Miller - Buffalo Hockey Beat

Refreshed Chris Stewart excited about opportunities with Sabres

BUFFALO – When Chris Stewart’s disappointing 15-goal season ended in April, the Sabres winger decided to stay put for the summer. Instead of returning home to Toronto, Stewart settled in a suburb and began preparing for what he called “another biggest season of my career.”

“I’ve been saying (that) for the last three, four years now,” Stewart, who hasn’t cracked the 20-goal mark since 2010-11, said last week after skating inside the Riverside Ice Rink.... Read the full article

Plenty of intriguing Sabres prospects participating in development camp

BUFFALO – Some experts are already predicting the Sabres, a team three months removed from the worst NHL season in recent memory, will be legitimate Stanley Cup contenders in a few years.

Why? Their prospect pool might be the deepest in hockey.

Seven first-round picks are participating in the team’s development camp this week. Seven of the 41 prospects played in the NHL last season, including center Zemgus Girgensons, who spent the entire campaign ... Read the full article

GM Tim Murray believes Sabres can add veterans in free agency, not worried about cap floor

BUFFALO – The Sabres have a pretty simple free agency plan. The rebuilding club wants to add some respected veterans, preferably skilled ones who can mentor the team’s youngsters and are willing to take a short term, perhaps just a year or two.

Yes, the Sabres need to add salary badly when the market opens at noon today. After all, they’re a stunning $20,580,834 under the floor. But reaching that mark, a touchy subject for ... Read the full article

Blues hire former Sabres goalie coach Jim Corsi

Jim Corsi didn’t last long on the open market.

The St. Louis Blues have hired the respected former Buffalo Sabres goalie coach, the team announced today. Ironically, the Blues recently parted ways with goalie Ryan Miller, who spent 12 years under Corsi in Buffalo. The two enjoyed a strong relationship.

The Sabres fired Corsi in April after 16 years. The Blues let goalie coach Corey Hirsch go earlier this month.

The Blues will use ... Read the full article

Islanders send Sabres 2015 first-round pick to complete Thomas Vanek trade

The New York Islanders will be keeping the No. 5 pick in June’s NHL Entry Draft and giving the Buffalo Sabres their first-round selection next year to complete the Thomas Vanek trade, the club announced today.

The Isles had until June 1 to decide.

There had been some speculation the Isles would want to have their 2015 pick for a chance at Connor McDavid, arguably the biggest prospect since Sidney Crosby.

The Sabres now ... Read the full article

Brian Elliott’s re-signing means Blues won’t bring back Ryan Miller

The conditional draft pick the Buffalo Sabres received from the St. Louis Blues in the blockbuster Ryan Miller-Steve Ott trade won’t become this year’s first-rounder.

The Blues signed backup goalie Brian Elliott to a three-year extension today, effectively ending Miller’s short run with the club.

The Sabres will likely receive a 2016 third-round selection now.

Clearly, the Blues, a team built to win the Stanley Cup this season, weren’t going to re-sign Miller after their ... Read the full article

Sabres goalie Jhonas Enroth believes injury gave him new perspective

BUFFALO – After almost four seasons as a backup, Jhonas Enroth’s run at becoming the Sabres’ No. 1 goalie lasted seven games before a sprained MCL ended his trying campaign.

A disappointing finish to an odd year for the 25-year-old, right?

“Kind of,” Enroth said Monday inside the First Niagara Center as the Sabres cleaned out their lockers.

Get this, the Swede said he was “kind of glad” he got hurt.

“If you understand ... Read the full article

Sabres fire assistant coaches from old regime

BUFFALO – The Sabres have fired or reassigned all of the assistant coaches Ted Nolan inherited from the previous regime.

Jim Corsi, the team’s popular goalie coach since 1998, is gone, the club announced today. So is Teppo Numminen, whose contract wasn’t renewed after three seasons. Joe Sacco and Jerry Forton have been offered new jobs within the organization’s hockey department after just one season with the team.

Nolan replaced Ron Rolston on an interim ... Read the full article

Sabres goalie Connor Knapp on first NHL start: ‘Quite a moment in my life’

BUFFALO – On March 15, more than 4,000 miles from Buffalo, Sabres goalie Connor Knapp stopped 24 shots in the Alaska Aces’ 4-2 win against the Colorado Eagles in Anchorage.

Twenty-nine days later, Knapp, the sixth goalie on the organization’s depth chart, made his first NHL start in the Sabres’ 4-3 shootout loss to the New York Islanders.

Knapp grew up in York, a small town about 30 miles from Rochester.

“It’s crazy,” the 23-year-old ... Read the full article

Sabres recall goalie Connor Knapp from Amerks

BUFFALO – With goalie Andrey Makarov sent back to Rochester to help the Americans secure a playoff spot, the Sabres recalled Connor Knapp today.

If Knapp backs up Matt Hackett on Saturday in Boston, the Sabres would set an NHL record by dressing their ninth goalie this season, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

They’ve recently lost goalies Jhonas Enroth, Nathan Lieuwen and Michal Neuvirth to injuries and also traded Ryan Miller and Jaroslav Halak. ... Read the full article