he meshed quite well with top d-man, Rasmus Ristolainen. Having a true pro like Gorges was beneficial to Ristolainen as he progressed nicely putting up career numbers while leading the team in ATOI. Gorges also wore the 'A' again last season.

Questions moving forward:  What you see is what you get, so how much more can the Sabres get out of Gorges should he in fact end up on the second pair with first pk-unit responsibilities? He's reaching that age where a more rugged defenseman's body will start to give way. Will health issues start to creep into the equation? Can he be a long-term fixture on the back end?

No Eichel magic in Beantown last night. B's drop Sabres in OT.

Reprinted with permission from hockeybuzz.com


The last time the Buffalo Sabres were in Boston, Massachusetts native Jack Eichel had a whale of a game scoring 2 goals and adding 2 assists while leading his Sabres to 6-3 comeback win in Beantown on the strength of five unanswered third period goals.

Not so much last night as the Bruins won in 2-1 in overtime on a penalty shot goal by longtime Buffalo nemesis, Brad Marchand.

Marchand was awarded the penalty shot after Buffalo's Rasmus Ristolainen coughed up the puck to him a second time. The first was at the Boston blueline but Sabres captian Brian Gionta saved the day and on the second one Ristolainen's pass labeled for Johan Larsson was picked off by Marchand who streaked in on goalie Robin Lehner. Ristolainen went with a stick-check, Marchand promptly smacked that weak effort into the air and headed towards the net with Ristolainen mugging him the rest of the way.

Was it penalty-shot worthy?

Meh. I think not. Ristolainen didn't grab him. He just kept shoving him to try and knock him off stride. The ref, however, thought so and pointed towards center ice. Marchand went in, deeked Lehner and roofed a back-hander. Game over. Bruins take the season series.

Notes as the Sabres visit frigid St. Paul looking to get hot

Reprinted with permission from hockeybuzz.com


The Buffalo Sabres finally broke a six-game losing streak with a strong win against a good team in a hostile, yet, fun-loving, environment of the MTS Center, home of the Winnipeg Jets.

Lots of sub-plots to that contest beginning and ending with former Jet and present Sabre, Evander Kane. In between 20 yr. old rookie forward Sam Reinhart recorded a hat trick, the first of his career and, via Sabres PR, the first by a Sabres rookie since Jason Pominville did so on January 14, 2006 vs. the LA Kings.

The Jets at the time had a 19-19-3 record heading into the game and sat near the bottom of the Western Conference. It was a bit of a break for Buffalo as they'd just came off of a seven-game post-Christmas break schedule featuring games against the Boston Bruins, a home-and-home against the Washington Capitals, a three-game homestand vs. the NY Islanders, Detroit Red Wings and Florida Panthers then hit the road for the first of their three-game Midwest roadtrip in Chicago. All of those teams have more wins than losses and OT/SO losses combined and are in the top-10 of their respective conferences.

In light of that, and with the full knowledge of the rough patch the team went through in November facing some of the powerhouses of the Western Conference, I said to myself, "Self? Just how rough a schedule did the Sabres have the first part of the season?"

Building the 2015-16 Buffalo Sabres roster--D, Josh Gorges

Reprinted with permission from hockeybuzz.com


Defenseman Josh Gorges was one of three veteran players brought to Buffalo by Sabres GM Tim Murray at the beginning of free agency July 1, 2014. The trio of Gorges, Brian Gionta and Matt Moulson were headed to a team that had just finished in last place and the prospects for the upcoming season didn't look much brighter. Sure enough, the Sabres finished in last place once again.

Unlike Gionta and Moulson who signed free agent contracts with the Sabres, Gorges was traded for. Murray sent a 2016 second round pick (received from Minnesota in the 2014 trade of Moulson to the Wild) to the Montreal Canadiens for Gorges. It was a trade that surprised many, especially up in Toronto where backlash was fast and furious. The Maple Leafs had a trade offer on the table, but Gorges had a limited no-trade clause which included the Toronto as one of 15 teams he would not go to. Buffalo was originally on that list but Gorges reconsidered and the trade to the Sabres went through.

Boy did that ruffle some feathers at "the center of the hockey universe."

"[Gorges] made that decision of supposedly sound mind, or so we are informed," wrote Steve Simmons of the Toronto Star. "He selected living in Buffalo and playing for quite possibly the worst team in the NHL over living in Toronto and playing in the so-called centre of the hockey universe.

"He chose the armpit of America over one of the world’s great cities, current traffic and politics aside."

Tim Murray defines a "changing" core for his team

Reprinted with permission from hockeybuzz.com


The word "core" can be a four-letter word from the point of view of a Sabres fan in 2015. It's a word that conjures up visions of a talented group of individual players who's underachieving, passive play inevitably lead to years of mediocrity as a team. "Core" can be a good word, like in Los Angeles with the Kings or with the Blackhawks in Chicago. Or it can touch a nerve, like in Buffalo.

When Sabres' broadcaster Brian Duff asked Buffalo GM Tim Murray to "define the core," yesterday before the game at Washington, it caused a mild twitch, albeit much milder than in recent years past. And that's a good thing as the past is slowly giving way to the future.

So how many players represent Murray's core right now?

"It changes depending on the circumstances," Murray told Duff. "Certainly today when you have Brian Gionta, Matty Moulson and Josh Gorges (the Sabres' three captains) and [Zemgus] Girgensons and [Mike] Weber and the two kids on the blue line (Rasmus Ristolainen and Nikita Zadorov.)

"They're here. They're all NHL players."

Oh what a relief it is. Plus other notes.

Reprinted with permission from hockeybuzz.com


N-ole' for you, Les Habitants. And thanks for doing your little part in allowing the Buffalo Sabres a reprieve from a franchise low-point.

For posterity's sake, the Sabres were on a 14-game losing streak, obliterating the previous losing streak of eight games set in the 2002-03 season as they hit Bell Centre Ice in Montreal. On the road they'd lost 10 in a row before the win last night and were winless in 14 road games (0-13-1.) Their last road victory occurred on November 29, 2014 when they beat the Canadiens 4-3 in a shootout.

One final note on that bout with futility, the 3-2 win in Montreal was their first regulation win since a 4-3 victory over the Calgary Flames at the First Niagara Center on December 11, 2014. A span of 21 games.

Les Habitants visit Buffalo with Brian Gionta, Josh Gorges. Plus, susceptibility

Reprinted with permission from hockeybuzz.com


The Buffalo Sabres continue a four-game homestand tonight as they host the Montreal Canadiens, a team that they've played 262 times. It's not hard to imagine the Les Habitants, a franchise with 24 Stanley Cups and over 3000 wins, dominating the Sabres. But, oddly enough, through four and a half decades of battling with Montreal, the Sabres have a 119-106-37 record in the series.

Recent history, though, hasn't been so kind. Although they are 4-6-0 in their last 10 games against Montreal, the Sabres haven't beaten the Canadiens since a 2-1 victory in Montreal on March 23, 2013. Since then Buffalo is 0-5-0, have scored only four goals and were shut out in the last two meetings.

Montreal enters tonight's contest with 17 points via an 8-4-1 record, good for second in the Atlantic Division. After a hot start, they've cooled considerably going 0-2-1 in their last three including back-to-back blowouts at home. They were dumped 6-2 by the upstart Calgary Flames on Sunday and were shut out by the Chicago Blackhawks 5-0 last night.

From Reinhart to Neuvirth to the Leafs and more

Reprinted with permission from hockeybuzz.com


Tonight will mark forward Sam Reinhart's eighth game with Buffalo and at the end of his next game played, the Sabres will need to decide whether or not they wish to keep him with the club for a 10th, thus "burning" a year on his entry-level contract.

Reinhart hasn't really done enough to this point to warrant keeping him on the Sabres as the team looks destined to struggle for the rest of the season. The team is at 2-7-0 on the year thus far and have scored a league-worst 1.11 goals per game. Were he pitching in more offensively, perhaps things would be different but Reinhart it took him seven games to register his first NHL point, a secondary assist in San Jose' on Saturday.

Tonight Reinhart will be between Nic Deslauriers and Cody McCormick on the fourth line again. Deslauriers scored a goal on a feed from McCormick after Reinhart worked the puck to him and the rookie feels as if they may have some chemistry. “I’ve felt with Deslauries and McCormick we’ve had some success and it was nice we finally buried one." he said, and for the kid a weight was lifted “Yes I think so, it’s always a relief, it’s a little later than I would’ve wanted, we had some success and it was just a matter of time.”

It's a tough situation when deciding Reinhart's fate. There's been marked game-to-game improvement even while playing only 10+ minutes per game and the kid has a definite feel for the game. But, he's still a kid and the decision that needs to be made is whether he's better off playing over 20 minutes a game in junior or 10 minutes a game with the Sabres.

We'll know the answer on Saturday before the team gets ready to face the Pittsburgh Penguins.

One cut needed, one-eye on the waiver-wire, plus--the captains

Reprinted with permission from hockeybuzz.com


The Sabres have finally named their captains: Brian Gionta will wear the "C" while Josh Gorges and Matt Moulson will be alternates.



New Buffalo Sabres captain Brian Gionta
is flanked byalternate captains Josh Gorges (l)
and Matt Moulson (r)
(photo courtesy, sabrespr.)



 

Yesterday forwards Mikhail Grigorenko and Zac Dalpe (pending waivers) were sent to Rochester. Those moves brought the Buffalo Sabres roster down to 24 active players. Three players--forwards Johan Larsson and Patrick Kaleta and defenseman Mark Pysyk--are on the injured list. In addition, goalie Matt Hackett, who would need to clear waivers, is also injured.

Both Kaleta and Hackett will be out for at least another month or two. Pysyk is close to returning from an upper body injury, but will probably miss the opener while Larsson has been on the ice skating in a non-contact jersey. He is recovering from what's believed to have been a concussion.

Because of those injuries, Sabres GM Tim Murray has plenty of roster flexibility and will only need to make one cut today.

Let's play--Name the Captains

Reprinted with permission from hockeybuzz.com


On Thursday, the Buffalo Sabres start their 2014-15 season with a home opener vs. the Columbus Blue Jackets and despite head coach Ted Nolan's proclamations that he'd name a captain earlier, it hasn't happened yet.

That will probably happen today as the team took the weekend off an will begin preparations for Thursday's game with a practice today. It should be a busy day as the team needs to make some moves to get to the final 23-man roster tomorrow.

One of the decisions will involve 18 yr. old Sam Reinhart, their 2014 2nd-round pick and whether or not they'll give him a look of up to nine games before he heads back to junior. Personally, others deserve the spot more than him, most notably, Mikhail Grigorenko.

"Grigo" is a 2012 first-rounder who came into camp ready to prove he wasn't a prima donna. Mission accomplished. Although he really needs to spend the entire year in Rochester, Grigorenko should be rewarded for his work with a few games while the Sabres get healthier upfront.

Another tough decision is who will land a spot on defense while Mark Pysyk recovers from his upper-body injury. Rookie Jake McCabe is going to be a stud and really looks as if he's ready to make the jump to the NHL as a soon to be 21-yr. old.

It's either McCabe or Tyson Strachan, a journeyman 29 yr. old defenseman with 138 games of NHL experience including 18 games last season with Washington. Originally when Strachan was signed on July 3 to a one-year contract, it was thought to be a depth-move. But he really impressed at camp and in preseason games. He's also someone who should get rewarded for his work. He'll be down in Rochester soon enough, should he clear waivers.

Building the Buffalo Sabres 2014-15 roster--LHD, Josh Gorges

Reprinted with permission from hockeybuzz.com


Had Buffalo Sabres GM Tim Murray not brought in a number of veterans on July 1, the team would clearly be the youngest in the league. As it stands right now, only three teams have a younger roster than Buffalo's average of 26.6 yr. old--Columbus (26.2,) Edmonton (26.2) and Winnipeg (26.4.)

Defenseman Josh Gorges, who just hit the big 3-0 on August 14th, came to Buffalo along with Brian Gionta (35 yrs. old,) Cody McCormick, (31,) Matt Moulson (30,) and Andrej Meszaros (28) on July 1st. It's a group of aged, character veterans brought in to mentor a large group of up and coming youngins.

Unlike the other four vets who signed with Buffalo as free agents, Gorges was acquired via a trade with the Montreal Canadiens. The Habs sent him to the rebuilding Buffalo Sabres for a 2016 second round draft pick. On a quick note, the pick that the Sabres used to acquire Gorges was one they received from Minnesota at the trade deadline for Moulson.

Brian Gionta the key to Josh Gorges trade

Reprinted with permission form hockeybuzz.com


Former Montreal Canadiens captain Brian Gionta pretty much knew that the writing was on the wall with the Habs as the 11th hour (both literally and figuratively) was approaching Tuesday.

According to the Montreal Gazette, Gionta and his agent had been negotiating with Habs' GM Marc Bergevin throughout the weekend but just couldn't come together on term. The 35 yr. old Gionta, who has a wife and three children was looking for the security of a multi-year deal. Bergevin was offering one year.

"We were in constant contact with Bergevin over the last week and even a few times (Tuesday) morning trying to figure out where each could go. There are no hard feelings."

The Sabres offered Gionta a 3yr./$12.75M contract, which was just shy of the $5M/season he had been making previously.

2 hours, 15 minutes (Andre Jeszaros, Cody McCormick)

Reprinted with permission from hockeybuzz.com


When Sabres GM Tim Murray mentioned that he was surprised at how much interest there was in the Buffalo Sabres, it was hard to gauge just how much.

Talk is talk but putting signatures to a contract is another matter.

And when Murray mentioned that the interest in Buffalo came from legitimate NHL players, we weren't really sure just how legit.

For Buffalo Sabres fans, the start to free agent yesterday was a somewhat of a shocker.

In a good way.

Murray inked five legitimate NHL'ers who, he said, "wanted to come to here."