Nylander - Buffalo Hockey Beat

Sabres sign top pick Alexander Nylander to 3-year, entry-level contract

BUFFALO – The Sabres have signed winger Alexander Nylander, the eighth overall pick last month, to a three-year, entry-level contract, the team announced tonight.

“We are extremely pleased to sign Alex to his entry-level deal,” Sabres general manager Tim Murray said in a statement. “When we selected Alex, we obviously knew he was a talented, skilled player. We look forward to him coming to training camp and competing for a job.”

On Tuesday, after ... Read the full article

Sabres GM Tim Murray knows Jimmy Vesey could sign elsewhere

BUFFALO – The constant talk about whether former Harvard University star Jimmy Vesey will sign with the Sabres amazes general manager Tim Murray.

No one, of course, has more invested in Vesey than Murray, who traded a third-round pick for the Hobey Baker Award winner’s rights on June 20, a deal he has called a “gamble.”

If Vesey signs, Murray might have a first- or second-line winger to skate beside Jack Eichel or Ryan O’Reilly. ... Read the full article

Prospect Judd Peterson could be back in Sabres’ plans

BUFFALO – Technically, Judd Peterson still belonged to the Sabres, but the NHL club wasn’t too interested in evaluating the St. Cloud State University forward.

Just a year ago, Peterson appeared to have no future with the organization that had drafted him out of high school in the seventh round, 204^th overall, in 2012.

After participating in two development camps run by the team’s old regime, Peterson, 22, wasn’t invited back in 2014 or ... Read the full article

Sabres prospect Alexander Nylander not looking far ahead

BUFFALO – Sabres prospect Hudson Fasching was looking for small details in Alexander Nylander’s game. Sure, he could see the eighth overall pick possesses terrific speed and soft hands.

But when a player is that talented, Fasching, 20, likes to examine him a little closer.

“You can kind of just tell, if you pay a little extra attention to him, every puck he shoots it’s crisp, it’s in a direction,” Fasching said Wednesday following ... Read the full article

Alexander Nylander one of many Sabres prospects to watch

BUFFALO – Watching a top prospect skate in a Sabres jersey for the first time, even in a development camp setting, is a special experience for fans always eager to welcome new talent.

For the next six days, starting with today’s session inside HarborCenter, the Sabres’ rabid fan base will receive its first glimpses of Swedish winger Alexander Nylander, the eighth overall pick June 24 at the First Niagara Center, sporting blue and gold ... Read the full article

Sabres won’t find elite talent in free agency

BUFFALO – The pickings are so slim in NHL free agency this year, perhaps the most coveted player available, Kyle Okposo, has never cracked the 30-goal or 70-point marks.

Okposo, of course, is a talented winger. The Minnesota native is coming off a 22-goal, 64-point season with the New York Islanders. He has 139 goals and 369 points in 529 NHL games over nine years, including three 20-goal seasons and two 60-point campaigns.

Yes, Okposo ... Read the full article

Coach: Sabres’ Alexander Nylander possibly ‘most skilled guy’ in NHL Draft

BUFFALO – Anyone unfamiliar with Alexander Nylander’s talents will immediately notice the speed the talented Swedish prospect possesses. The high-scoring winger the Sabres were thrilled to draft eighth overall last week might be one of the fastest skaters on the planet.

But Nylander, 18, doesn’t simply freewheel around the ice. The youngster utilizes his breakaway speed by changing it like Calgary star Johnny Gaudreau, said James Richmond, one of Nylander’s coaches with the Ontario ... Read the full article

Austin Osmanski’s selection by Sabres emotional

BUFFALO – By late Saturday morning, as the seven-round NHL Draft crept toward the end, East Aurora’s Austin Osmanski and his 50 or 60 supporters started getting nervous.

At one point, Osmanski, 18, joked to his father, Kevin, who was sitting beside him, they should leave. But deep down, the defenseman was really worried he wouldn’t be selected by anyone, let alone the hometown Sabres.

Osmanski responded to his aunt’s attempt to lighten the mood ... Read the full article

Swapping picks allows Sabres to draft Rasmus Asplund

BUFFALO – The trade was almost complete. The Sabres and Florida Panthers had agreed to swap defensemen Mark Pysyk and Dmitry Kulikov as the main components.

But the sides hadn’t worked out draft picks yet. Originally, general manager Tim Murray wanted to give the Sabres’ first third-round pick, 69^th overall, to his counterpart, Tom Rowe, at the NHL Draft.

Murray went back to Rowe on Saturday morning and offered his last third-rounder, 89^th... Read the full article

Sabres pick Rasmus Asplund shares chemistry with Alexander Nylander

BUFFALO – Early in the winter at the world junior championship, NHL Draft prospect Rasmus Asplund centered Alexander Nylander, the winger the Sabres drafted eighth overall Friday.

Clearly, the Sabres liked the chemistry the two showcased together representing Sweden, as they drafted Asplund, 18, with the 33^rd pick this morning inside the First Niagara Center.

“He was one of the guys I had the best chemistry with in my whole career,” an excited ... Read the full article