Over the past few days, the Buffalo Sabres have simultaneously trimmed their roster and their salary cap number as the team moves closer to the beginning of the regular season.
The first move was to waive both Ales Kotalik and Shaone Morrisonn, to the surprise of almost no one. The Sabres were $3.6 million over the salary cap as of last week, and needed to shed some weight to get under the $64.3 million mark.
Kotalik’s $3 million salary and Morrisonn’s $2.075 were the numbers that most fans had been eyeing since the summer, and GM Darcy Regier agreed with that sentiment. Both players cleared waivers today and were assigned to Rochester, and the Sabres are now $929,643 under the cap, according to Capgeek.com.
The Sabres also announced today that they sent 14 players down to the Amerks, including Zack Kassian and Marcus Foligno. One name that wasn’t on that list was that of Luke Adam, meaning that the reigning AHL rookie of the year will start the regular season with the big club. Fan favorite Cody McCormick and good luck charm Matt Ellis also made the cut. The team’s current roster consists of 15 forwards, 7 defensemen, and 3 goaltenders (David Leggio will be assigned to Rochester once he cleared waivers, according to The Buffalo News).
After the break, we’ve got what’s most likely the final team roster.
All lines and pairings approximate:
Forwards (15)
Vanek-Roy-Pominville
Ennis-Leino-Stafford
Gerbe-Gaustad-Kaleta
Adam-McCormick-Ellis-Hecht-Boyes-Paul Szczechura (free agent signee who’s been injured)
Defense (7)
Myers-Ehrhoff
Leopold-Regehr
Sekera-Weber-Gragnani
Goalie (3)
Miller
Enroth
Leggio (for now)