BUFFALO – The Sabres have avoided arbitration with Jake McCabe, re-signing the defenseman to a two-year, $5.7 million contract.
The deal, announced this morning, gives the Sabres just $265,476 of salary cap space for the upcoming season, according to capfriendly.com. McCabe has a $2.85 million cap hit.
The Sabres still must re-sign goalie Linus Ullmark, who had his arbitration hearing Friday.
The NHL has a second buyout period following a team’s final arbitration hearing. More moves, of course, could be coming.
McCabe’s hearing was scheduled for Sunday.
The Sabres offered McCabe $1.95 million, while he countered with $4.3 million, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.
McCabe, 25, earned $1.775 million last season.
McCabe compiled four goals, 14 points, 35 penalty minutes and a minus-4 rating in 59 games last season. In his six-year career, he has accumulated 14 goals, 61 points, 153 penalty minutes and a minus-19 rating in 274 contests.
The American averaged 18 minutes, 57 seconds of ice time an outing in 2018-19, the seventh-highest total among Sabres. He topped more than 19 minutes a game in each of the previous three campaigns.