McLeod - Buffalo Hockey Beat

Devon Levi happy to compete with UPL, sharp as Sabres beat Blue Jackets

BUFFALO – For years, Sabres goalie Devon Levi has been a workhorse, starting game after game.

At Northeastern, Levi played 89 percent of the Huskies’ games. After turning pro late in 2022-23, he started seven of the Sabres’ final eight contests and the first four last season before suffering an injury.

When Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen seized the No. 1 job late last fall, the Sabres assigned Levi to the Rochester Americans to play regularly, occasionally recalling ... Read the full article

Sabres preseason: Ryan McLeod set to debut; Rasmus Dahlin skates again

BUFFALO – Two exhibition games, two regular-season lineups.

The Sabres will mostly utilize their top players again for this afternoon’s preseason contest against the Columbus Blue Jackets in KeyBank Center. They dressed most of their NHL talent for Saturday’s 7-3 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins, a game in which JJ Peterka scored three goals.

The complete lineup is below. Three notable offseason acquisitions – center Ryan McLeod, defenseman Dennis Gilbert and winger Jason Zucker – ... Read the full article

After signing contract, Sabres’ Peyton Krebs begins fight for ice time

BUFFALO – As training camp approached and Peyton Krebs remained unsigned, he finally had enough. The Sabres center told his agent he needed a new contract.

“I was just kind of taking my advice from my agent and what I needed to do, and … I just kind of said, ‘I’m done with this. Get something done. I want to be there for camp,’” Krebs said following Friday’s session of training camp.

Krebs, 23, couldn’t ... Read the full article

After trade to Sabres, shock turned to excitement for Beck Malenstyn

BUFFALO – At first, Beck Malenstyn said he felt neither excitement nor disappointment, only shock. The Sabres newcomer was drinking coffee in his in-laws’ living room outside picturesque Canmore, Alberta, when he learned he had been traded.

As a restricted free agent, Malenstyn, 26, needed a new contract from the Washington Capitals. So when their assistant general manager called him during the NHL Draft on June 29, he initially thought little of it. Then after ... Read the full article

Sabres notes: Rasmus Dahlin injured; Matt Savoie trade filled big need

BUFFALO – Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin’s first practice under new coach Lindy Ruff lasted just a few minutes.

Dahlin, 24, departed Wednesday’s opening session of training camp early after suffering what Ruff called a “mid-range” injury.

Ruff had no update on Dahlin, who will be examined.

“It’s just one of those things he was passing the puck and something happened,” Ruff said in KeyBank Center. “So (as a) precaution, (we) got him off.”... Read the full article

After signing contract, Sabres’ Peyton Krebs might have to battle for spot

BUFFALO – When the Sabres overhauled their third and fourth lines during the offseason by trading for Ryan McLeod and Beck Malenstyn and signing two free agents, center Peyton Krebs’ future here became uncertain.

Krebs, the Sabres’ last restricted free agent, is officially back for his fourth season, having signed a two-year, $2.9 million contract on Tuesday. But as training camp opens today with the first on-ice sessions in KeyBank Center, it’s unclear where he ... Read the full article

After signings and trades, where does Peyton Krebs fit with Sabres?

BUFFALO – During their exit meeting in April, Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams noticed a bit of a shift in center Peyton Krebs’ mentality.

When Adams asked him about his season, Krebs, 23, told him he believes he can be a 200-foot, two-way center in the NHL.

“When he first got here, there was so much emphasis on offense and he’d always been an offensive player,” Adams said June 20 in KeyBank Center.

Krebs, ... Read the full article

Nomadic Nicolas Aube-Kubel excited to give Sabres’ fourth line grit, speed

As free agency approached and winger Nicolas Aube-Kubel began looking for his fifth NHL team in the last three and a half years, he told his agent he wanted to join a younger group.

Having started last season in the AHL – he played 11 games for the Hershey Bears before earning regular duty with the Washington Capitals – Aube-Kubel knew he likely wouldn’t receive a multi-year deal.

But the idea of growing with a ... Read the full article

Excited Ryan McLeod ready for ‘great opportunity’ after trade to Sabres

Eleven days after his marathon nine-month, 105-game season ended, Ryan McLeod was posing for pictures at his friend’s wedding when he learned the Edmonton Oilers had traded him to the Buffalo Sabres.

Naturally, McLeod, 24, wanted to enjoy some down time following an emotional and grueling campaign, so the timing struck him as “a little funny.”

“A little whirlwind,” the center said on a Zoom call Wednesday of getting traded for the first time. “You ... Read the full article

Sabres newcomer Sam Lafferty enjoyed career season after trade

BUFFALO – Sabres center Sam Lafferty’s first three NHL teams utilized him in a checking role, deploying him for faceoffs in enemy territory for a whopping 73.7 percent of his zone starts.

Then last year, after the Vancouver Canucks acquired Lafferty, 29, from the Toronto Maple Leafs days before the season, they gave him a dual role.

For the first time in his five-year career, he had more offensive zone starts than defensive starts (51.3 ... Read the full article