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Buffalo Sabres News

The Avalanche have promoted Bowen Byram to the taxi squad.

Byram was the No.4 overall pick in 2019 and is coming off of a terrific showing as a member of Team Canada at the World Juniors. The 19-year-old defenseman had 52 points (14G / 38A) in 50 AHL games a season ago and could make his NHL debut at some point during the 2021 season.

Bowen Byram
Georgiev will start Saturday vs. the Islanders.

Igor Shesterkin started the season opener but they will turn to Georgiev in the rematch vs. the Islanders. The 24-year-old netminder was 17-14-2 with a 3.04 GAA and .910 SV% in 34 appearances a year ago. If he doesn't improve on those numbers in 2020, Shesterkin will get a very large portion of the starts. Georgiev faced the Islanders four times last year, going 3-1-0 with a 2.81 GAA and .920 SV%.

Alexandar Georgiev
The Wild have re-signed Jordan Greenway to a two-year extension worth $4.2 million ($2.1M AAV).

Greenway set a new career-high with 28 points (8G / 20A) in 67 games in 2019-20. With Kirill Kaprizov coming over from the KHL, Greenway gets pushed down the depth chart, likely limiting him to a third-line role for most of 2021. The big, physical power-forward ranked third on the Wild with 95 hits last year.

Jordan Greenway
The Blue Jackets have signed Gavin Bayreuther to a one-year, two-way contract.

Bayreuther spent all of the 2020 season with Texas (AHL), where he led all of their defensemen with 29 points (6G / 23A) in 59 games. He had a 19-game stint with Stars in 2019, picking up two goals and three assists. He's a solid puck-moving defenseman with decent offensive upside who will be somewhere around the No.8 D-man in the Blue Jackets' system.

Gavin Bayreuther
The Lightning have signed Luke Schenn to a one-year deal worth $800K.

Schenn served as a No.7 defenseman in Tampa Bay for most of the year but appeared in 25 regular season and 11 postseason games to get his name on the Stanley Cup. With both Jan Rutta and Kevin Shattenkirk likely moving on, there's a chance that Schenn could be a third-pairing defenseman in 2021.

Luke Schenn
The Sabres have re-signed Tage Thompson to a three-year deal worth $4.2 million ($1.4M AAV).

Thompson missed most of the 2020 season with a shoulder issue, which required surgery in mid-January. He had six goals and six assists (12 points) in 16 games with Rochester (AHL) and only appeared in one game with the Sabres. Since being selected No.26 overall in 2016, Thompson has just 10 goals and 11 assists (21 points) in 107 career NHL games.

Tage Thompson
The Flyers have signed Alex Lyon to a one-year, $700k contract extension.

Lyon spent most of 2020 in the AHL going 11-14-5 with a 2.69 GAA and .913 SV%. With Brian Elliott set to become a UFA, it looks like the Flyers plan to have Lyon as Carter Hart's backup in 2021. The 27-year-old is 5-4-1 with a 3.15 GAA and .893 SV% in 16 career NHL games.

Alex Lyon
The Ducks have signed Sam Carrick to a one-year contract extension worth $700K.

After spending the first seven years of his career in the Maple Leafs organization, Carrick has been with the Ducks since 2016-17. In that time, he has appeared in just 15 NHL games, amassing one goal and two assists. However, he has been prolific at the AHL-level, leading the team in points (61) last year and was leading San Diego in goals (23) and points (43) in 46 games before this year was paused.

Sam Carrick
The Sabres signed Mattias Samuelsson to a three-year, entry-level contract.

Samuelsson was selected No.32 overall in 2018 and the 20-year-old defenseman tallied 14 points (2G / 12A) in 30 games at Western Michigan University in 2020. Samuelsson also represented the USA at the World Juniors for the second straight year but has failed to record a point in those 12 international games.

Mattias Samuelsson
Georgiev will start Thursday vs. the Capitals.

Georgiev allowed two goals on 21 shots in the Rangers loss to the Blues on Tuesday. Since Igor Shesterkin got hurt, Georgiev has gone 2-2-0 with a 3.01 GAA and .914 SV%. He comes into Thursday's game at 3-9-1 with a 3.13 GAA and .895 SV% in 12 starts at Madison Square Garden. He'll face a Capitals team that is 1-4-0 while scoring just 1.80 goals per game in their last five road games.

Alexandar Georgiev