The Buffalo Sabres today traded forward Sam Lafferty to the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for a sixth-round pick in 2026.
Lafferty, 30, struggled last season after signing a two-year, $4 million contract as a free agent, registering four goals, seven points and a minus-15 rating in 60 games.
The Sabres inked the speedy Lafferty, who had just enjoyed a career year with the Vancouver Canucks, when they overhauled their fourth line.
But he struggled from the get-go, becoming a healthy scratch in October. Meanwhile, fourth-line winger Nicolas Aube-Kubel, who signed the same day, was waived and eventually traded.
The only fourth-liner the Sabres acquired last offseason still on the roster is winger Beck Malenstyn.
Lafferty spent parts of two seasons with Chicago earlier in his career, playing 97 games in 2021-22 and 2022-23.
Update: The Sabres have signed veteran goalie Alex Lyon to a two-year, $3 million contract as a free agent.
Lyon, 32, will possibly back up Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen or Devon Levi or push them for playing time.
The Yale product compiled a 14-9-1 record with a 2.81 goals-against average, an .896 save percentage and one shutout in 30 games with the Detroit Red Wings last season.
The 6-foot-1, 196-pound Lyon played a career-high 44 games for Detroit in 2023-24. He has also played for the Philadelphia Flyers, Carolina Hurricanes and Florida Panthers.
He has registered a 58-38-11 record with 2.98 goals-against average, a .902 save percentage and four shutouts in 113 career NHL games.
Update: Defenseman Jacob Bernard-Docker, who the Sabres did not extend a qualifying offer to Monday, has signed a one-year, $875,000 contract with Detroit.
Bernard-Docker, 25, played 15 games with the Sabres last season after arriving from the Ottawa Senators before the trade deadline.
Update: The Sabres have signed winger Justin Danforth to a two-year, $3.6 million contract, according to TSN’s Bob McKenzie.
Danforth, 32, scored nine goals and 21 points in 61 games for the Columbus Blues Jackets last season.
He has spent most of the last four seasons with Columbus, recording 31 goals and 64 points in 183 games.
Danforth spent 2017-18 in the Buffalo organization, scoring 28 goals and 59 points for the Cincinnati Cyclones, the Sabres’ ECHL affiliate at the time. He also scored three goals and five points in 15 games for the Rochester Americans.
The 5-foot-8, 188-pound Danforth went overseas in 2018, starring for teams in Finland and Russia before returning to North America in 2021 and earning an NHL job.
Update: The Sabres have re-signed defenseman Ryan Johnson to a three-year, $2.325 million contract ($775,000 average annual value).
Johnson, 23, was set to become a restricted free agent today.
The contract becomes a one-way in years two and three, according to Puckpedia.com. He will earn $350,000 in the minors next season as part of a two-way deal.
Johnson, the 31st overall pick in 2019, spent most of last season with Rochester, recording two goals and 13 points in 66 games. He played three contests for the Sabres.
He spent about half of his rookie campaign with the Sabres in 2023-24, compiling seven assists in 41 outings.
Meanwhile, the Sabres also re-signed Jack Rathbone, Johnson’s defense partner with Rochester, to a two-year, two-way contract.
“I did a little fist pump when I found out,” Amerks coach Mike Leone said of Rathbone’s new contract.
The deal is worth $800,000 in the NHL and $525,000 in the minors each season, according to Puckpedia.com, with $550,000 guaranteed.
Rathbone, 26, could’ve become an unrestricted free agent today.
He compiled six goals and 23 points in 67 games with the Amerks last season. He earned one recall to the Sabres but did not play.
Leone said Rathbone “really made a transformation” last season. When he turned pro, he was known as a skill defender.
But he has focused on developing the defensive side of his game.
“If you look at the underlying numbers this year, him and RJ really played really like a shutdown pair,” Leone said. “You look at our goals against this year, they were a huge part of it, having tough matchups. And I think he made a conscious effort to work on his play away from the puck, because everybody knows ‘Bones’ is an offensive D that can really skate. But I think he was arguably, if not, one of our best defenders.”
Rathbone recorded two goals and five points in 28 games with the Vancouver Canucks earlier in his career.
Update: The Sabres have signed defenseman Zac Jones to a one-year, two-way contract worth $900,000 in the NHL and 550,000 in the minors, according to Frank Seravalli.
Jones, 24, registered one goal and 11 points in 46 games last season with the New York Rangers. He also scored one goal in two outings with the Hartford Wolf Pack.
The 5-foot-11, 190-pound Jones has compiled four goals and 28 points in 115 career NHL games.
Update: The Sabres have signed defenseman Zachary Metsa to a one-year, two-way contract worth $775,000 in the NHL and $250,000 in the minors, according to Puckpedia.com, with $325,000 guaranteed.
Metsa, 26, registered seven goals, a team-high 39 assists and 46 points for the Amerks last season.
The 5-foot-9, 195-pound Metsa played the last two seasons in Rochester on an AHL contract.
Update: The Sabres have signed defenseman Mason Geertsen to a two-year, two-way contract worth $775,000 in the NHL and $425,000 in the minors, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.
Geertsen, 30, spent last season with the Henderson Silver Knights, the Vegas Golden Knights’ AHL affiliate, compiling five assists and 77 penalty minutes in 31 games.
In November, he announced he was in remission after battling B-cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
The 6-foot-4, 225-pound Geertsen will likely begin the season in Rochester.
He registered zero points and 77 penalty minutes in 25 games for the New Jersey Devils in 2021-22.
Update: The Sabres have re-signed forward Tyson Kozak to a three-year, $2.325 million contract ($775,000 average annual value).
Kozak, 22, was, albeit briefly, a restricted free agent.
He recorded three goals and five points in his first 21 NHL games last season. He also registered eight goals and 14 points in 31 games with the Amerks.
Update: The Amerks have signed forward Matteo Costantini, a fifth-round pick by the Sabres in 2020, 131st overall, to a two-year AHL contract.
Costantini, 22, scored eight goals and 23 points in 40 games last season to help Western Michigan win the national championship.
The St. Catharines, Ontario, native began his college career at North Dakota.
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