The Buffalo Sabres have hired former NHL defenseman Zach Redmond, who starred for the Rochester Americans for three seasons, as a player development coach and Brad Dexter as a scout, the team announced Wednesday.
Redmond, 35, recently retired as a player following three seasons with Red Bull Munich, a team in Deutsche Eishockey Liga.
The Sabres needed to find a new development coach after former NHL defenseman Nathan Paetsch moved behind the bench to become an assistant coach with Rochester.
Redmond, having suffered a stroke as a teenager and a severed right femoral artery and vein as a member of the Winnipeg Jets, overcame long odds to play 12 pro seasons.
He played 133 games for four NHL teams, compiling nine goals and 38 points. He appeared in three contests for the Sabres in 2017-18.
Following his assignment to Rochester, he quickly developed into one of the AHL’s elite talents. In 2018-19, he scored 21 goals – an Amerks record for defensemen – and 50 points in 58 games. Those gaudy numbers earned him the Eddie Shore Award as the league’s best defenseman.
After he departed for Germany following the 2019-20 season, his 33 points in 2020-21 led all DEL defensemen. He was also teammates with Sabres winger JJ Peterka that season. In 2021-22, he was named the league’s defenseman of the year and scored 16 goals, the most among defenders.
The Atlanta Thrashers drafted Redmond in seventh round in 2008, 184th overall.
Meanwhile, Dexter, 51, spent the last eight seasons as an associate and assistant coach at Princeton. He has also coached in the ECHL with the South Carolina Stingrays and at Colgate. He played eight years of pro hockey as a defenseman.
