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Sabres Playing In Kraft Hockeyville; Searching For D Far And Wide

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1 year ago

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The Buffalo Sabres have released their preseason schedule for 2023-24, which includes three home games and the annual Kraft Hockeyville contest in St. Thomas, Ontario against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The club will play seven games in total and will open its preseason schedule in Washington on September 24, before returning home to host the Boston Bruins on September 26.

Sunday, September 24: Buffalo at Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena (2 p.m.)
Tuesday, September 26: Boston Bruins at Buffalo at KeyBank Center (7 p.m.)
Wednesday, September 27: Buffalo vs. Toronto Maple Leafs at Joe Thornton Community Centre (TBA – Kraft Hockeyville game)
Thursday, September 28: Buffalo at Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena (7 p.m.)
Saturday, September 30: Columbus Blue Jackets at Buffalo at KeyBank Center (3 p.m.)
Wednesday, October 4: Buffalo at Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena (7 p.m.)
Friday, October 6: Pittsburgh Penguins at Buffalo at KeyBank Center (7 p.m.)

Sabres Searching Far And Wide For Blueline Help

Top priority for GM Kevyn Adams continues to be the addition of a top-four blueliner, and on the latest “32 Thoughts” podcast, Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek indicated that the Sabres are investigating all possibilities on the open market. That is thought to be players with term remaining on their current deals with teams looking to either shed salary or move someone who doesn’t want to sign their current clubs (ex. Noah Hanifin in Calgary) or free agents looking for a short-term deal (ex. the recently bought out Oliver Ekman-Larsson).

It is thought that Buffalo is looking to avoid any long-term commitments in a very thin free agent class, with Minnesota’s Matt Dumba, Boston’s Dmitry Orlov, Scott Mayfield of the NY Islanders, and Florida’s Radko Gudas being the top-rated available UFA’s, since they will likely be signing Rasmus Dahlin to an eight-year max deal this summer and extending youngster Owen Power, but after allowing 300 goals against last season, Adams recognizes that bolstering the blueline is a necessity.

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