The Buffalo Sabres offseason has fizzled, after a flurry of trades around the NHL Draft moved out JJ Peterka, Connor Clifton, and Sam Lafferty, as the expectation of acquiring a top-six forward to replace Peterka in exchange for defenseman Bowen Byram did not come to fruition when the restricted free agent signed a two-year, $12.5 million bridge deal last week.
GM Kevyn Adams in the minds of many still has a lot of work to do and has not significantly improved the club that missed the playoffs by 12 points last season, but other than former Carolina winger Jack Roslovic, who scored 22 goals with the Hurricanes, the best scoring unrestricted free agent forward available is the familiar name of former Sabre Victor Olofsson.
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The club’s most recent addition seems more aimed towards the Rochester Americans, as the Sabres announced earlier this week the signing of former NHLer Jake Leschyshyn to a one-year, two-way contract worth a league-minimum $775,000 and $350,000 at the AHL level.
The 26-year-old was a draftee of the Vegas Golden Knights in their inaugural season of 2017, and spent five seasons with the Golden Knights organization until he was claimed off of waivers by the New York Rangers in 2023. Leschyshyn played only 14 games for New York and most of his 2 ½ seasons with the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack, where he scored 24 points (13 goals, 11 assists) in 69 games.
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