Building the 2017-18 Buffalo Sabres roster--D, Nathan Beaulieu

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 9-17-2017


Nathan Beaulieu
24 yrs. old
6'2" 205 lbs.
2011, 17th-overall (MTL) Acquired by Buffalo on June 17, 2017

Career stats:  225 goals  |  7 goals  |  53 assists  |  60 points  |  +19


Defenseman Nathan Beaulieu was taken 17th-overall by the Montreal Canadians in the 2011 NHL Draft. He was drafted to be an "offensive-defenseman," according to Chris Bordeleau of NHL.com, a d-man who's "a good skater, good puck-mover...has a good shot and is very poised with the puck."

Heading into the draft, the left-shot Beaulieu was coming off of an impressive draft season with the Saint John Sea Dogs of the QMJHL where he had his second consecutive 45-point season on the exact same totals of 12 goals and 33 assists. He was also a plus-44, which was one point better than the previous season, and he finished off the year as Memorial Cup Champion with the Sea Dogs. Although projected as a top-10 pick, Beaulieu falling to No. 17 was an "unexpected gift" for Montreal, according to Andrew Berkshire of the Habs site, EyesOnThePrize.

"Most scouting reports agree that Beaulieu's strongest assets are his skating ability and offensive instincts," wrote Berkshire in his Montreal draft review, "although he is guilty of forcing plays at times when there isn't one to be had. In fact in many respects Beaulieu seems very similar to another Habs prospect we have all come to love over the last few years: P.K. Subban."

Beaulieu finished his junior career by upping his point total to 52 (11+41) in only 53 games his final season and began to ply his trade with Montreal's AHL affiliate, the Hamilton Bulldogs, in 2012-13. He had a banner rookie season as a pro scoring 31 (7+24) points for Hamilton and earned a call to the big club for six regular season games. The following season he would have another solid campaign (7+20) and after playing in 13 regular season games for the Habs he made the post-season roster  appearing in seven playoff games for Montreal. This was a nice progression for Beaulieu and after eight games with Hamilton in 2014-15, he said goodbye to the AHL.

Yet, unbeknownst to Beaulieu changes would be coming to Montreal and with blotches on his Canadiens' career beginning to show, he found himself on the trading block eventually ending up with the Buffalo Sabres.

In April, 2013 Beaulieu and his father were involved in an incident at a post-golf party that brought assault charges against each of them. Four months later they both pleaded guilty to the charges. The word 'party' would follow Beaulieu again two years later in December, 2015 as a video was posted of him and teammate Chris Thomas, "partying the night away" following a loss that night to the Carolina Hurricanes. Thomas was traded ten days later and although the Habs claim there was no correlation between the incident and the trade, speculative dots were being connected.

A month later star forward Alex Galchenyuk was in the news for a domestic incident with his girlfriend who was arrested on a Sunday morning. Although the Beaulieu/Thomas and Galchenyuk incidents might not be related, hockeybuzz.com Habs blogger Brandon Smillie pointed to rumors that "Beaulieu's party life was sucking Galchenyuk into it as well."

The 2015-16 season was a very stressful one for the Canadiens as they lost Vezina-winning goalie Carey Price to a season-ending injury very early that season. Despite that, the Habs were at the top of the NHL standings heading into December but by mid-month (just after the Beaulieu/Thomas video) they were in the beginnings of a tailspin that would eventually cause them miss the playoffs. After a tumultuous season, Subban was traded to the Nashville Predators in a shocking one-for-one deal for Shea Weber of the Nashville Predators.

More changes were to follow this past season as Habs coach Michel Therrien was fired and replaced by Claude Julien on February 14. Beaulieu, who had started out the season with appearances on the top-pairing with Weber slowly fell down the depth chart. He went to the third pairing and then was a healthy scratch late in the season and for the final game of their first round playoff loss to the NY Rangers.

On May 17, former NHL'er Georges Laraque said (via GoHabsGo) that "the Montreal Canadiens have decided to trade both Alex Galchenyuk and Nathan Beaulieu over the summer." He noted that "the two youngsters have been involved in several controversies over the last few months due to some elements of their lives outside the rink and it is well known that the Habs organization has very thin patience when it comes to outside the rink incidents."

A month later, on June 17, Beaulieu was traded to the Sabres.

All of this is not to bag on Beaulieu for what he does on his own time, nor is it meant to lay the blame for the Habs decline on any or all mentioned above (save for the loss of Price to injury.) It's simply laid out to give some background as to why the Sabres were able to trade a third round pick for Beaulieu in June, just prior to the expansion draft.

According to Smillie, Beaulieu looked like a real solid top-four defender who could get you 25-30 points and was a fairly tough customer. Ironically, last season was his best pro season (4 goals, 24 assists, +8) despite falling down the depth chart and ending up in the new head coach's dog house.

Lucky for Buffalo, Beaulieu fell into the Sabres lap when they really needed to upgrade their defense-corps. He was the second of three d-men brought in by new GM Jason Botterill as he tries to revamp the Sabres defense with more mobile, puck movers. He's an NHL defender and when he's able to play his game, he looks the part of a top-four defender, which is what the Sabres were in need of.

For Beaulieu the trade to the Sabres was an opportunity for a fresh start. "I'm not going to get into too much about Montreal," he said after the trade. "I'm focused on Buffalo.

"I've got a huge opportunity to re-grow my game with a guy [in Buffalo head coach Phil Housley] who played the game similarly to the way I would like to play it."

Beaulieu signed a two-year contract with the Sabres this summer and although it's not a "prove-it" type deal in a "show me" type season for him, the onus is on him to do the work and focus his energies on his new team. There's a lot to learn and he'll be expected to play a solid role for the team somewhere in the bottom-four. I'm not sure if the "party-boy" label is true, but if he wants to reach his potential, it begins with an opportunity in Buffalo.

Like former Sabres GM Tim Murray once said, it's "not all rainbows, jujus and unicorns" with players. There are many who have warts and were not even sure what may or may not be true about Beaulieu's time in Montreal. We do know that on the ice he's  good-sized defenseman with great mobility who was drafted for his offensive prowess. He's still young at 24 yrs. old and props to the Canadiens for gradually working him through the system.

Should he work out, it will have benefitted the Sabres nicely.



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


Follow me on twitter @boosbuzzsabres

Building the 2017-18 Buffalo Sabres roster--D, Victor Antipin

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 9-16-2017


Buffalo Sabres fans, and probably most fans outside of the KHL, don't know much about defenseman Victor Antipin. From what we've read and what we've seen on a limited basis he has the skills and skating that will fit right in to what new coach Phil Housley wants to accomplish with his defensemen. After yesterday's first practice of training camp, Housley was impressed with the 24 yr. old rookie and native of Oskemen, Kazakhstan.

"He's a student of the game," said Housley in response to a media observation that Antipin didn't seem to have much of a problem understanding Housley's on-ice drills and concepts despite a bit of a language barrier. "He was talking a lot to our assistant coaches, mainly Chris Hajt, and he really absorbs a lot, likes to watch a lot of video trying to understand our concepts.

"He's like a sponge and it's great to see."

Kazakhstan is a country smack-dab in the middle of Central Asia with Russia bordering on the north and China on the south-east. Oskemen is a city in the northern part of the country that has produced a few notable NHL'ers like Nik Antropov selected 10th-overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1998, goalie Evgeni Nabakov (1994, 9th round) and goalie Anton Khudobin who was also selected in the ninth round in 1994 (MIN.)

The closest major hockey league for Kasakhstani players, of course, is the Kontinental Hockey League and Antipin got his first taste of the pros at the age of 17. Two years later he was playing full time in five full seasons with Magnitogorsk Metallurg and he posted 36 goals and added 62 assists in 264 games for the club. He also played for Team Russia internationally winning the 2012 World Junior silver medal and grabbing a silver and two bronze medals at the World Championships in 2015, 2016 and 2017, respectively.

North Americans watching the World Championships got to see what Antipin had to offer, but KHL insider Aivis Kalniņš, who now writes for hockeybuzz.com, has known about Antipin for years. He gave WKBW's Matthew Bove a little insight into the then newly signed defensemen.

Antipin "is a passionate player," said Kalniņš, "who has a spark and willingness to go out there and prove that he belongs in the National Hockey league. A tiny guy with a huge heart." Kalniņš also called him a player with "a winning experience and overall fun guy."

What Antipin brings to the ice is skating, puck-moving ability, the knack for getting up ice and finding open spots as well as the ability to finish. It's a nice package, one that the Sabres were after while looking to revamp their defense-corps. "To me, he's the type of player that this organization needs to find a way to bring more in," said Sabres GM Jason Botterill on The Instigators Show just after Buffalo signed him. Botterill also gave props to he predecessor, Tim Murray who got the ball rolling months before.

By the end of June, Botterill had done just that by bringing in a couple more capable puck-movers in Nathan Beaulieu and Marco Scandella. While we're unsure where Beaulieu will ultimately land in the grand scheme of things, Scandella is slated to be anchoring the top pair with Rasmus Ristolainen.

Antipin signed with Buffalo largely because of opportunity. He has an out-clause that says he may return to Russia should he not be tabbed for the big club, but unless things go completely south, he'll have his opportunity to at least start on the bottom pairing. Kalniņš said that Antipin is "unlikely a top pair guy" but said his attributes should carry over to the NHL.

When Housley was asked what his first impressions of Antipin were, he said he thought all of his defensemen moved the puck well and that Antipin "was a terrific skater" that "reads well" and that as he becomes more accustomed to the NHL game, his reads "will become more aggressive, especially in the neutral zone." Which means stretch passes and jumping into the play when available.

Antipin is deft on the powerplay as well with Kalniņš saying he was "confident that one thing he will carry over will be his ability to be one of the best power play guys in the league." Buffalo had the top powerplay in the NHL last season converting on 24.5% of their opportunities with a top unit that's loaded. It would seem as if any PP time for Antipin would be on the second unit and there's a good possibility he could take over at the right point for Cody Franson who went unsigned by Buffalo, or even work the slot, which he's very capable of doing.

The cool part about Antipin's game is that he's a left-handed defenseman who can play either side, something that bodes well for the left-shot heavy Sabres d-corps. It's yet another feather in his cap.

The Sabres aren't exactly sure what they have in Antipin, but he has some very appealing on-ice attributes that fit very well with what they want to do. You can see some of that with these highlights of #9 courtesy Konstantin Glazov:


http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5evz78" target="_blank"># 9 Viktor Antipin season 2016-17 Highlights
by http://www.dailymotion.com/Konstantin_Glazov" target="_blank">Konstantin_Glazov

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, Victor Antipin

G, Robin Lehner


Follow me on twitter @boosbuzzsabres

Antipin signs. Let's fill in the blanks on the Sabres blueline

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 5-26-2017


With former KHL defenseman Viktor Antipin finally in the fold, a soon to be revamped Buffalo Sabres defense got it's first new face.

Antipin just finished his fifth full KHL season with Metallurg Magnitogorsk scoring 24 points (6+18) in 59 games. In all the 24 yr. old Antipin played 266 games for Metallurg scoring 36 goals and adding 62 assists. The 5'9" 179 lb. all-situations defensemen just finished a bronze medal run in the IIHF World Hockey Championships with four assists and a plus-5 rating in 10 games.

What will he bring to the Sabres defense?

It looks as Buffalo has a top-four d-man in Antipin, one who is a very capable skater and puck-mover, can play defense and also jump into the play on offense. He saw plenty of time on the penalty kill during the Worlds and if you watch some of his highlights from the KHL, he has a nose for pinching in on offense and has shown the ability to finish.

The addition of Antipin gives the Sabres three certainties on defense, barring a trade of any sort. Rasmus Ristolainen is the workhorse on the back-end while Jake McCabe has solidified his spot in the top-four, ideally on the second pairing.

Buffalo also has three other defensemen under contract any of whom may be exposed to the upcoming expansion draft. Zach Bogosian has three years remaining on his deal while both Josh Gorges and Justin Falk have one year. Bogosian and Gorges have been in the top-four for Buffalo with both looking as if they'd be more suited to a role in the No. 4-6 range. Falk was re-signed by former GM Tim Murray to a one-year extension after proving to be a very reliable reserve defenseman last season.

A wild-card in this whole process is Brendan Guhle. The soon to be 20 yr. old acquitted himself very well at the pro-level which included a three-game stint with Buffalo as an emergency recall from his Canadian Junior team in November. He joined the Rochester Americans after finishing his last two junior seasons and looked right at home. In 12 games with the Amerks he scored two goals, added four assists and was a minus-3. Where his development will take him next year is still unknown but most think he has a great shot at joining the Sabres defense.

If the season started today, this is the possible defense-corps we'd see hit the ice:

Ristolainen-McCabe
Antipin-Bogosian
Guhle-Gorges
Falk

New GM Jason Botterill has stated that upgrading the defense is a top priority wants and he may have the opportunity to do so with as the upcoming expansion draft will put a few teams in a bind come when protected lists are submitted. Two of them, the Anaheim Ducks and Minnesota Wild, may be forced to expose a good defenseman and risk losing him for nothing if they don't work something out in a trade prior.

With the signing of Antipin and the possibility of Guhle joining Buffalo's defense next season, barring anything weird happening the Sabres may be looking at one move on the back-end as they attempt to bolster the blueline. Here are a couple of possibilities for Buffalo to upgrade their d-corps:


Anaheim Ducks

Because of their depth on defense, the Ducks will more than likely protect eight skaters instead of seven forwards and three defensemen. On defense, despite injuries that will sideline them for months, Hampus Lindholm and Sami Vatenen are locks to be protected and with his performance in the playoffs, Cam Fowler will be protected as well. What they do with Kevin Bieksa will shape how they approach the final spot. Because of his no-movement clause, Bieksa is required to be protected leaving young d-man Josh Manson as possibly being exposed.

If the Ducks fail to do anything with Bieksa, the Sabres could be looking at the 6'3" 215 Manson as a possible addition. The right-handed Manson is quite mobile for a player of his size and played well in a third-pairing defensive role for the Ducks. He's steady on the back-end but one shouldn't expect much on offense. A trade for him shouldn't cost too much and one could plug him in alongside the left-handed Guhle on the third pairing in Buffalo.


Minnesota Wild

The Wild is a team that probably would like to go with eight skaters in order to protect four d-men, but three NMC's amongst the forward group coupled with three young players who have plenty of upside has Minnesota looking at the 7/3 model. On defense the Wild will be protecting Ryan Suter and it looks as if Jared Spurgeon and Matt Dumba aren't going anywhere either. That leaves two pretty valuable pieces exposed--23 yr. old Jonas Brodin and 27 yr. old Marco Scandella.

Brodin is an excellent puck-mover who had 25 points (3+22) in 68 games for Minnesota last season and would net them a pretty good return. The left-handed all-situations defenseman would look good in the top-four on the Sabres, especially at a favorable $4.16 million cap-hit.


Landing a player like Brodin, or even Scandella from Minnesota would be a pretty good upgrade for the Sabres. Problem is, there are a ton of other teams looking for he same thing. Would the Sabres be willing to trade the No. 8 overall pick at this year's draft, and possibly more for Brodin? If they're looking at a run to the playoffs this season, I could see them doing a deal like that.

Awaiting Antipin and...on Ryan O'Reilly

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 5-22-2017


Although he's only 5'9" 176 lbs. Russian defenseman Viktor Antipin will be welcome with open arms on the Buffalo blueline as the Sabres defense-corps is ripe for change.

KHL insider and European hockeybuzz colleague Aivis Kalnins has been on the story and tweeted yesterday that he's "hearing Viktor Antipin is set to sign with the Buffalo Sabres. Player also told ''Sport Express'' that he is arriving in Buffalo next week."

Also of interest, Kalnins reports that the Pittsburgh Penguins were in the mix for Antipin's services. "[Present Sabres GM Jason Botterill comes from an organization that also wanted to get Antipin, that should tell the story," he tweeted yesterday. We'd heard that a number of teams were in on him but this is the first team to be named.

The story is that Antipin, despite his size has managed to do some real good things during his six seasons with the KHL's Magnitogorsk Metallurg. The 24 yr. old broke into the league with a two-game taste in 2010-11 then followed with a robust rookie campaign of 10 goals and 11 assists in 50 games for Metallurg. Last season he finished with 24 points (6+18) in 59 games and during his five full seasons with the team he was never minus player. Antipin was on two Gagarin Cup-winning teams, was a 2013 All-Star and now has two silver and two bronze medals on his international resume thanks to Russia's bronze medal performance at the 2017 IIHF World Hockey Championships.

For those of us who were able to catch some of the Worlds this year, Antipin saw plenty of ice-time in all situations with the left-hander playing both sides of the ice. He has excellent recovery time on defense and can find open ice in the offensive zone, especially deep in the slot. Antipin, like seemingly every Russian defenseman knows how to get up ice and into the play.

The Sabres presently have two players who are almost assured to be on the blueline next season--Rasmus Ristolainen and Jake McCabe. After that it's somewhat of a crap shoot. No. 3 on the depth chart is Zack Bogosian who has a hefty contract that's difficult to live up to, especially when injuries are starting to take their toll on the soon to be 27 yr. old. After that there's 32 yr. old Josh Gorges, who's role was drastically reduced last season, and Justin Falk who was re-signed by former Sabres GM Tim Murray as a depth defenseman.

It's a situation that leaves the door wide open for Antipin and one of the main reasons he'll reportedly be joining the Sabres instead of some other NHL club. God knows that Buffalo defense-corps can use a jolt.


*****

Sabres center Ryan O'Reilly and Team Canada took home the silver medal at the World's after Henrik Lundqvist backstopped Team Sweden to a shootout win in the Gold Medal Game. O'Reilly scored the only goal for Canada yesterday and nicked the crossbar on his shootout attempt. He finished the tournament with six goals and three assists in 10 games including an overtime winner against Team Russia in the semi-finals.

O'Reilly was a workhorse for Canada coach Jon Cooper much like he's been for Buffalo since coming over in a trade from Colorado in June, 2015. He logged huge minutes for the Canadians throughout the tourney and was on the ice in all situations taking huge faceoffs at critical times. But for him, the 2016-17 hockey season is over and after some down time O'Reilly will begin to focus on next season in Buffalo.

O'Reilly's two-way acumen would be welcome on any team and in he'll be sharing top-two center duties on the Sabres with 20 yr. old Jack Eichel. There's a lot up in the air in Buffalo including the coach and the captaincy and you can bet that O'Reilly and Eichel will be the focus for the new coach on the captaincy.

Murray was generally lauded for bringing O'Reilly to the club via trade although he gave up some pretty good young players in the process, notably left-handed defenseman Nikita Zadorov and center prospect JT Compher who could end up being a player like O'Reilly. It was the contract extension Murray re-signed O'Reilly to that seems to be on the minds of most Sabres fans.

O'Reilly signed a seven year extension in 2015 that will keep him as a Sabres until the end of the 2022-23 season and his cap-hit of $7.5 million is beginning to draw the ire of stat-watchers. Although he lead the team in scoring two years ago and was second last season, his 41 goals and 74 assists doesn't seem befitting of a contract like that. Other stats like his team-leading time on ice and face off percentage as well as a year-over-year 15 point gain in plus/minus won't move the needle for stat-watchers either.

That said, there have been a lot of problems in Buffalo, most notably last season, which may have hampered players from reaching their potential. Where those problems stemmed from will soon be revealed as there will be a new coach this season and hopefully a revamped defense and I'm starting to think that the last two seasons should be viewed rather skeptically. And that goes for a lot of the roster last season.

The new Sabres coach will have the task of getting O'Reilly and Eichel into their proper roles and it will be paramount to driving the offense up-front. There are two big egos at play in those two and if they can align properly, the Sabres won't need to worry too much about the forwards because they'll have their top-two centers--a goal-scorer and two-way player--in place.

It's been 10 years since the organization could make that latter claim and other than a true No. 1 defensemen getting a top center is very difficult to do in today's NHL.

Regardless of how it all plays out, one thing we can count on is O'Reilly carrying a huge load in all situations for the club, just like he did the past two season in Buffalo and for Team Canada at the Worlds.

O'Reilly leads Team Canada to win over Russia. Antipin ready to ink?

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 5-20-2017


Buffalo Sabres center Ryan O'Reilly scored the game-winning goal and added a primary assist on an empty-netter in helping Team Canada rally for a 4-2 victory over Team Russia at the IIHF World Championships in Cologne, Germany. Much like he did in Buffalo, O'Reilly was a workhorse for the Canadians as he skated 21:21 which was second only to defenseman Colton Parayko (STL.) He was recognized as the Player of the Game for Team Canada.

O'Reilly has eight points (5+3) in nine game for the tournament and will have the opportunity to add to that as Team Canada will face off against the winner of today's Sweden-Finland matchup for the right to play for the gold medal.

Meanwhile, Russian defenseman Viktor Antipin, whom the Sabres are said to be signing very soon, will play in tomorrow's bronze medal game against the loser of Sweden-Finland. The 5'9" 176 lb. Antipin left the Canada/Russia matchup with a plus-1 rating and one shot on goal. For the tournament Antipin has three assists in nine games and has a plus-4 rating.

Antipin's name has been associated with the Sabres for weeks now with hockeybuzz.com's Aivis Kalnins tweeting yesterday that "Antipin and Sabres talked recently and nothing has changed, expect him to sign with the Sabres." That the Antipin signing was still moving in that direction was confirmed when Russian hockey writer Igor Eronko talked with hosts Howard Simon and Jeremy White on WGR550 Radio yesterday.

"I heard this months ago that [Antipin's] definitely leaving [the KHL]," Eronko told the hosts. "I can confirm that he will sign exactly with Buffalo."

The hosts were curious as to why Antipin chose Buffalo and, as Sabres fans know, there was an obvious reason. "Because there's a place for him," he said. "The Sabres don't have the best defense in the NHL, obviously, and they have a spot for a guy like him." He continued on giving us a little insight into the player that is Viktor Antipin. "He's small in stature but very strong on the puck. [He's] a good puck-moving defensemen and that's exactly what may be needed for Buffalo in the top-four.

"He's wins a lot of battles, he plays penalty kill and powerplay and in all key situations he's on the ice. He's a defenseman that's quite reliable."

Anyone who's had the opportunity to watch Russia in this tournament can see that their transition game is top-notch and their defense is very active. Antipin is definitely of that ilk and oft-times one can find him in the slot in the offensive zone.

On the negative side, Eronko thinks Antipin will need to add speed and strength.

If all works out, perhaps sometime early next week we will have Antipin's signature on a Sabres contract which constitutes a step in the right direction for the team as they try to fix a broken defense-corps.

Of Buffalo's FA's, coaching search, NSH d and Jack EiCHeL

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 5-19-2017


The Buffalo Sabres have 19 free agent contracts on the docket with 10 unrestricted and nine restricted.

Half of the UFA's are in Rochester with four of them--forwards Cole Schneider and Derek Grant plus defensemen Erik Burgdoerfer and Mat Bodie--as possible re-signs. Cal O'Reilly already moved on after being loaned to the Toronto Marlies late last season. The other five UFA's were from the big club--captain Brian Gionta, defensemen Cody Franson, Dmitry Kulikov and Taylor Fedun plus goalie Anders Nilsson--and of those only Gionta and Fedun look to be possible re-signs at this point in time.

Unlike UFA's, restricted free agents have little say in their immediate future with the team holding all the cards. Here's the list of restricted free agents new general manager Jason Botterill and his staff will be looking at:

F, Marcus Foligno
F, Johan Larsson
F, Zemgus Girgensons
F, Evan Rodrigues
LW, Jean Dupuy
C, Justin Kea
D, Brady Austin
G, Robin Lehner
G, Linus Ullmark

Botterill spent this week hunkered down with his scout to compare notes about the upcoming draft. Among the other things he needs to work on is finding a head coach as well as hiring those who will lead his scouting departments. Eventually he'll get to all of these free agents as the Expansion Draft is coming soon and the start of free agency begins shortly thereafter.

Not much has been coming out but our hockeybuzz colleague in Europe, Aivis Kalnins, tweeted that "Botterill also reached out to Girgensons via text but no contract has been discussed yet." Kalnins also tweeted that a Viktor Antipin/Sabres union is still a go, but nothing formal has been announced. "Antipin and Sabres talked recently and nothing has changed, expect him to sign with the Sabres," he tweeted.

Good news for the Sabres on both fronts.


*****

The Sabres and the Florida Panthers are the only NHL teams without head coaches at this juncture and it's almost assured that Nashville Predators assistant coach Phil Housley will occupy one of those positions.

Housley's been getting a lot of press lately for the job he's done with the mobile, offensive-minded Preds defense, and rightfully so. Nashville's d-corps is an aggressive group is constantly on the offensive, which is pretty much how Housley played his entire career. His coaching career got a huge boost when he lead Team USA to the 2013 World Junior Championship in Ufa, Russia and he also survived a coaching change in Nashville when Barry Trotz was replaced by Peter Laviolette.

And not too long ago there was word of a Botterill/Rick Tocchet link to the Sabres head coaching job even before Botterill was officially announced as the Sabres new GM. Which make sense. A new general manager leans towards bringing in people he's familiar with and Tocchet had been in Pittsburgh since June, 2014.

Tocchet's coacing resume' is a bit longer than Housley's in that he cut his teeth behind the bench in 2002 and he also had a 148-game stint as the head coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning from 2008-10. Not much came out of that except that he received props for getting Steven Stamkos' career on track.

Botterill had said that he would be doing a fairly extensive head coaching search but Sun Media's Steve Simmons tweeted out, "Most people on the inside I talk to are expecting either Rick Tocchet or Phil Housley to be the next coach of the Buffalo Sabres."

There are some other names mentioned to be in the mix like Todd Reirden, Kevin Dineen, Bob Boughner and Ralph Kreuger but Housley and Tocchet always seem to be at the fore. And for good reason. Both are said to have a great rapport with young players and both, because of their playing careers and their successes as assistant coaches on winning teams, should gain the type of locker room respect Botterill is looking for.


*****

Speaking of Nashville, Simmons Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Mike Babcock and his GM Lou Lamoriello were taking in the Anaheim Ducks/Preds game last night. "Been covering playoffs for more than 30 years. It's rare to ever see an eliminated NHL coach at another playoff game," tweeted Simmons. "Have to believe if Mike Babcock and Lou Lamoriello are in Nashville it ain't for hanging out on Broadway. There must be defenceman in play."

Both Anaheim and Nashville are loaded on the back end and with the expansion draft coming up, there's a possibility that a quality d-man may be available. It's well known that the Sabres are in need of some help in the top-four and although he wasn't physically at the game, one would bet that Botterill has his eye on that series.


*****

Team USA was shut out 2-0 by Team Finland yesterday at the IIHF World Championships in Cologne, Germany. Buffalo's Jack Eichel did not have the greatest of tournaments with zero goals and five assists in eight games plus he ended the tournament in the penalty box after he was called for a high-stick with 1:52 to play.

International play seems to be hit or miss with Eichel, which is fine as long as he brings it during the NHL season. Here's what Eichel has done on the international stage for Team USA:

2013 U17:  5gp, 3g, 2a
2013 WJC18:  7gp, 1+1
2014 WJC18:  7gp, 5+5
2014 WJC:  5gp, 1+4
2015 WJC:  5gp, 1+3
2015 WC:  10 gp, 2+5
2016 WCOH:  3gp, 1+1
2017 WC:  8gp, 0+5

In all 60 games played, 14 goals, 21 assists.

His NHL totals:  142 games played, 48 goals, 65 assists.

Bust!

Eichel joined Girgensons (Team Latvia) on the outside looking in while Buffalo still has World Championship interest as the aforementioned, but unsigned as of yet, Antipin is still in it for Team Russia and Team Canada with Ryan O'Reilly have advanced to the semi-finals.

Eichel/USA take down Russia/Antipin at Worlds as PP finally breaks through

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 5-16-2017


It took a while for Team USA to finally figure out how to break through on the powerplay and thanks to Team Russia's penchant for aggressive stick penalties, the Americans had themselves plenty of chances. Russia committed eight minor penalties with seven being either slashing or high-sticking.

Team Russia came out wielding the stick 3:51 into the first period and by the end, Team USA was on their fifth powerplay, which included a double-minor for drawing blood on a high-stick. Unfortunately USA couldn't get one past Russia netminder Andrei Vasilevsky as his penalty killers clogged the middle with a tight box. However two unsuccessful powerplays did forshadow how the Americans could finally break through.

On one powerplay mid-way through the first, Team USA got a shot through and crashed the net on one of the few rebounds Vasilevsky left. Although it didn't work, early in the second period with a carryover powerplay Clayton Keller (ARI) got a shot through from the point that handcuffed Vasilevsky and he left a rebound in the crease. Brock Nelson (NYI) found the puck and found a wide open Jimmy Hayes (NYR) on the weak-side and Hayes buried it to knot the score at 1-1.

The second period was about as good a period of hockey you'll ever see as two long-time hockey adversaries traded hits, skating and scoring chances. When all was said and done Team USA overcame two more one-goal deficits and headed into the intermission with a 3-3 tie.

With just under eight minutes to play and the game knotted still knotted, the Americans took their first lead of the game by converting on the powerplay again. Buffalo's Jack Eichel, who'd been trying time and time again to get a cross-ice pass through the tight Russian defense finally did as he sent a bullet to Johnny Gaudreau (CGY) on the weak side. Gaudreau wasted no time sending it to Anders Lee (NYI) on the far side of the crease for the tap in.

USA would add an empty net goal for the 5-3 final score. It was Team USA's sixth win in a row after dropping their first preliminary round game to Germany. With the win USA wins Group A.

Potential Buffalo Sabres free agent signee Viktor Antipin was patrolling the Russian blueline and finished the game with 17:28 of ice-time while registering a shot and an even plus/minus rating. He was on the weak side when Eichel made his pass to Gaudreau but couldn't do much on the play. Antipin played both sides of the ice and looked very solid. For the seven preliminary round games he's played in Antipin registered one assist, had five shots on goal and was a plus-2.

Word on the street is that Antipin will be signing with the Sabres after the World Championships.

An expected Antipin signing marks the beginnings of a revamped defense

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 5-1-2017



Kontinental Hockey League defenseman Viktor Antipin terminated his contact with Metallurg Magnitogorsk in order to sign with the Buffalo Sabres according to an Russian hockey writer Igor Eronko, who cited sources in his tweet.

It's been a largely anticipated move by Antipin since Elliotte Friedman mentioned the 24 yr. old defenseman and the Sabres back in March. In his "30 Thoughts article, Friedman notes that the Sabres could "win a recruiting battle [for Antipin] with Calgary, Chicago, Columbus and Pittsburgh all poking around."

The move is a good one for Antipin. Buffalo has big holes on defense and we could see as many as three new defensemen in the lineup come opening night next season. Right-handed defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen a 2013 first round pick (eighth-overall) is locked in as the team's top defender right now, but is without a steady partner at this time. Below Ristolainen on the depth chart is 23 yr. old Jake McCabe, who is entering his third full season in Buffalo after being drafted out of Wisconsin in 2012 (44th-overall.)

Questions loom with two veteran defensemen in Zach Bogosian and Josh Gorges. Bogosian was a part of the Tyler Myers/Evander Kane deal in February, 2014 and carries a very hefty cap-hit of over $5 million for the next three years while Gorges was acquired from Montreal in 2014 for a second round pick and has a cap-hit of $3.9 million for only one more season. With both players not in long-term, top-pairing plans and both suited to a more modest bottom-half role on defense, numbers would dictate that if one were to leave, it would/should be Bogosian because of the term left on his contract.

That's easier said than done, but much more difficult contracts have been moved in the past by other teams and perhaps the next yet to be named general manager can work a little magic. However, it might be safe to say that one of those contracts will be moved to make room for younger and/or healthier and/or more mobile and/or more offensive and/or more defensively responsible defensemen.

Much is being made about 19 yr. old Brendan Guhle who shined in Canadian Junior and had impressive six-game stints with the Rochester Americans the last two years while also never looking out of place in his three games as an emergency call-up for the Buffalo Sabres in November. Most feel that he will be in the top-six out of camp.

Veteran defenseman Justin Falk was re-signed to a one-year extension this season and will be either trade bait for expansion-draft purposes or will be used as a depth defenseman by Buffalo next season.

The only other question mark is if Taylor Fedun fits into Buffalo's plans. The mobile d-man with powerplay acumen played very well for the Sabres last season and would have stuck with the club all season had he not been waiver exempt. Then again, may also not have liked how he was treated in that regard and may not have been interested in re-signing in Buffalo. However, with the firings of both head coach Dan Bylsma and GM Tim Murray, things may change.

Signing a one-year deal with the Sabres would not hurt Antipin at all. He'd be coming over from Russia with a spot in the top-six and if rumors are true, it may be written into his contract that being sent down to Rochester is not an option. His one season audition will either endear himself to the Sabres for a contract extension or he will have showcased his talents for 30 other NHL teams.

At 5'11 174 lbs. Antipin is a little undersized for the NHL but from what little we've seen he looks to have the spunk and confidence to go into the dirty areas go score goals with some of his highlights seeing him in drift deep into the slot. And he did finish his last KHL season with a plus-10 rating.

How his skill transfers to the NHL-level is yet to determined and, of course, without a GM or coach we're not really sure how it will all fit together, but if Antipin does sign with Buffalo, at least the front office is following through with some of the positives the former GM was working on.

Pegula's getting busy? More help for the defense. Plus...

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 4-27-2017


Rumor has it that the Buffalo Bills scouting department is in for a house-cleaning after the NFL Draft which begins today. Terry and Kim Pegula own both the Bills and the NHL's Buffalo Sabres through Pegula Sports and Entertainment.

If true, the Pegula's will have done a lot of spring cleaning this year after poor results from their franchises. They started their purge of undesirables this past winter when they jettisoned Bills head coach Rex Ryan with three years and one game left on his contract. Later they hired Sean McDermott has the new head coach and he's wielding enormous clout for a head coach, and a first-timer to boot. McDermott has been dubbed the "one voice" of the Bills, according to the media, and has complete control over the draft., pushing GM Doug Whaley to the side and, it would seem, out the door.

Over at the foot of Washington St., the Pegula's dumped Sabres GM Tim Murray and head coach Dan Bylsma last week after what Terry Pegula described as a very disappointing 2016-17 season. Murray had just received a three-year extension in October and Bylsma also had three years on his contract. In the process, Pegula also said he was disappointed in himself for not being more involved in the hires of both Murray and Bylsma.

Apparently, PSE is liking what McDermott is doing with the Bills so far. Terry has been joining his head coach and "one voice" on scouting visits for quarterbacks and seems to have a liking to the way McDermott is approaching things and the entire scouting department is on alert. ProFootball Talk cited an unnamed Bills scout as saying, "We are all getting fired next week," which would be after the draft.

It's not really surprising. The scouting department has done a fair job, but nowhere near where they need to be for the franchise to rise above mediocrity. This is a team that spent the last three seasons within a game of .500 after going three consecutive seasons at 6-10. GM Whaley has been either around or in charge during this stretch and why he's still around is still somewhat of a mystery.

The timing is right, but to do so when they have a hockey department that's been laid to waste means a lot of work for the Pegula's and whatever helpers they've employed to guide them.

Pegula's hockey club didn't have a deep hockey department to begin with on the operations side. They went from having a couple of advisors when he first bought the team to Terry and Kim up top with President and Alternate Governor Russ Brandon just below the owners. After that it was Murray. At one point, for a very brief four-month stint, the Pegulas hires Pat LaFontaine to head the hockey ops, but he left in a cloud of mystery which placed a lot of responsibility on the shoulders of Murray, whom they fired because it didn't work out.

If the rumors are true, the Pegulas, and presumably Brandon, are biting off a huge chunk as they'll be looking to build a scouting department for the Bills while looking to fill an empty hockey department for their Sabres who have a number of big-time things to deal with including the expansion draft, NHL Entry Draft, decisions on the 20 or so free agents they have, decisions on players in the system as well as free agency.

It's a huge undertaking the results of which won't be known for another couple of years, when they may be cleaning house again?



*****

Right now the Pegulas still have assistant general manager Mark Jakubowski his handling contract negotiations, which was his main focus with the club anyway. And yesterday Jakubowski got on th board as the club announced that junior defenseman Devante Stephens (2015, 122nd-overall) to a three-year, entry-level contract.

The 6'1" 172 lb. mobile rear-guard made huge strides in his third season with the Kelowna Rockets of the Western Hockey League scoring 13 goals and adding 22 assists in 67 regular season games while adding seven assists in 15 playoff games. In addition to adding some bulk to deal with the rigors of the pro game, Stephens will probably spend at least a year or two in Rochester honing his defense against men, which is a huge jump for most junior players.

Buffalo's defense-corps had a rough go of it last season meaning change is on the horizon and opportunity for NHL-ready defensemen. Stephens isn't there yet but KHL d-man Viktor Antipin certainly is.

The 24 yr. old Antipin has spent his entire hockey career in Mother Russia, most recently with the Kontinental Hockey League, and was rumored to be signing with Buffalo weeks ago. There were questions as to what would happen after Murray was fired but according to a tweet from KHL insider/scout Aivis Kalnins, "Antipin and Buffalo Sabres have talked recently, feeling is that they will indeed get a deal done, most likely after World Champs."

The IIHF World Championships conclude May 21 and are being held in Cologne, Germany.

The question arises as to why Antipin would want to make his foray into the NHL amidst the tumult that is the Buffalo Sabres right now, but the 5'11" 174 lb. Antipin has an opportunity to jump right into the Sabres lineup, and if rumors about a no-AHL clause are true, then he'll spend his one-year deal playing in the NHL.

It's a nice fit for both player and team.


*****

Kris Baker of Sabresprospects/sabres.com tweeted that "the Stephens pick was made with info provided by Bylsma, who loved his athleticism when spending time with [Dan] Lambert in Kelowna."

Lambert was with the Rockets from 2009-15 before Bylsma brought him on board as an assistant. After one year as a Sabres assistant the organization moved Lambert behind the bench in Rochester. He was not part of the purge that happened last week.


*****

Last week I did a piece on Murray and how I'd be missing his media personality and demeanor. In a results-based business, things like that matter very little, in fact candor can often reveal too much and eventually work against you.

There were a lot of things wrong with the Sabres this past season and Murray took the hit for a roster that wasn't as talented as they could/should have been, especially on defense. However, I do feel that coaching had a lot to do with a sad Sabres season.

In watching the playoffs, most recently the Captials/Leafs series as well as Game-1 of the Oilers/Ducks series, the skating and aggressiveness with which played was something we'd see out of the Sabres, but very rarely. The big knock was Bylsma's system and the disconnect it caused with the players, especially the younger, more talented ones who could get up and down the ice.

Bylsma's system did nothing for this team in terms of speed and aggressiveness. Sure it was predicated upon his defense getting the puck to the forwards, which was an extremely difficult task for that corps, but to not deviate from a system that clearly wasn't working doesn't make sense.

I don't know how many times I wrote in my notes that teams seemed to know what the Sabres were about to do before they did it and simply broke things up before they got started. And it's been documented that often times players were more focused upon getting to a spot on the ice instead of playing the game. This insistence upon a rigid adherence to system throttled a team that had enough speed and skill to at least surpass last year's point-total.

In looking back, one can point to the 5-4 win in Ottawa the first game Jack Eichel returned from his injury. It was a game that Bylsma said was fun for the fans to watch but gave him and his staff indigestion. What a concept, a fun game for the fans to watch and to be on the winning end of a nine-goal game.

The skating and aggressiveness we saw in that Ottawa game rarely came to the fore again, unless it was when the team was behind and they needed to hit the go-switch.

It began with a game against the Los Angeles Kings in December after they found themselves down 2-0. Buffalo would storm back with four unanswered goals in just over six minutes en route to a 6-3 win in front of the home crowd. And in January the Sabres stormed back three consecutive games and won in overtime scoring 11 goals in the process.

Yet, it wasn't "The System."

Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News tweeted on the eve of the second round of the playoffs that the Sabres, "went 12-6-4 (.636) against 8 remaining teams -- and 9-0-3 vs. OTT, NYR, NSH, EDM. Can't finish with 78 points when you can do that."

A lot of things weren't right with the Sabres last year, but I'm of the opinion, and will always be of the opinion, "The System" played a huge role in the crappy season we in Sabreland witnessed.