Sabres Edge

Hockey fans will need to pay the price to see the Toronto Maple Leafs at First Niagara Center, along with Ryan Miller’s return to his old Buffalo home.

The Sabres unveiled their variable ticket prices for the upcoming season Thursday. While the prices of individual game tickets purchased at the box office have increased by $4-$5 a game for value-, bronze-, silver- and gold-priced games, cost will remain flat for the one platinum game on the docket. However, mini-pack prices have dropped substantially for the top three price tiers – as much as $36 for platinum, $24 for gold, $12 for silver – and risen in bronze and value from $1-$7.

Pricing in the five classifications (platinum, gold, silver, bronze and value) is based on opponent, day of week and time of year of the game and whether opponents have marquee players. The breakdown in the variable pricing is virtually identical to last season except there is one more silver game and one fewer gold game.

Platinum is the most expensive tier and the only one on the schedule is Saturday, Nov. 15, against the Toronto Maple Leafs ($80-$240 box office, $76-$180 mini-pack).

There are seven gold games on the docket and 14 silver-priced games -- including the home opener against Columbus on Oct. 9, 11 bronze games and eight value games.

The gold games are as follows: Pittsburgh (Nov. 8), Montreal (Nov. 28), Dec. 27 (N.Y. Islanders), March 14 (N.Y. Rangers), April 1 (Toronto), April 3 (Chicago) and April 11 (Pittsburgh).

Three of the final four home games are gold with Carolina's visit on April 6 priced at the value level.

Other value games include: Anaheim (Oct. 13), San Jose (Nov. 18), Tampa Bay (Dec. 2), Calgary (Dec. 11), Ottawa (Feb. 10), Nashville (Feb. 22) and Arizona (March 26).

Ryan Miller's first game in First Niagara Center as an opposing goalie will be a bronze-priced game as Vancouver visits Thursday, Feb. 26. Those wanting to see the Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings' visit at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 9 can also do so at a bronze price.

Other bronze games include: Boston (Oct. 30), Detroit (Nov. 2), Montreal (Nov. 5), Detroit (Jan. 13), Minnesota (Jan. 15), St. Louis (Feb. 5), N.Y. Islanders (Feb. 8), Philadelphia (Feb. 15) and Washington (March 16).

Besides the home opener, other silver games include: Florida (Oct. 17), Boston (Oct. 18), Edmonton (Nov. 7), N.Y. Rangers (Nov. 21), Winnipeg (Nov. 26), Dec. 13 (Florida), Dec. 20 (Colorado), Tampa Bay (Dec. 31), Florida (Jan. 2), Philadelphia (Jan. 17), Dallas (Feb. 7), Ottawa (Feb. 20) and New Jersey (March 20),

Most of the silver games will be played on Friday or Saturday. The only exceptions are the home opener, the Wednesday before Thanksgiving Day game against Winnipeg and the 6 p.m. New Year's Eve game against Tampa, which is also a Wednesday game.

Below is the breakdown of variable ticket prices with the box office and mini-pack prices.

Mini-packs go on sale Sept. 4, while fans can purchase individual game tickets beginning at 9 a.m. Sept. 13. Existing mini-pack holders can start renewing their ticket packages beginning Aug. 27.

by Amy Moritz

The Buffalo Sabres have officially announced their assistant coaching staff for the 2014-15 season -- Bryan Trottier, Danny Flynn and Tom Coolen with Arturs Irbe serving as goaltending coach.

“I’m very happy with the group of talented hockey minds we were able to assemble for our coaching staff,” head coach Ted Nolan said in a press release from the organization. “Each one of these coaches brings an extensive and different background from the hockey world and I’m confident they will help get our team to where it needs to go this season.”

The team also announced additions to the hockey department with Rob Murphy named director of scouting and Greg Royce director of amateur scouting while Mark Jakubowski has been named assistant general manager.

On the coaching front, Trottier has nine years of NHL coaching experience, including serving as the head coach of the New York Rangers in 2002-03. A veteran of 18 NHL seasons, he was a seven-time Stanley Cup champion and a 1997 Hockey Hall of Fame inductee. He finished his playing career with 1,425 points (524 goals, 901 assists) in 1,279  NHL games. His jersey, No. 19, was officially retired by the Islanders in 2001.

This is the second coaching stint for Flynn along side Nolan. He worked with as Nolan's assistant coach in 2006-07 with the New York Islanders. He joins the Sabres after serving as head coach of the Moncton Wildcats (QMJHL) for six seasons, from 2007-2013. 

Also familiar to working with Nolan is Coolen, who served as an assistant coach with the Latvian national team the past two seasons, including last winter's Olympic Games in Sochi.

Irbe, a 13-year NHL veteran, also worked with Nolan as an assistant coach for the Latvian national team at the 2013 IIHF World Championships. Irbe played 568 career NHL games in goal for the San Jose Sharks, Dallas Stars, Vancouver Canucks and Carolina Hurricanes. He was twice selected to the NHL All-Star Game (1994 and 1999), helped  the Hurricanes to a berth in the 2002 Stanley Cup Final and represented Latvia at two Winter Olympic Games (2002 and 2006).

As for the hockey department additions, Jakubowski will work as assistant to general manager Tim Murray. This will be Jakubowski's 10th year with the Sabres, spending the last six as assistant to the general manager. Among his responsibilities are salary cap analysis, contract research, managing player transfers and team roster administration.

Murphy and Royce are both familiar to Tim Murray as they worked together in Ottawa. Murphy joins the Sabres as director of scouting after four years as a pro scout for the Ottawa Senators and three years as a scout for the Phoenix Coyotes. Royce has spent the last 18 years in NHL scouting, the last six as an amateur scout with the Ottawa Senators.

By Mike Harrington

The Sabres have finalized a six-game preseason schedule -- which had already been floating around for weeks from other teams -- but have also announced the family-friendly ticket prices for the three games in First Niagara Center.

The home games will be Sept. 23 against Carolina, Sept. 26 against Toronto and Oct. 1 against Washington. All will be 7 p.m. starts.

The Sabres will open the exhibition schedule Sept. 21 at Washington, and will also travel to Toronto (Sept. 28) and to the finale Oct. 3 at Carolina. 

Tickets for all preseason games will go on sale Aug. 25 at 10 a.m. They are $35 for 200 Level and 100 Level I-II-III, $20-$25 for the rest of the 100 level, $20 for 300 Level I and $15 for 300 Level II-III-IV. Also on Aug. 25, sales will begin for the Sept. 25 USA Hockey All-American Prospects Game. Those sets will $15 for 100 and 200 level and $10 for 300 level.

By Mike Harrington

It appears the Buffalo Sabres' coaching staff has another new addition as Moncton assistant Danny Flynn is joining Ted Nolan's staff. The move is being reported by Halifax Mooseheads radio man John Moore and a report from The Q News, which covers the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

Flynn, 56, is director of hockey operations for Moncton and served there as an assistant under Nolan in 2005-06, and again with the New York Islanders in 2006-07. He is a former head coach of Moncton as well.

Nolan has also made a deal with Hall of Famer Bryan Trottier to join the staff, as Bucky Gleason reported on Tuesday. The Sabres have yet to confirm any hirings. 

By Bucky Gleason

The Buffalo Sabres have reached an agreement to hire Hall of Fame forward Bryan Trottier as an assistant coach under Ted Nolan. Sources with close ties to the organization said the move could be announced sometime within the next week.

Nolan has been looking for help since firing assistant coaches he inherited when he took over for Ron Rolston last season. Teppo Numminen and Jim Corsi were not hired back while Joe Sacco and Jerry Forton were reassigned. Sacco accepted a job as a pro scout before leaving last week to become an assistant with the Boston Bruins.

The moves left Nolan to fill their jobs with his own people.

Sabres spokesman Mike Gilbert said that no announcements were planned for the immediate future.

The sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said Nolan had Trottier high on his list from the beginning. The two forged a relationship when Nolan coached the New York Islanders and hold one another in high regard. Trottier had been out of coaching but apparently was willing to come back for Nolan.

Trottier, a seven-time Stanley Cup winner, was widely respected during a playing career that ended after the 1993-94 season. He had 524 goals and 1,425 points in 1,279 games over 18 seasons and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1997. His success as a player and experience as a coach should contribute to a young team.

Rumors had been swirling about Trottier in recent weeks as the summer carried along without a coaching staff being announced. Recent speculation also had former NHL netminder Arturs Irbe taking over as goaltending coach, but the sources were unable to confirm that.

Trottier won four Stanley Cups with the Islanders and two more with the Penguins during his 18-year playing career. He won another with the Colorado Avalanche in 2001 as an assistant coach. He was head coach of the Rangers in 2002 but failed to survive a full season behind the bench.

by Amy Moritz

The Buffalo Sabres inked Luke Adam to a one-year, two-way contract, the team announced on Sunday.

The 6-2, 206-pound forward played in parts of four seasons with the Sabre after being drafted by the club in the second round of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft.

Adam has been on the AHL-NHL shuffle and last year led the Rochester Americans in goals (29) while ranking second in points (49). He has twice been an American Hockey League all-star.

Adam had two stints with the Sabres last season and in 87 career NHL games he has recorded 26 points (15 goals, 11 assists.)

In 210 AHL games with the Americans and Portland Pirates, Adam has 161 points (77 goals, 84 assists).

by Amy Moritz

The Buffalo Sabres have signed defenseman Andre Benoit to a one-year contract. Reports on the TSN website say the deal is with $800,000.

Benoit played last season for the Colorado Avalanche scoring seven goals with 21 assists in 79 games.

He played parts of two seasons with Ottawa, while Sabres GM Tim Murray was in the Senators' front office. Benoit made his NHL debut in the 2010-11 season playing eight games with the Sens. He played in 33 games in the 2012-13 season with three goals and seven assists.

In 120 career NHL games, he has 39 points (10 goals, 29 assists) and 40 penalty minutes.

The 30-year-old is a native of St. Albert, Ontario and played five seasons with the Kitchener Rangers of the Ontario Hockey League.

By Mike Harrington

Where does Tyler Ennis fit in with the Sabres now and in the future? Is a $4.6 million cap hit too high for him going forward for the next five years?

Interesting questions. We're here to try to provide answers.

General Manager Tim Murray acknowledged today that Ennis is the team's No. 1 center for this year, with the obvious caveat that we don't know what lies in the future (see McDavid, Connor)

"He's a part of the team," Murray said. "Is he a center, is he a winger? We've talked about that with his agent and where he fits. He fits somewhere on this team. I have to look down the road when I feel we're going to be a competitive team. Is he the No. 1 center on that team? He may not be. He may be this year and next year he may be a No. 2 left winger. It depends on what we bring in here, depends how we surround him. That's going to dictate how he fits."

Ennis had 21 goals and 22 assists last year for 43 points. He got a $23-million deal with the aforementioned cap hit of $4.6M. So courtesy of the folks at Capgeek, I got a picture of players who are comparable to Ennis cap-wise for 2014-15 and studied how they produced last year.

The list is as follows:

By Mike Harrington

The Sabres wrapped up development camp today with two hours of 3-on-3 play. They were broken up into seven games and the Gray team won the "French Connection Cup" in the championship game with a 2-1 win over the Gold.

Mikhail Grigorenko got the winning goal for Gray and was joined by Mark Pysyk, Justin Kea, Drake Caggiula and Liam Pecoraro. The gold featured Nikita Zadorov, Hudson Fasching, Colin Jacobs, Sean Malone and Brandon Prophet.

Following the 3-on-3s, general manager Tim Murray offered his thoughts on camp, the signing of Tyler Ennis and how Ted Nolan is closing in on a coaching staff. Sam Reinhart, who took yesterday as a maintainence day, said he felt fine today.

Click below to hear from Murray and Reinhart. I'll have more thoughts on another post:

Tim Murray

Sam Reinhart

The Buffalo Sabres conclude their development camp this morning at First Niagara Center with a three-on-three tournament from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. It is free and open to the public. 

Our latest Sabres coverage: 

• New deal shows Sabres' long-term faith in Ennis. Story by Mike Harrington.
• Hits keep coming from Compher. Notebook by Taylor Nigrelli.
• Reinhart takes a day. Thursday's camp update from Harrington.
• Photos, video and observations from Thursday's live blog of development camp practice.

General manager Tim Murray is expected to meet with the media following camp.

Follow Mike Harrington's tweets from today below:

By Mike Harrington

Tyler Ennis' agent said negotiations with the Sabres went well, with both sides coming to a fair agreement on the 24-year-old's value in Buffalo's rebuilding plan. Eustace King said Ennis made it clear to the team he wanted to be a part of their solution, and that General Manager Tim Murray made it clear they wanted Ennis as well. From there, it was just a meeting of the minds until the five-year, $23-million deal was agreed upon and announced today.

"I believe that Tyler's challenge has been that he's an undersized guy his whole career but he's overcome that obstacle," King said by phone from Los Angeles. "I think Tyler is going to be like some of the smaller guys that have gone through the Buffalo Sabres over the years and gone on to great careers in the NHL. I clearly believe we haven't scratched the surface yet to what Tyler can be."

The Sabres confirmed that Ennis had signed a multi-year deal earlier today but, as per team policy, did not reveal the teams.  Murray was unavailable for comment today and will speak on Ennis' deal in his post-development camp session with reporters on Friday.

King said this contract comes in the prime of Ennis' career and that he expects his client to have peak production at ages 27-28.

By Mike Harrington

Don't cue any panic buttons. It's still July. But Sam Reinhart didn't take participate in the power skating practices today at Sabres prospect camp because the team said he was taking a "maintenance day."

The team's No. 1 pick took a heavy hit from Zemgus Girgensons in Tuesday night's scrimmage and got hit three times on the first two days of camp by newcomer Jordan Samuels-Thomas as well. The Sabres said they expect Reinhart to play in Friday's 3-on-3 tournament that will close their summer development sessions.

"If there's a chance for someone to finish a check, they were certainly doing it out there," Reinhart said after Tuesday's scrimmage.

Reinhart did not show any signs of injury Tuesday and finished the scrimmage. When I asked him about being a target of physical play, Reinhart said it's something he quickly got used to in the Western Hockey League.

"Personally I embrace it," he said. "I feel it's easier to play when guys are running around out of position. Not that they were tonight by any means but I feel in the past when guys do that, I'm able to embrace the physical play and capitalize when they get out of position a little bit."

In other news, the Sabres said general manager Tim Murray would be unavailable to the media today and will speak on Tyler Ennis' new contract following tomorrow's action.

After an off day, the Buffalo Sabres development camp returns with two practices today at First Niagara Center: 10:30 a.m. to noon and 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. 

Our latest Sabres coverage: 

• Sources confirm Tyler Ennis' 5-year deal. This morning's post by Mike Harrington.
• Sabres local prospects Sean Malone (West Seneca) and Justin Bailey (Williamsville) weather changes. Story by Taylor Nigrelli.
• A ton of info on Tuesday's scrimmage and more is in yesterday's post. 

Any observations from today's practices from The News' Harrington, Nigrelli and photojournalist James P. McCoy will appear below:

By Mike Harrington

Kane and Toews. Toews and Kane.

They've become as synonomous with Chicago hockey just like icons such as Wrigley Field and deep dish pizza are to The Windy City itself. There was no way the Blackhawks wanted to move forward without captain Jonathan Toews and South Buffalo sniper Patrick Kane, and their eight-year, $84 million extensions that were formally discussed Wednesday keep them together in the prime of their careers.

As Mark Lazerus reports in the Sun-Times, Kane and Toews stayed flexible with their deals so the Blackhawks could keep a team around them -- and not be forced to pick one of their stars and discard the other. If either or both had demanded an annual max deal of $13.8 million, the Hawks certainly would have had tough choices to make.

The final year of the players' current deals this year will have $6.3 million cap hits, which will jump to $10.5 million apiece when the extensions kick in for 2015-16. The deals pay each player $13.8 million for the first three years, $12 million in 2018-19, followed by salaries of $9.8 million, $7 million, $6.9 million and $6.9 million.

As Chris Kuc reports in the Chicago Tribune, Kane put to rest all that social media chatter about coming home to Buffalo when he said, "It was not even really a thought to think about continuing your career anywhere else. We’re both happy that we’re locked up here for a while."

The video file at the top of this post with highlights from Wednesday's press conference in the United Center is from CSN Chicago. If you want to see the full press conference (running about 37 minutes) from the Blackhawks'  web site, click the video file below:

By Mike Harrington

The Buffalo Sabres' top returning goal scorer and most prominent restricted free agent is back in the fold for the long term.

Multiple sources confirmed to The Buffalo News early this morning that the team has re-signed center Tyler Ennis to a five-year deal worth $23 million. The deal was first noted Wednesday by NHL Network analyst and former NHL goalie Kevin Weekes. The team announced at 10 a.m. that Ennis had signed a multi-year contract.

Ennis' cap hit of $4.6 million would thus put him behind only defenseman Tyler Myers ($5.5 million) and recently re-signed winner Matt Moulson ($5 million) on the Buffalo roster.

Ennis, 24, had a career-high 21 goals and 22 assists last season in 80 games. It was the back end of a two-year, $5.625 million "bridge" contract he signed in 2012 following the expiration of his entry-level deal.

It was expected he was looking for a long-term contract this time, akin to the six-year, $25.5 million pact Cody Hodgson got last summer from former general manager Darcy Regier. Hodgson's cap hit is $4.25 million.

MT @BNHarrington: #Sabres not on ice today, but sign at arena exit last night said be ready for bus to ropes course at 9:15am #teambonding

— Buffalo News Sports (@TBNSports) July 16, 2014

Nearly 9,000 fans were at First Niagara Center Tuesday night for the Sabres development camp scrimmage. 

Here's your all-in-one stop for coverage:

• 2014-15 is a big season for Mikhail Grigorenko. Story by Mike Harrington.
• Harrington's impressions and coach & player interview AUDIO from Sabres Edge blog.
• Zadorov makes an impression, scrimmage's physical play & more. Notebook by Taylor Nigrelli.  
• PHOTO GALLERY from the scrimmage by James P. McCoy.
• Review photos, observations and more in last night's LIVE BLOG.

This just in from this morning: 

• Sabres sign defenseman Chad Ruhwedel to two-year contract. Update by Harrington.

Open practices, which are free and open to the public, resume Thursday from 10:30 to noon and 1:30 to 3:30. The camp will conclude Friday with a three-on-three tournament from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

By Mike Harrington

Cross another restricted free agent off the Buffalo Sabres' to-do list as the team announced today that defenseman Chad Ruhwedel has signed a two-year contract. Terms were not disclosed. 

Ruhwedel, 24, helped Massachusetts-Lowell to a Cinderella run to the NCAA Frozen Four in Pittsburgh in 2013 and then elected to leave school when the Sabres offered him a max salary contract ($925,000) and a guaranteed NHL roster spot for the final seven games of that season.

Ruhwedel played 21 games for Buffalo last season, collecting one assist, and had four goals and 24 assists in 47 games for Rochester. His 28 points were ranked second among Amerks defensemen and his five points in the playoff series against Texas (2g, 3a) were second on the Rochester team.

He has an interesting background in hockey as a San Diego native, as my story from 2013 documents.

The last major unsigned player on the Sabres' roster is center Tyler Ennis, who is coming off a 21-goal, 43-point season that saw him make $3,062,500. Ennis is likely looking for a long-term deal in the neighborhood of the six-year, $25.5 million contract Cody Hodgson got last summer, although there's been plenty of rumblings that GM Tim Murray doesn't think much of the deal Hodgson got from Darcy Regier and won't be as loose with Ennis.

The Sabres also gave a qualifying offer to Luke Adam and have yet to sign him, although it seems far-fetched to think he would figure much in their plans at the NHL level.

UPDATE: Ruhwedel just tweeted the following....

I'm very excited and thankful to be a part of the @BuffaloSabres for another 2 years!

— Chad Ruhwedel (@chad5ruhwedel) July 16, 2014

By Mike Harrington

Here's what's going through my mind after Tuesday night's Sabres development camp scrimmage:

Goaltending: Jhonas Enroth and Michal Neuvirth could very well be one-year stopgaps. Andrey Makarov and Linus Ullmark are coming quickly, with Ullmark looking very impressive. Jonas Johansson, picked by Tim Murray this year, is a classic big goalie Murray likes too. Makarov and Nathan Lieuwen will get most of the work in Rochester this year, with Amerks coach Chadd Cassidy revealing Matt Hackett's ACL injury suffered in April in Boston will keep him out until December or maybe January. Ouch.

Defense: Rasmus Ristolainen is a stud. Period. It seems absurd to think he'd start the season in Rochester but I realize the Sabres have a crowded blueline and are in rebuilding mode. It's so crowded that Nikita Zadorov, who hits everything that moves, is almost certainly going to have return to London of the OHL.

Up front: Most of the goals in the scrimmage were by undrafted free agents. The big names (Reinhart, Grigorenko, Girgensons, Armia etc) were held off the scoresheet. Reinhart showed sick hands at spots and Brendan Lemieux was pure sandpaper. Would have loved to hear his walkoff chirpfest with Ristolainen at the end of the second period. Lemieux is definitely a chip off Dad's old block. Nick Baptiste was a rising star last year in Sudbury and found the net in the third period.

The crowd: The Sabres announced 8,725, which seemed reasonable but I couldn't figure out since there were no tickets. Some folks on Twitter noted security types with clickers when fans were cleared through wanding in the pavilion gates but whatever. The number seemed close. Instead of sitting on the high end of the 100, many fans opted for center ice in the 300s when it was opened in the first period.

Great turnout overall. All the players were talking about it. If the Sabres ever got Connor McDavid, they would almost certainly have to distribute tickets next year.

Buffalo's Justin Bailey summed it up with this tweet:

Awesome atmosphere tonight!! That's why Buffalo is the best hockey city there is!

— Justin Bailey (@JustinBailey95) July 16, 2014

Click below to hear audio from Rochester coach Chadd Cassidy, who is running development camp, and several of the players:

Chadd Cassidy

Sam Reinhart

Rasmus Ristolainen

Mikhail Grigorenko (pre-scrimmage)

Linus Ullmark

The Buffalo Sabres' development camp scrimmage is at 7 p.m. at First Niagara Center. 

Here's an earlier post on everything you need to know for tonight's scrimmage.

Here's the development camp schedule, roster and more. 

Below you can monitor live Twitter updates from Mike Harrington, Taylor Nigrelli and photojournalist James P. McCoy: 

By Mike Harrington

In advance of tonight's development camp scrimmage, I chatted today with Mike Ross of Sirius XM's "Hockey Today" program about the rebuilding movement in Buffalo created by GM Tim Murray. You can click below to hear that interview, which began with the show introducing the segment by playing "Sabre Dance" and click the second file to hear the final question about my quick thoughts on Ryan Miller's move to Vancouver.

Harrington on Sirius - Sabres

Harrington on Sirius - Miller

Elsewhere in the NHL:

---Nashville has signed exiled-from-Phoenix Mike Ribeiro and former Sabres center Derek Roy to one-year deals. Roy is making $1 million on his contract and will be joining his fourth team since the Sabres traded him to Dallas for Steve Ott in the summer of 2012. Roy had nine goals and 28 assists last year for St. Louis but played sparingly in the playoff series against Chicago.

---On Long Island, Sam Reinhart's older brother, Griffin, was sent back to junior last season and captained the Edmonton Oil Kings to the Memorial Cup. But he said at Islanders development camp he's ready to make the NHL this year.

----The Penguins have announced no wrist surgery for Sidney Crosby after all.