The Buffalo Sabres announced their second series of cuts Tuesday, loaning 10 players to Rochester, including Noah Ostlund and Konsta Helenius. They also returned goalie Scott Ratzlaff to his junior club in the WHL and released nine players on AHL contracts from their tryout deals. On top of that, the Sabres placed six players on waivers, per PuckPedia. That list includes forwards Josh Dunne, Brett Murray, Mason Jobst, defensemen Jack Rathbone and Colton Poolman, and goalie Felix Sandstrom.
The full list of players loaned to Rochester is as follows:
- Noah Ostlund
- Aleksandr Kisakov
- Olivier Nadeau
- Tyler Tullio
- Isak Rosen
- Vsevolod Komarov
- Viktor Neuchev
- Nikita Novikov
- Anton Wahlberg
- Konsta Helenius
These players are on NHL deals with the Sabres and therefore have to technically “loaned” to the AHL club. All 10 players are waiver-exempt, meaning that they can be sent down without another team having the chance to claim them.
The nine players Buffalo released from tryout are:
- Ethan Prow
- Michael Houser
- Ty Cheveldayoff
- Brendan Warren
- Riley Fiddler-Schultz
- Noah Laaouan
- Peter Tischke
- Graham Slaggert
- Zach Metsa
Since all nine players are on AHL contracts with Rochester, they had to be signed to tryout deals with the Sabres to participate in training camp. Buffalo cannot recall any of these players without signing them to an NHL contract first.
Sabres on Waivers
Dunne, Murray, Jobst, Rathbone, Poolman, and Sandstrom have been placed on waivers, meaning that any NHL team can claim them. The league has 24 hours to place a claim, if interested. Otherwise, the Sabres can assign each player to AHL Rochester. The Sabres will then be able to recall any of these players and not have to place them on waivers again to send them back down, unless they remain in the NHL for 10 games or 30 days, whichever comes first.
If a player is claimed, he will have to begin the season on the claiming team’s NHL roster. The Sabres can reclaim the player should they be sent down again by their new NHL team, and immediately send them to Rochester.
The Sabres only had to place six of their players on waivers to send to Rochester, due to the waiver-exempt status of the 10 loaned immediately. The chart above from PuckPedia displays who is considered waivers exempt, based on age, contract, and NHL games played. Anything over the years signed to an NHL deal or NHL games played removes waiver exemption status, which is why Dunne, Murray, Jobst, Rathbone, Poolman, and Sandstrom do not qualify.
Next Sabres Cuts
With 27 players on the NHL roster in Europe, the Sabres will have one final round of cuts. Jiri Kulich, Lukas Rousek, and Kale Clague are the presumed choices, based on the game in Munich and line combinations in practice. Jacob Bryson and Dennis Gilbert could be on the bubble as well if the Sabres choose to keep seven defensemen instead of eight. Both have practiced with the NHL group since day one of training camp, however, making that unlikely.
Goaltender James Reimer is also likely headed to waivers for purposes of sending down to Rochester, as he did not see any preseason or exhibition action for Buffalo. Rousek and Clague would have to join him on waivers, while Kulich is exempt and free to be sent down at any time.
You may wonder where Ryan Johnson and Tyson Kozak are in this conversation. Both players remain on the Sabres roster due to injury. An injury designation will not require a move until they are healthy. Johnson’s injury is much less serious than Kozak’s, so an update should come sooner than later on the second-year defenseman.
Since the team is overseas playing in Prague, Czechia to begin the season, the Sabres have roster exemption status. This means they do not have to make these cuts, Johnson and Kozak aside, until after their first two regular-season games against the New Jersey Devils.
