- Mikhail Grigorenko agreed to terms on his entry level contract yesterday (yippeeee!). As is standard, at least for now, the contract is for three years and according to , the average cap hit will be $1,755,000 including bonuses and assuming he plays in the NHL. Head over to to check out the press conference announcing the signing.

Grigorenko was the 12th overall selection, the 1st by the Sabres, in this years Entry Draft. He was ranked by NHL Central Scouting as the 3rd best North American skater available in the 2012 draft class. He was also ranked as the #1 available center, a position lacking organizational depth. Grigorenko played in the QMJHL last season for the Quebec Remparts under Patrick Roy. Darcy Regier has come out and said on a few occasions that Grogorenko will have every opportunity to make this team. In other words, it’s his to lose.

» Continue reading “Sabres News and Notes 7/18 – 7/19″

The Sabres are continuing their trend of signing tough guys. This morning the team announced the signings TJ Brennan and Nick Tarnasky to one year contracts. Brennan is a former 2nd round draft selection of the Sabres and Tarnasky was originally drafted by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 9th round of the 2003 draft.

Nick Tarnasky played last season in the KHL after playing parts of 5 season with the Lightning, the Nashville Predators and the Florida Panthers. In those 5 season 30 points, 297 PIM’s in 245 games. Tarnasky also appeared in 36 games while playing for Vityaz Chekov of the KHL and racked up 12 points and 173 PIM’s.

While the point total is not impressive, the tough guy mentality is something the Sabres felt they needed to acquire in bulk quantities this off season. Tarnasky joins the list of John Scott and Steve Ott as the tough guys acquired through free agency/trades. The 3 of them will join Patrick Kaleta (hopefully), Cody McCormick, Marcus Foligno and Corey Tropp. Apparently our goal this offseason was to get mean, very, very mean… Should be an interesting experiment.

» Continue reading “Sabres Sign Brennan, Tarnasky”

The Sabres finally got their man. It has been speculated for almost a year now that Darcy Regier wanted Steve Ott from the Dallas Stars and today he finally sealed the deal. The team announced they had acquire Steve Ott and Adam Pardy from the Dallas Stars in exchange for Derek Roy (HE’S GONNNEEEEEE!!!!!). After the Sabres drafted two centers in the first round of the NHL Draft a few weeks ago, on top of the acquisition of Cody Hodgson at the deadline and the rise of Tyler Ennis as a center, the need for Derek Roy diminished. He was in desperate need of a scenery change and will hopefully get something out of this move. I feel its my obligation to wish him good luck, so yea, enjoy Dallas Royzie, and vice versa Dallas fans.

Now onto the important part, Steve Ott. On top of adding tough guy John Scott last night, the Sabres got a little bit tougher and even got some skill in return. Ott is listed at 6’0″ and 190 pounds and scored 11 goals, 28 assists for 39 points. Oh, and he also racked up 156 PIM in 74 games. Ott seems excited about his start with his new team and hes also got a brotherly connection here in Buffalo. As many people have talked about today after the trade announcement, Mike Weber and Steven Ott were billet brother back in their junior days. So I guess You can look at this as a family reunion of sorts, aww how cute! Ott is an agitator, just like Patrick Kaleta, but with more skill. Imagine how annoying they will be together…

» Continue reading “Sabres Acquire Ott, Pardy From Stars For Derek Roy”