The Buffalo Sabres have quietly made their second signing in free agency on Friday evening, as Elliotte Friedman reports the team has signed defenseman Matt Irwin.
Matt Irwin to BUF: one-year, one-way, $700K
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) October 9, 2020
The Irwin signing is likely another depth signing for the AHL pipeline.
The 6’1”, 207-pound blue liner is a left-shooting D who has 359 career NHL games under his belt. He split this past season between Nashville and Anaheim.
With the Predators, he recorded two points, 11 penalty minutes and 40 shots on goal in 27 games. With the Ducks, he appeared in nine games and was a minus-7.
In his eight-year NHL career, Irwin has averaged 15:56 ice time per game. He’s also played with Boston and San Jose.
| Corsi (EV) | Fenwick (EV) | PDO (EV) | Zone Starts (EV) | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Age | Team | Lg | GP | TOI | CF | CA | CF% | CF% rel | FF | FA | FF% | FF% rel | oiGF | oiSH% | oiGA | oiSV% | PDO | oZS% | dZS% |
| 2012-13 | 25 | SJS | NHL | 38 | 652.1 | 682 | 593 | 53.5 | 5.3 | 487 | 399 | 55.0 | 4.6 | 23 | 6.3 | 22 | 92.0 | 98.2 | 54.0 | 46.0 |
| 2013-14 | 26 | SJS | NHL | 62 | 1024.1 | 1045 | 1023 | 50.5 | -4.5 | 771 | 736 | 51.2 | -5.3 | 42 | 7.4 | 36 | 93.2 | 100.6 | 51.4 | 48.6 |
| 2014-15 | 27 | SJS | NHL | 53 | 819.8 | 814 | 758 | 51.8 | 0.6 | 600 | 562 | 51.6 | 0.9 | 39 | 9.1 | 34 | 91.4 | 100.5 | 53.0 | 47.0 |
| 2015-16 | 28 | BOS | NHL | 2 | 25.6 | 22 | 29 | 43.1 | -4.2 | 14 | 27 | 34.1 | -14.0 | 1 | 12.5 | 6 | 75.0 | 87.5 | 60.0 | 40.0 |
| 2016-17 | 29 | NSH | NHL | 74 | 1107.5 | 1043 | 1007 | 50.9 | -0.7 | 740 | 732 | 50.3 | -1.2 | 44 | 8.2 | 33 | 93.7 | 101.9 | 52.5 | 47.5 |
| 2017-18 | 30 | NSH | NHL | 50 | 640.4 | 608 | 585 | 51.0 | 0.1 | 452 | 433 | 51.1 | 0.7 | 25 | 8.1 | 23 | 92.9 | 101.0 | 49.6 | 50.4 |
| 2018-19 | 31 | NSH | NHL | 44 | 487.2 | 485 | 438 | 52.5 | 1.6 | 360 | 313 | 53.5 | 2.3 | 20 | 7.6 | 15 | 93.6 | 101.2 | 53.8 | 46.2 |
| 2019-20 | 32 | TOT | NHL | 36 | 478.0 | 461 | 473 | 49.4 | -2.2 | 362 | 352 | 50.7 | -1.0 | 14 | 5.6 | 28 | 89.0 | 94.6 | 48.5 | 51.5 |
| 2019-20 | 32 | NSH | NHL | 27 | 306.4 | 303 | 280 | 52.0 | -0.6 | 237 | 210 | 53.0 | 0.0 | 8 | 4.8 | 16 | 89.5 | 94.4 | 48.4 | 51.6 |
| 2019-20 | 32 | ANA | NHL | 9 | 171.7 | 158 | 193 | 45.0 | -2.5 | 125 | 142 | 46.8 | 0.1 | 6 | 7.1 | 12 | 88.2 | 95.3 | 48.6 | 51.4 |
| 4 yrs | NSH | NHL | 195 | 2541.4 | 2439 | 2310 | 51.4 | 0.0 | 1789 | 1688 | 51.5 | 0.1 | 97 | 7.6 | 87 | 92.9 | 100.6 | 51.5 | 48.5 | |
| 3 yrs | SJS | NHL | 153 | 2496.0 | 2541 | 2374 | 51.7 | 0.0 | 1858 | 1697 | 52.3 | -0.1 | 104 | 7.6 | 92 | 92.3 | 100.0 | 52.6 | 47.4 | |
| Career | NHL | 359 | 5234.6 | 5160 | 4906 | 51.3 | -0.1 | 3786 | 3554 | 51.6 | 0.1 | 208 | 7.6 | 197 | 92.3 | 99.9 | 51.9 | 48.1 | ||
Irwin, 32, played two seasons with the University of Massachusetts. He was never drafted, instead signing with the Sharks in 2010 after two years of college hockey.