The Buffalo Sabres are working on signing goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen to an extension, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman shares in the latest 32 Thoughts article. Luukkonen is set to become a restricted free agent this summer. Goalie partner Eric Comrie is also set to enter free agency this summer, while rookie Devon Levi is signed through the end of next season. Luukkonen unexpectedly found his way into the starter’s net this season, appearing in 54 games despite competition from Levi and Comrie. He performed well with the chance, recording 27 wins and a .910 save percentage. – serving as the ..read more

The Buffalo Sabres will have good reason to tune into the 2024 World Championship, as five different Sabres are expected to represent their country, per Rachel Hopmayer of Spectrum News in Buffalo (Twitter link). This includes Owen Power, Bowen Byram, and Dylan Cozens representing Team Canada; Rasmus Dahlin representing Team Sweden; and John-Jason Peterka representing Team Germany. Zach Benson and Jack Quinn also mentioned that they haven’t yet been contacted by Team Canada, though they’d have to discuss with general manager Kevyn Adams before committing, per X (Twitter li ..read more

Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News reports that Buffalo Sabres forward Dylan Cozens will play for Team Canada at the upcoming IIHF World Championships. The 23-year-old last played for Team Canada two years ago at the World Championship and was second in team scoring with seven goals and six assists in 10 games. Cozens had a disappointing run during his fourth NHL season as he and the Sabres missed the playoffs once again, extending the second-longest playoff drought in North American pro sports. The Whitehorse, Yukon native saw his point total decrease by 21 as he dropped to just 18 goals and ..read more

Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News is reporting that Buffalo Sabres goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen won’t play for Team Finland at the upcoming IIHF World Championship. The 25-year-old is a restricted free agent on July 1st and without an extension in place has elected to not play in the event. The news is not surprising given that Luukkonen would be risking injury without the security of a long-term deal in place. It will be a blow to Finland’s roster for the tournament. Luukkonen’s future looked murky at the start of the season, but the native of Espoo, Finland put up terrific numbers on a w ..read more

During his end-of-season media conference (video link), Sabres GM Kevyn Adams indicated that the lower-body injury that Tage Thompson sustained in Monday’s season finale against Tampa Bay will take a few weeks to heal. Accordingly, he won’t play for Team USA at the upcoming Worlds.  After a slow start to his year, Thompson wound up collecting 29 goals and 27 assists in 71 games, an output that was down from the past two seasons but was still good enough to finish with three points of the team lead ..read more

Playing the season with the Växjö Lakers of the SHL while on loan from the Buffalo Sabres organization, forward Noah Ostlund is set to make his debut in North American hockey. Earlier today, the Sabres organization announced that they have reassigned Ostlund to their AHL affiliate, the Rochester Americans. According to Scott Wheeler of The Athletic, Ostlund clocked in as the fifth-best prospect for the Sabres headed into the 2023-24 NHL season. Being selected with the 16th overall selection of the 2022 NHL Draft, Ostlund has spent all of his professional playing career in Sweden until today. A ..read more

In an update from Colby Guy of The Associated Press, both Aleksander Barkov and Oliver Ekman-Larsson could return to the lineup tonight as the Florida Panthers look to put themselves in the best position possible to capture the Atlantic Division crown. As both players are dealing with minor injuries sustained in their most recent game against the Buffalo Sabres on April 13th, the Panthers may opt to keep them out until the playoffs if they are not completely recovered. Nevertheless, the game tonight against the Toronto Maple Leafs will likely serve as a preview of one of the Round One matchup ..read more

The Buffalo Sabres have relieved head coach Don Granato of his duties after missing the playoffs for the 13th consecutive season. The Sabres have also fired assistant coach Jason Christie as well as video coordinator Matt Smith. The team will now be looking for their eighth coach since last making the playoffs in 2010-11 and have had Lindy Ruff, Ron Rolston, Ted Nolan, Dan Bylsma, Phil Housley, Ralph Krueger and now Granato behind the bench. Buffalo came into this season with playoff expectations after narrowly missing the postseason last year finishing 10th in the Eastern Conference with 91 p ..read more

The Buffalo Sabres will be without newcomer defenseman Bowen Byram on Thursday due to a personal matter (Twitter link). Byram also missed the team’s morning practice. He has so far played in 16 games with the Sabres, netting three goals and seven points. That’s a 0.438 point-per-game pace, a significant boost over the 0.363 scoring pace he managed prior to being traded, when he scored 20 points in 55 games with the Colorado Avalanche. His combined 27 points in 71 games mark a new career-high for Byram, topping his 24 points last season. Buffalo will now be back to square one, trying to make up ..read more

Winger Alexander Barabanov has reportedly played his last game with the San Jose Sharks, with a lower-body injury expected to end his season and the Sharks not likely to re-sign him this summer, per Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News (Web link). Barabanov suffered the injury from a blocked shot on March 26th and hasn’t played since, missing San Jose’s last five games. This is an abrupt and quiet end to what was a quiet season for Barabanov. He played in 46 games, scoring just four goals and 13 points – the lowest scoring rate of his career. It’s a disappointing follow-up to what seemed to be ..read more