Remember the name Justin Bailey.
The Buffalo sabres prospect badly wants to earn an NHL job and he is steadfastly committed to battling his friends and fellow prospects Alex Nylander, Nick Baptiste, and Hudson Fasching in order to get what he wants.
The Williamsville, NY native is exactly the type of forward Phil Housley is looking to play in his top nine group. Bailey is big, strong, fast, skilled, offensively gifted, hard to move off pucks and determined.
This will be Bailey's fifth NHL training camp for Bailey, who for the first time has a legit opportunity to earn a roster spot by impressing his new head coach and GM in the Prospects tourney and in the exhibition games.
Bailey will be front and center this weekend when the Sabres host the Penguins, Bruins and Devils for a Prospect Challenge. He will be Buffalo's most experienced player in the tourney. He knows what is expected of him and now he has a chance to shine in the three games he will play in. The pace of this tourney will suit Bailey perfectly as it will be a 4v4 format which will allow the big winger the opportunity to move his feet and bully enemy defenders en route to the blue ice.
Bailey (6'3" and 220 lbs.) is a multi-time 20-goal scorer in the AHL. Bailey has scored 43 goals and 38 assists in his past two seasons in Rochester. Bailey is confident that his AHL offensive prowess can translate to the NHL.
Last season, he scored 23 goals in 56 games for the Rochester Amerks. The Sabres were the 27th ranked even strength goal scoring team in 2016-17. Housley and Jason Botterill want to promote from within the family. Bailey is poised to make a statement this weekend at the Prospects Challenge. Housley and a Botterill will be watching Bailey closely. Bailey will treat this weekend as an open tryout for his new head coach and new GM. Since being drafted by the Sabres in the second round in 2013, Bailey has played for three different head coaches and three different GMs in Buffalo.
Bailey is a speed merchant who plays the game at a break neck pace. He is at his best when he is using his gratuitous speed to back off defenders through the neutral zone and at the blue line.
Sabres main camp opens in September 14.
On Thursday, Bailey told Sabres TV that he will relish the opportunity to play three meaningful, competitive games this weekend, before his teammates assemble for the beginning of training camp next week.
“My goal is to play in the National Hockey League,” he said. “I think anytime you have a chance with guys that are the same age as you, if not younger, you want to really show yourself … as a dominant player, and that’s not just scoring goals. For me, it’s asserting myself in the corner, being stronger than guys, showing that I can play with the weight I put on this summer.”
“It’s playing with speed, night in and night out,” he said. “When I’m playing with speed, even if I’m not scoring, I’m still getting opportunities. I think actually I had tons of opportunities where the puck just didn’t go in the net. I think guys in the NHL bury those.”
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What a terrible turn of events for the Nashville Predators.
It was announced by the Preds that Ryan Ellis will be sidelined several months as he recovers from offseason knee surgery.
Ellis underwent the knee surgery in June, after the alters lost the Stanley Cup to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Ellis and the Preds were initially optimistic that a full recovery would be made over the summer and that Ellis would be good to go for the beginning of training camp.
Not so.
Preds GM David Poile is hopeful that Ellis will return by January 1, 2018 or sooner.
Now that Preds captain Mike Fisher has filed his retirement papers with the NHL, Ellis is my choice as the next man to wear the "C" in Smashville. I've loved this kid's jam and spirit since covering him at the 2011 IIHF World Junior Championships in Buffalo in 2011. What's ellis lacks in physical size, he more than makes up for in skill, desire and relentlessness. Losing Ellis for the next three months will definitely leave a hole in the Nashville top 4 D corps.
It's difficult to lead a team while watching from the press box.
Ellis, 26, was "Mr. Everything" for the Preds on their run to the Stanley Cup Final last spring. He scored 13 points in 22 playoff games. In 2016-17, Ellis scored a career-best 16 goals and 22 assists.
Ellis was selected 11th overall by the Preds at the 2009 NHL Draft. Ellis will is a $2.5M AAV this and next season. Poile has $6 million in available salary cap slush plus Ellis' LTIR cap relief to use to acquire a defenseman or sign a UFA D.
Peter Laviolette will have to get bigger contributions and added TOI from Roman Josi, P.K. Subban, and Mattias Ekholm. Anthony Bitetto, Matt irwin and Yannick Weber will be fighting for a larger role in Ellis' absence. Recently acquired Alexei Emelin will want to distinguish himself.
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