Buffalo Sabres

The family of Kim Pegula provided an update on her condition on Tuesday, saying she's "progressing well" from the unspecified medical issue that caused her to be hospitalized and admitted into ICU earlier this month.

Updated statement from the Pegula family on Bills’ Owner and President Kim Pegula: pic.twitter.com/rohJQ1JSnT

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) June 28, 2022

Pegula, who is the co-owner and president of both the Buffalo Bills and Buffalo Sabres, was treated at a Florida hospital after experiencing "some unexpected medical issues." The family didn't disclose any information beyond that and asked for privacy.

When Pegula was hospitalized, Bills star quarterback Josh Allen said the team was caught by surprise.

"She's done so much for our organization, and we all love her so much," Allen said. "Again, as a team we're saying our prayers, and we just ask that you guys do the same for us, please."

The first woman ever to be president of both an NFL and NHL team, Pegula and her husband Terry have owned the Sabres since 2011 and purchased the Bills in 2014. The Pegulas own multiple sports franchises in upstate New York, including the National Lacrosse League's Buffalo Bandits and Rochester Knighthawks, as well as the AHL's Rochester Americans.

Pegula, who is president of Pegula Sports and Entertainment, is very active within the NFL. She's a member of the NFL's workplace diversity committee, and she also serves on the NFL's Super Bowl and major events advisory committee, business ventures committee and NFL foundation committee.

According to Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk, Pegula was also involved in recent negotiations that led to a deal for a new stadium that will keep the Bills in Orchard Park, New York.

Three professional sports teams in Buffalo raised more than $1 million for victims of the mass shooting that took place in the city last month and the East Buffalo community, per ESPN's Alaina Getzenberg.

On May 14, 10 people were killed and three more were injured when a man fired 50 shots at a supermarket in what authorities called a "racially motivated hate crime." The store is located in a predominantly Black community and all 10 people who were killed were Black.

The NFL's Buffalo Bills, NHL's Buffalo Sabres and National Lacrosse League's Buffalo Bandits joined together to sell T-shirts with the team logos and the text, "Choose Love." The proceeds go to the Buffalo 5/14 Survivors Fund and the Buffalo Together Community Response Fund.

Each of these funds were created to help families of the victims as well as the needs of the community following the shooting.

About 50 Bills players volunteered in the days following the tragedy, serving food while wearing black "Choose Love" T-shirts.

We love you and we grieve with you, Buffalo. pic.twitter.com/S75ZiSVbym

— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) May 18, 2022

"'Choose Love'—it's a motto that I think maybe that we should start adopting as a country," quarterback Josh Allen said. "It's the golden rule, treating those as you'd wanna be treated. Again, what happened here was ... it's disgusting, despicable and there's so many different words you can use and none of them are nice."

In addition to the proceeds from the T-shirt sales, the Buffalo Bills Foundation teamed with the NFL Foundation to donate $400,000 to local response efforts following the shooting.

The Montreal Canadiens went from a Stanley Cup Final in 2021 to picking No. 1 overall in the 2022 NHL draft during a year in which the Habs are hosting the event at Bell Centre.

What a wild year it's been for one of the NHL's most historic franchises. Montreal is going to party like it's 1993. 

Shane Wright is the projected first overall pick. There has been some debate as to whether or not the OHL center is worthy of the honor after a slow start to the season, but 94 points in 63 games with the Kingston Frontenacs was good enough to land him on top of the NHL's Central Scouting bureau's latest prospect rankings. 

The New Jersey Devils are picking second, marking the fourth time in six years the club has selected in the top five. The Arizona Coyotes, who had the second-best odds to land the first pick, will select third, the Seattle Kraken fourth and the Philadelphia Flyers will go fifth. 

The Ottawa Senators and Detroit Red Wings won a few too many games and they'll go seventh and eighth, respectively. The Columbus Blue Jackets got the Chicago Blackhawks' sixth pick as part of the terms of the Seth Jones trade and they'll make two selections in the first round. 

Let's take a look at some of the highs and lows from the night with draft lottery winners and losers. 

Winner: Montreal Canadiens

Wright should start brushing up on his French. 

The OHL forward is one of eight players in CHL history to be granted exceptional status and he was clearly worthy, scoring 39 goals in 58 games as a 15-year-old. A speedy, skilled center like Wright is the perfect building block piece for a team like the Habs. Putting Wright behind Nick Suzuki will give them a 1-2 punch up the middle that can grow together as new general manager Kent Hughes and president of hockey operations Jeff Gorton build around those two and winger Cole Caufield. 

Last year, the Canadiens were the talk of the draft for the wrong reason. Former general manager Marc Bergevin stood at the podium at Bell Centre and defiantly chose Logan Mailloux, a prospect who had asked teams not to choose him after he was convicted of a crime of sexual nature in Sweden. There was some concern that it would damage the brand and isolate women who support the team. 

But Bergevin was fired less than two months into the 2021-22 season and he's now working under Rob Blake in Los Angeles. It's a new era in Montreal, and though it likely won't be a successful one right away, the team has turned the page and the excitement is rapidly building. 

Loser: Philadelphia Flyers

This is a big offseason for general manager Chuck Fletcher. The Flyers don't have a coach, a clear team identity or a clear direction in which the team is headed. The club has decided to stick with the GM it hired in the fall of 2018 as they attempt an "aggressive retool" after a season Fletcher described as "beyond unacceptable." 

It's not that the fifth pick is bad. The general consensus is that this is a very good draft class, but one that still has some question marks after Wright.

Maybe they end up with another center like Matthew Savoie, a very skilled and disciplined playmaker. Maybe it's a big defenseman like David Jiricek they can pair with Ivan Provorov in the future (should they keep Provorov).

The 2023 class is absolutely loaded, but this one has a lot of high-end talent, so the Flyers are going to get a quality player and a possible franchise cornerstone. It just might not be one that makes an impact right away. Fletcher said he's not asking fans to wait 5-7 years for a winning product and a player like Wright, who could step into a lineup next season, would have helped expedite that retool. 

Winner: New Jersey Devils

The Devils have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to prospects these days, which is a change from some lottery seasons a few years ago. The cupboards were pretty bare when they took Swiss center Nico Hischier at No. 1 overall in 2017. They can add another talented young player to that stockpile with the second overall pick.

Things were looking up three years ago when they chose Jack Hughes with the first overall pick, but things quickly fell apart. And now the club is at a crossroads: This rebuild cannot last forever. 

The fans have been angry for years since this was not a club that really underwent any significant rebuilds when longtime former general manager and president Lou Lamoriello was running the show. But they've made the playoffs just once since 2012 and this last season was marred by injuries to top players like Hughes and Dougie Hamilton and bad goaltending. 

They won't find that goaltender with the No. 2 pick, but it could help them obtain one.

Could general manager Tom Fitzgerald be swayed to give it up for a true No. 1 goalie? He seemed to be open to the possibility last week when he addressed the media in his end-of-season press conference, saying if he see a trade that would upgrade the NHL roster he would not hesitate to make it.

The Anaheim Ducks are rebuilding, and John Gibson is rumored to be on the market. Or maybe it's an impact defenseman to play with Hamilton or a high-end winger for Hughes. 

There are tons of possibilities and the Devils are in a good spot with that second pick. 

Loser: Arizona Coyotes

All that tanking and the desert dogs only got the third pick. 

Look, it's not that the No. 3 overall pick is a bad thing, but a player like Wright would bring some much-needed excitement and talent to a team in desperate need of both. 

The Coyotes will play next season and possibly beyond at Arizona State's new rink. No offense to the Sun Devils because that program is a great success story of the growth of hockey in an untraditional market, but an NHL team shouldn't be playing in a 5000-seat college rink intended for intramural sports. The morale is low in the desert right now and for good reason.

Arizona can continue tanking next season to get Connor Bedard or Matvei Michkov. Maybe by the time Michkov, a KHL player who is under contract with SKA St. Petersburg through 2025, is able to play in North America the new arena in Tempe that has long been promised will finally be completed. 

Winner: Columbus Blue Jackets, Buffalo Sabres

The Sabres have a whopping three first-round picks, while the Blue Jackets have two lottery picks. Both teams have options when it comes to using those selections. 

Columbus didn't move up or down, but it did get the Blackhawks first-round pick. Had Chicago won either of the top two picks, the Blue Jackets would have received the first-round pick next year. Chicago did Columbus a solid with such a dismal season but not too dismal, and as a result the team received the sixth pick and the Jones trade was finally completed.

Last season, the Blue Jackets used two of their 2021 draftees, Kent Johnson and Cole Sillinger, and saw good production and development from both. They're hoping to replicate that success as they build toward becoming a playoff team in the near future.

This is a chance for the Sabres to grab a few more prospects and show that they have improved their player development program. So far, it appears as though strides have been made in this area, as is evidenced by center Tage Thompson and his breakout season, but these next few years be crucial for a franchise that tries to shed its losing reputation and prove that it can develop talent and build a winning team. 

Loser: Chicago Blackhawks

This was the result of bad management. The 'Hawks went all in last summer and as a result, they gave up that pick in the Jones trade. Former general manager Stan Bowman made a short-sighted decision to try and load up in an attempt to give Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews one more chance at a Stanley Cup. But Bowman resigned amid following the investigation of the sexual assault allegations against Brad Aldrich and the team was bad right from the start. They fired coach Jeremy Colliton and Derek King still has the interim tag. 

The Blackhawks took the interim tag off of general manager Kyle Davidson, and it sure sounds like he's going to start rebuilding. A first-round pick sure would help jump-start a rebuild, but the 'Hawks will have to wait until next year to select one.

The Buffalo Sabres signed 2021 first overall NHL draft pick Owen Power to a three-year entry-level contract Friday, and the rookie defenseman is reportedly set to make his NHL debut Tuesday against the Toronto Maple Leafs, according to Lance Lysowski of the Buffalo News.

The deal comes after Power and the Michigan Wolverines were eliminated from the NCAA tournament with a loss to Denver in the Frozen Four on Thursday night.

https://twitter.com/BuffaloSabres/status/1512508113219473419

Maize & Blue 👉 Blue & Gold #LetsGoBuffalo pic.twitter.com/tvP8x92lYB

— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) April 8, 2022

It’s official.

Owen Power will wear ﹟2️⃣5️⃣! pic.twitter.com/uljetItlw9

— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) April 8, 2022

Power is one of just four first overall picks in Sabres history. Buffalo also drafted Swedish defenseman Rasmus Dahlin first overall in 2018, and he has grown into a promising blueliner. 

Power spent the last two seasons at Michigan. During his 2021-22 sophomore season, he tallied three goals and 29 assists for 32 points in 33 games. It followed up a freshman season in which he notched three goals and 13 assists for 16 points in 26 games. 

The 19-year-old also represented Canada at the Winter Olympics, tallying one assist in five games.

Power is expected to be a regular in the Sabres lineup and could possibly slot in behind Dahlin and Mattias Samuelsson on the team's third defensive pairing. However, he could also see some time on the right side alongside Dahlin or Samuelsson if he excels. 

Power is one of several Michigan players who are expected to sign NHL deals in the coming weeks. Kent Johnson agreed to a three-year entry-level deal with the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday, and Matty Beniers is expected to sign his entry-level contract with the Seattle Kraken. 

The Sabres have struggled to a 26-35-11 record this season and sit sixth place in the Atlantic Division. Buffalo will be hoping the addition of Power helps set it in the right direction. 

Toronto Maple Leafs star Auston Matthews has been suspended two games for cross-checking Buffalo Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin in the head during Sunday's Heritage Classic, the NHL announced Monday. 

Auston Matthews gets suspended 2-games for this👇

Fair or harsh punishment? @NHLPlayerSafety pic.twitter.com/zN3eSllH4K

— Tim and Friends (@timandfriends) March 14, 2022

He will be eligible to return for Saturday's game against the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena. 

Matthews, who had previously never been suspended, will forfeit $116,402.50.

Matthews cross-checked Dahlin late in the third period of Sunday's game after the Maple Leafs had just surrendered a goal to go down 4-2. Dahlin had just cross-checked Matthews to the ice before he got up and caught the 6'3" blueliner in the head. 

Matthews was assessed a minor penalty for cross-checking, and Toronto went on to lose 5-2. After the game, the 24-year-old explained the play to reporters, saying he didn't mean to catch Dahlin up high.

"You're just battling in front of the net," Matthews said. "I felt like I kind of rode up his shoulder and his shoulder pack rolled up a little bit. That's hockey; you're competing out there."

Matthews will miss games against the Dallas Stars and Carolina Hurricanes. His loss is a significant one for Toronto, which sits just two points ahead of the Boston Bruins for third place in the Atlantic Division with a 37-17-5 record. 

The 2016 first overall pick has been a staple in the Maple Leafs' lineup since the 2016-17 campaign, when he won the Calder Trophy as the NHL's top rookie. This season, he has a career-high 45 goals in 56 games, in addition to 32 assists. 

With Matthews sidelined, John Tavares figures to be bumped up to the first line, centering Michael Bunting and Mitch Marner. The 31-year-old has 19 goals and 36 assists in 58 games. 

The Buffalo Sabres will be without goaltender Aaron Dell for three games.

The NHL announced it suspended Dell three games for his interference penalty during Tuesday's 5-0 loss to the Ottawa Senators. The goaltender lowered his shoulder and sent Ottawa's Drake Batherson into the boards with a hard check behind the net.

Video from the league's player safety account explained the punishment was in part because Dell was aware of Batherson's path, initiated the contact and hit him in a way that was not an incidental collision. Batherson, who suffered an ankle injury on the play, also didn't have the puck and was not someone who could legally be body-checked into the boards.

"I was just trying to buy some time for my defenseman and step into [Batherson's] lane," Dell said, per ESPN. "I hope he's all right. I wasn't trying to hurt anybody."

Batherson was not all right and did not return to the game after exiting in the first period. ESPN noted he "struggled to put weight on his left leg and needed assistance down the tunnel."

Senators head coach D.J. Smith was not happy with the play.

"It's a bad play by the goalie," he said. "He's done it before, we've seen all the replays. Any other player in the game that does that, you'd have to go out there and face the music I guess. Certainly, the league will look at whatever, but it's a bad play ... and it's an unfortunate thing that a young kid's not going to be able to go to an All-Star game. It's dangerous."

Batherson scored his 13th goal of the season during the game before he suffered the ankle injury. He now has 34 points in 31 games and is playing the best hockey of his career this season.

That momentum for the 23-year-old winger will come to a temporary halt until he is able to return to the ice.

As for Dell, he is an ugly 1-8-1 on the season and is giving up 4.03 goals against per game with a save percentage of .893. He also struggled last season for the New Jersey Devils with a 1-5-0 record, 4.14 goals-against mark and .857 save percentage.

The veteran was a member of the San Jose Sharks before joining the Devils.

Both teams have struggled this season with Ottawa checking in at 13-20-3 and Buffalo sporting a 13-22-7 record.          

After getting traded to the Vegas Golden Knights earlier this week, Jack Eichel tweeted a video Saturday in which he thanked the Buffalo Sabres and their fans.

The video featured Eichel's first NHL goal in 2015 and many of his top highlights during his time with the Sabres:

Thank you Buffalo pic.twitter.com/Aisext2Fqi

— Jack Eichel (@jackeichel) November 6, 2021

He concluded by saying: "I just wanted to say thank you from the bottom of my heart to all the fans and everyone that supported me in this incredible city."

After Eichel had a disagreement with the Sabres organization regarding what type of neck surgery to receive and requested a trade, Buffalo finally parted ways with him Thursday.

The Sabres sent Eichel and a 2023 third-round pick to the Golden Knights for forwards Peyton Krebs and Alex Tuch, a top-10 protected first-round pick in 2022 and a second-round pick in 2023.

Eichel, 25, was the No. 2 pick in the 2015 draft behind Connor McDavid. He spent most of his six seasons with the Sabres as the captain and enjoyed some highly productive campaigns.

The Massachusetts native finished his time in Buffalo with 139 goals and 216 assists for 355 points in 375 regular-season games, and he was a three-time All-Star selection.

After undergoing surgery and recovering, Eichel will attempt to reach the playoffs for the first time in his NHL career as a member of the Golden Knights.

Now that his tenure with the Buffalo Sabres has come to an end, Jack Eichel has opened up about what went wrong when he was with the organization. 

Speaking to Elliotte Friedman of Hockey Night in Canada, Eichel said the front office changes after the 2019-20 season and the team's struggles last season were major contributing factors to his wanting out:

"We weren't really in a position of... you know, that we were going to try and go win."

After being traded to the @GoldenKnights, @jackeichel spoke to @FriedgeHNIC about where he personally thought things went wrong with the Buffalo Sabres. pic.twitter.com/akwoO2hDFL

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) November 4, 2021

The Sabres announced on Thursday that they sent Eichel and a 2023 third-round draft pick to the Vegas Golden Knights for Peyton Krebs, Alex Tuch, a 2022 protected first-round pick and a 2023 second-round pick. 

The Sabres fired general manager Jason Botterill on June 16, 2020. They had zero playoff appearances during his three seasons running the front office. 

Kevyn Adams, who took over for Botterill, told WGR 550 in Buffalo (h/t NHL.com) in September 2020 that he wasn't going to trade Eichel. 

"I think it is something that I want to make very clear, we have no intentions and we're not shopping Jack or talking to teams looking to do anything with Jack," Adams said. "People call and ask questions and you have conversations."

That came after TSN's Bob McKenzie reported the Sabres did take some calls from other teams about Eichel's availability, but the 25-year-old wasn't interested in moving on at that time.

Things seemed to take a turn last season, as the Sabres posted the league's worst record (15-34-7). They fired head coach Ralph Krueger on March 17 after 12 consecutive losses. The losing streak reached 18 games before a 6-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on March 31. 

Eichel played in only 21 games last season because of a spinal disc herniation that required surgery. He and the Sabres had differing opinions on the type of procedure that would best treat the issue. 

His personal doctor, Chad J. Prusmack, said on the 31 Thoughts podcast (h/t Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News) in July that Eichel wanted an artificial disc replacement. The Sabres preferred the more common anterior cervical discectomy with fusion operation.

Harrington noted the artificial disc replacement procedure has never been done on an NHL player, despite being around since 2000. 

Golden Knights general manager Kelly McCrimmon told reporters Thursday that Eichel will be permitted to have the surgery he wants. 

Eichel was expected to be the face of the franchise and lead the Sabres back to prominence after they selected him with the No. 2 pick in the 2015 NHL draft. He led the team in points in four straight seasons from 2016-19. 

However, the Sabres never finished higher than sixth in their division in any of Eichel's six seasons with the organization.     

Jack Eichel is on the move to the Vegas Golden Knights, but he won't see the ice for several months because of surgery on his herniated disk.

Per TSN's Darren Dreger, Eichel is expected to have disk replacement surgery "very soon," with the hope being that he can return to the ice in four months.

Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reported early Thursday morning that the Buffalo Sabres were trading Eichel to the Golden Knights.

According to Dreger, the full deal, pending the trade call with the NHL, is Eichel and a 2023 third-round draft pick to Vegas for Peyton Krebs, Alex Tuch, a 2022 first-round pick and a 2023 third-rounder.

Eichel and the Sabres have been at odds for several months about the type of surgical procedure he should undergo.

Dr. Chad J. Prusmack, Eichel's personal doctor, told Sportsnet's 31 Thoughts podcast in July that artificial disk replacement surgery was best way to proceed for the forward's short- and long-term health.

Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News noted that type of procedure has never been done on an NHL player and that the Sabres were pushing for the more common anterior cervical discectomy with fusion surgery.

Friedman reported in October that Eichel was considering filing a grievance through the NHL Players' Association in an attempt to force a resolution to the situation.

Eichel’s agents, Peter Fish and Peter Donatelli, issued a statement over the summer announcing that Eichel had formally requested a trade out of Buffalo.

"As previously stated, we fully anticipated a trade by the start of the NHL free-agency period,” the statement read. "After the agreed-upon and prescribed period for conservative rehabilitation lapsed in early June 2021, it was determined by the Sabres medical staff that a surgical process was required."

Around the same time, Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams told reporters the team didn't "feel any pressure" to make a trade just for the sake of it.

Eichel has spent his entire career with the Sabres since being drafted No. 2 overall in 2015. The 25-year-old still has five years, including the 2021-22 season, remaining on his eight-year, $80 million contract.

Because of the herniated disk, Eichel only played in 21 games last season. He has 355 points in 375 NHL games over six seasons.

A four-month recovery period would put Eichel on track to return in March. The regular season is scheduled to conclude April 29.   

The Buffalo Sabres officially completed a blockbuster trade Thursday to send star center Jack Eichel to the Vegas Golden Knights for a package headlined by winger Alex Tuch, prospect Peyton Krebs and a first-round pick in the 2022 NHL draft.

TSN's Darren Dreger initially reported details of the deal:

Pending trade call, The @BuffaloSabres trade Jack Eichel and a 2023 3rd round pick, to the @GoldenKnights for Peyton Krebs, Alex Tuch, a 1st in 2022 and a 3rd in 2023.

— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) November 4, 2021

Eichel will undergo his preferred artificial disk replacement surgery in the near future and his new team is "hopeful" he'll be back on the ice in four months, per Dreger.

Tuch is also on injured reserve after offseason shoulder surgery.

Eichel became the face of the franchise when the Sabres selected him with the second overall pick of the 2015 NHL draft.

His arrival marked the expected end of Buffalo's race to the bottom of the standings, a two-year journey to win the "McEichel sweepstakes"—the nickname given to the not-so-secret widespread tanking in an effort to land either Eichel or Connor McDavid, who were viewed as generational prospects.

The 25-year-old Boston University product lived up to his end of the bargain. He recorded 355 points (139 goals and 216 assists) in 375 games across six seasons in Buffalo, establishing himself as one of the NHL's most dynamic offensive weapons with high-end speed, great vision and a lethal shot.

Yet despite multiple coaching changes and a variety of roster moves made by a few general managers, the Sabres were never able to find the right lineup mix around the Massachusetts native, who'd also expressed frustration about how the front office handled his season-ending neck injury.

"I've been a bit upset about the ways things have been handled since I've been hurt," Eichel said. "I'd be lying to say that things have moved smoothly since my injury. There's been a bit of a disconnect between myself and the organization. It's been tough at times. Right now, for me, the most important thing is just trying to get healthy, figure out a way to be available to play hockey next year, wherever that might be."

His captaincy was stripped by the franchise at the start of training camp amid continued disagreement about the treatment of his injury and the ongoing trade speculation.

The problems were relatively consistent throughout the Eichel era in Buffalo: The Sabres couldn't generate enough offense from their bottom six, the defense struggled to make an impact outside of an occasional moment of brilliance from 2018 first overall pick Rasmus Dahlin, and the goaltending was typically subpar.

So while marquee names like Ryan O'Reilly, Evander Kane and, most recently, Taylor Hall created hope of a turnaround upon their arrivals, the results never changed. The Sabres completed their 10th straight season without qualifying for the playoffs in 2021, the league's longest active streak by five years.

A debate can be had about whether the losing culture that was created during Buffalo's pursuit of Eichel or McDavid was harder to escape than expected once the tanking was over. It's a viable theory given how the Sabres have crumbled at the first sight of adversity in recent years.

The bigger question is where the organization goes from here. A true No. 1 center is much like a franchise quarterback in the NFL—the most important building block to success. Trading Eichel leaves a massive void that won't be easy to fill, and it comes on the heels of Sam Reinhart's trade to the Florida Panthers in the offseason.

Perhaps Dylan Cozens, who showcased plenty of upside throughout his rookie season, can take on the role, or maybe the financial flexibility created by moving Eichel, who's under contract through 2026 as part of an eight-year, $80 million deal, can help the team find one via free agency or another trade.

There are no easy answers, however, and eight years after former Sabres general manager Darcy Regier warned their rebuilding efforts "may require some suffering," there's still no end in sight.

Meanwhile, Eichel will have an opportunity to begin a new chapter of his career with the Golden Knights. The most important thing for the 6'2" playmaker probably won't be his individual numbers, which are always strong, but instead finding far more team success than he did in Buffalo.

Once he recovers from the neck injury, he should slot in as the top-line center alongside wingers Mark Stone and Max Pacioretty in Vegas.