Buffalo News

'Their success, as well as that of Montour and Rodrigues, is a reminder that Buffalo’s had players throughout the drought who are capable of excelling when the Stanley Cup is on the line. Ryan O’Reilly, Zach Bogosian and Jack Eichel also won after leaving. The Sabres failed to build necessary depth around those players, and the franchise’s progress was hindered by the … [Read more...] about Kyle Okposo’s Cup victory with Panthers earns Sabres a higher pick in NHL draft

'The franchise-altering trades of the Sabres’ latest rebuild helped Adams accumulate a stockpile of draft picks that he has used to select 35 players since he became general manager in 2020. JJ Peterka, Owen Power, Jack Quinn and Zach Benson already have made an impact in the NHL. Several others, most notably Jiri Kulich and Isak Rosen, had significant roles in each of the … [Read more...] about Finding playoff performers among the challenges facing Sabres scouts before draft

'“I will take that problem. Let’s absolutely sign up for that problem next year,” Adams cracked when he met the media Thursday in KeyBank Center. “It’s a lot. As a general manager, that’s why you have really good people around you. For (Edmonton and Florida GMs, respectively) Kenny Holland and Bill Zito, I promise you they’re not as focused on the draft or conversations as I am … [Read more...] about Inside the NHL: As an unexpected Game 7 will finish one season, draft will drop the puck on next one

'“Look, I know you have to ask the question,” Adams responded. “It’s not something I certainly will get into specifics on any, you know, these type of things, but I know there’s rumors out there. There are rumblings on different scenarios. What I can tell you is from the day our season ended, after my conversations with Terry (Pegula) and kind of where we go from here, every … [Read more...] about ‘Nothing’s off the table’ for Sabres as report surfaces about possible Jeff Skinner buyout

'“He’s been around a long time, and he’s had a lot of different roles in the hockey world,” Sabres General Manager Kevyn Adams told The News. “We just felt that he’s done a really nice job leading [our amateur scouting staff] and, honestly, the way our scouting staff, amateur and pro, function day to day won’t change at all. It’s really just promoting him to getting involved in … [Read more...] about Why Sabres promoted Jerry Forton to assistant general manager before draft day

'“The hooking, holding and obstruction was at a level that the league knew that they were going to have to change it,” Ruff said. “The game was getting down to a crawl. Dallas had some big bodies and had to slow us down. In today’s rules, the penalties would have been about 35-25 and the whole game would have been power play.”' … [Read more...] about Mike Harrington: Lindy Ruff, Ken Hitchcock look back as Buffalo Sabres’ ‘No Goal’ loss turns 25

'(Mark Jakubowski, one of the Sabres’ two assistant general managers) spoke to Markus on Friday. We’ll see him at the draft. Overall, they know we’re excited about UPL, and we want to get him signed. He’s a priority. They know we’re open to shorter, medium and long-term deals. It just has to make sense, and I think they’re open to each of those options, as well. I don’t … [Read more...] about Sabres Q&A: Kevyn Adams on UPL’s contract, Zemgus Girgensons’ status and more

'They have the option to use their draft picks, prospects and salary-cap space this summer to fill the void created by Mittelstadt’s departure. New coach Lindy Ruff needs someone reliable to lead the Sabres’ third line, and Adams must decide if Krebs can handle the assignment at this stage of his career.' … [Read more...] about Peyton Krebs faces pivotal offseason as he tries to find his place with Sabres

'They’re not going to part with Jiri Kulich. The 2022 first-round pick already has scored 51 goals in the American Hockey League and doesn’t turn 21 until April. Otherwise, it’s difficult to see any of these prospects as untouchable in a trade. The Sabres would need to receive a high-end player to consider moving someone such as Matt Savoie, but it’s not out of the question. … [Read more...] about Sabres Mailbag: Will one of the top prospects finally be moved in a trade?

'The NHL clearly should have brought CapFriendly into its purview long ago. The league, however, continues to frown on running any part of its site to include cap information. Commissioner Gary Bettman laughably said at a Stanley Cup Final a few years ago that fans didn’t have much interest in the information and putting it on a league site was a “media-drive” issue.' … [Read more...] about Inside the NHL: Caps’ stunning purchase of CapFriendly.com is hard hit to league’s information flow

'Ruff has used defense coach Marty Wilford as a sounding board about a lot of the games and new assistant Seth Appert for insight into the players, especially some of the younger ones who came through Rochester. “He knows these players better than I do, at this point,” Ruff said. “We’ll talk about (JJ) Peterka. We’ll talk about Jack Quinn, about lots of guys. He gives me a real … [Read more...] about Mike Harrington: Lindy Ruff already has started his deep dive on Sabres’ issues

'The methodology: OLBG ranked NHL mascots based on how unforgettable or forgettable they were by using results of 90-second “NHL Mascot Blitz” quizzes from the trivia website Sporcle. Users had to guess mascot names from the pictures shown in the quizzes, and both memorable and forgotten mascots were ranked in the order of the percentage of participants who correctly named … [Read more...] about As Buffalo pines for a Stanley Cup, Sabretooth gives fans a reason to cheer

'Kulich, 21, endured a long scoring slump after he returned to Rochester following an exceptional performance as captain of Czechia at the IIHF World Junior Championship. However, Kulich improved his defensive play during that spell and showed Sabres management that he can excel as a center in pro hockey.' … [Read more...] about Sabres’ Jiri Kulich named to AHL’s top prospects team for second year in a row

'“It’s a very intriguing choice that Rochester made, and I’m betting on Mike that it’s all gonna work out,” added U.S. Women’s National Team coach John Wroblewski, who was Leone’s boss at the USA Hockey National Team Development Program. ”He’ll do all of the gritty work, but there’s a really intelligent and inspiring individual that is ahead of that grit factor. It’s part of … [Read more...] about How Michael Leone’s coaching journey prepared him to lead Sabres prospects

'Defenseman Stian Solberg, ranked by NHL Central Scouting as the No. 20 European skater in the class, flourished this season while coached by Andersson on Valerenga, a Norwegian professional team.' … [Read more...] about Ex-Sabres scout’s star pupil in Norway an option for Buffalo in the first round