Brendan Guhle is leaving Prince George and is headed to the Rochester Amerks.
So says a report in The Prince George Citizen.
Guhle is age-eligible to return to his WHL major junior club next season but he will opt out for pro hockey.
The Cougars' 2016-17 MVP has already proven he can play in the NHL, having been an emergency call up for three games for The Sabres in December.
The report says that Guhle is joining the Amerks today.
"It's a chance to prove myself and get ready for next year and I'm looking forward to it," said Guhle. "I'm not planning on coming back next year but you never know."
The Sabres selected Guhle 51st overall at the 2015 NHL Draft.
Guhle split his season between Prince Albert and Prince George.
He scored 2 goals and 2 assists in 15 games with Prince Albert. After his trade to Prince George he scored 13 goals and 16 assists in 22 games played. Guhle also chipped in 6 assists in 6 playoff games.
Guhle has nothing more to prove in major junior. He is an NHL player through and through. He will finish out this season loading buses and getting acquainted with the Amerks way. Then, he will likely spend his summer in Buffalo with with many of the vets and young stars as they work out and train on and off the ice at HARBORCenter and the Academy Of Hockey. Come September, Guhle will be fully and completed prepared to make his non-emergency call up NHL debut.
Guhle will be a key contributor to buffalo's top four D group next season. The kid has the poise, power, precision, production, persistence to be a star at the NHL level. His first pass is blade to blade every time. He skated like a loaded Lamborghini. He has a bomb of a shot and isn't afraid to mix it up.
Tim Murray has admitted that he didn't do a good enough job in fortifying Buffalo's back end this season. Murray has over stocked the organizational cupboards with skilled forwards to the detriment of his defensive depth. Murray must now flip his organizational depth from offense to defense, which includes signing Notre Dane goalie monster Cal Petersen.
Buffalo's lack of D skill and consistency is one of the reasons why they will kiss the season goodbye after the Sunday matinee in Tampa.
Murray will add Guhle to the group that includes Rasmus Ristolainen, Jake McCabe and Zach Bogosian. He will say goodbye to pending UFAs Cody Franson and Taylor Fedun.
Murray will win adding another stud top four via trade. Be it Shea Theodore or Brandon Montour from Anaheim, or Samuel Morin from Philadelphia, or Noah Hanifin from Carolina. Buffalo will have to trade soon to be 30 goal scorer Evander Kane to take possession of a Montour, Theodore, Morin, or Hanifin. That is a trade I was will to execute at or before the March 1 NHL trade deadline.
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