SabreSpace

'(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