@boosbuzzsabres
According to Hockey Night in Canada studio host David Amber, unrestricted free agend forward Marcus Johansson has signed a 2yr./$9 million deal with the Buffalo Sabres. The 28 yr. old Johansson was with the Boston Bruins last season as they made it to the Stanley Cup Finals before losing to the St. Louis Blues.
Buffalo general manager Jason Botterill has been looking to add to the top-six forward group but was stonewalled the first few days of free agency. This is a big win for the Sabres as Johansson will plug into the top-six, probably on the wing joining either Jeff Skinner on the left side or Sam Reinhart on the right with Jack Eichel between two of them.
Great signing for Buffalo, who just made it official.
Also...
Restricted free agent forward
Zemgus Girgensons and the Buffalo Sabres reached an agreement yesterday on a one-year, $1.6 million deal, the same dollar amount he played for last season. The former first round pick (2012, 14th-overall) is the longest tenured Sabres player on the roster and will be entering his seventh season with the Blue and Gold. During his six years the organization has seen major changes which include the dismantling of owner Terry Pegula's inner circle, the dismissal of two team presidents, a six-month stint for a vice president of hockey operations, two general managers and five head coaches.
Both he and defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen (2013, eighth-overall) have endured a lot of changes since being selected by the Sabres in the NHL Draft yet the full force of fan disenchantment has been directed at these two players. The gist of the consternation,which has also been started by and/or fostered by local media, is that both have a part of a losing culture and that if the team wants to start turning their fortunes around, moving on from either or both would really get the team moving in the right direction.
Such is the life of a whipping boy.
Girgensons is on board for another season and at the end of the contract will be an unrestricted free agent, much to the delight of many who can't wait for the day when he departs. The hard-working, versatile forward was selected at a time the Sabres were considered soft an easy to play against as an antithesis to "the Core." He had one excellent season with 15 goals and 30 points in an injury-shortened sophomore campaign before he gradually fell down the depth chart. In the four seasons since his banner 2014-15 campaign, Girgensons has collected only 26 goals and 67 points in 289 games in a checking role for Buffalo.
In what may have been the most defensive-oriented season of his career, former head coach Phil Housley deployed Girgensons in a full-on checking role with heavy penalty kill duties featuring a league-high 83.68 d-zone start percentage and lead all Buffalo forwards on the kill averaging 2:24/game (which was tied for 12th in the league.
Girgensons' job, along with
Johan Larsson (No. 2 in the league in d-zone starts and tied for 14th in the league for average PK TO) and whoever was their linemate, was to flip the ice, and they were very successful at that. What the other lines did with that flip amounted to very little outside of Buffalo's top line, but the job was done and a minus-11 rating for Girgensons in that type of defensive role was as good as to be expected.
New head coach Ralph Krueger needs more from Girgensons and his fourth line. How he approaches optimizing their offensive production while keeping them in a defensive-oriented role is to be determined but Girgensons, and others, have already been through the aloofness of former head coach Dan Bylsma and the total ineptitude of recently fired coach Phil Housley. If things don't work out this year, a mutual agreement to part ways is in the offing.
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Larsson also could have gone the arbitration route but didn't file. Arbitration is an ugly process where all the negatives of a player are exposed and hammered home during the process, and most players and teams know it. That's why most of the contracts are settled before it gets to that point.
Girgensons and Larsson are part of a group of similar forwards that are in a bottom-six/checking line/reserve role that includes Scott Wilson, Vladimir Sobotka and
Remi Elie. Not much offense should be expected from any of them and their main duty is to effectively hold the fort so the scorers can get a breather as well as sacrifice their bodies on the penalty kill. If all five of them are on the roster come opening night, the Sabres could be in for a long year.
Larsson is one of those players who has good traits and when he's on his game he's a pain in the arse to play against. However, we need to get back to the point that a fourth line in today's NHL needs to produce more than what the Sabres got last year and we'll see if GM Jason Botterill and Krueger believe Larsson has more in him on offense.
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Four Sabres players have selected arbitration--Elie, along with fellow forward
Evan Rodrigues, defenseman
Jake McCabe and goalie
Linus Ullmark. It's hard to see any of them walking into a room a laying out a case where their salary should be significantly higher what they were qualified at. Of the group, Rodrigues would have the best shot with 29 points (9+20) in 79 games. Ullmark looked strong in the first couple months of the season before fading hard and fast. McCabe was injured and only played 59 games while Elie...we're still wondering why the Sabres even gave him a qualifying offer, unless it's to keep him in the fold for Rochester.
Here are the cap-hits of those mentioned above from last year:
Elie--$735K
Rodrigues--$650K
McCabe--$1.6M
Ullmark--$750K
Both Rodrigues and McCabe should get solid raises while Ullmark should receive a small bump. As for Elie?
*shrugs*
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Some of the big names out of the 40 players that filed for arbitration include Jacob Trouba (NYR) and Stanley Cup-winning goalie Jordan Binnington (STL) while former Sabres J.T. Compher, (COL) and Joel Armia (MTL) also filed.
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