As the season comes to a close, the Buffalo Sabres are still looking to add potential talent to their organization, now in the form of college free agents. According to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, the Sabres will be signing CJ Smith, a forward from UMass-Lowell.
Hearing UMass-Lowell F CJ Smith will join BUF. He had 51 points this season.
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) March 29, 2017
Have confirmed @RiverHawkHockey star C.J. Smith has signed with @BuffaloSabres and will make NHL debut Sunday https://t.co/FAsO0FRQ0y
— Jeff Cox (@JeffCoxSports) March 29, 2017
Smith, a 5’11’’ left winger, has played for three years at Lowell, seeing his point total increase every year. He finished this season with 51 points in 41 games, and was the leading scorer for the River Hawks, who won the Hockey East Championship this season. He has been named to the Hockey East All-Tounament team for the past two seasons, and was named the Tournament MVP this year as well.
CJ Smith: Very quick. Fast/elusive/pesky scorer. Loved him in HE tourney. Key piece on good Lowell team. Shores up org LW depth. #Sabres
— Kris Baker (@SabresProspects) March 29, 2017
According to Jeff Cox of ESPN Boston and SBNation, Smith will be making his NHL debut on Sunday when the Sabres host the Islanders. Buffalo has a few days off in between now and then, which should give Smith some time to get into town and practice with the team.
We’ll know more once the Sabres confirm the signing, but at the very least, the signing of Smith gives them another young, fast-skating forward with some scoring punch in the organization.