The 26-year-old blueliner has played only three games this season
The Buffalo Sabres have juggled their roster from the beginning of the season, mostly due to carrying three goaltenders in rookie Devon Levi, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, and Eric Comrie. The promotion of rookie Ryan Johnson has the club carrying eight defensemen, and with the activation of forward Jack Quinn looming, the Sabres placed defenseman Jacob Bryson on waivers.
The 26-year-old blueliner played 132 games over the last two seasons for Buffalo, but this season with the addition of veterans Connor Clifton and Erik Johnson, Bryson’s role was reduced to that of a depth defenseman. He played three games when Clifton was suspended and Mattias Samuelsson was injured, but the recall of Johnson on November 4th has kept him out of the lineup for over a month.
The 2017 fourth-rounder is a restricted free agent with arbitration rights after this season and has a $1.85 million cap hit, which the Sabres might think is hefty enough to not entice another NHL club to claim him.
It is curious that GM Kevyn Adams continues to carry three goalies on the NHL roster. Comrie has a 4.01 GAA, and .863 save percentage, and has lost four games in a row since returning from injured reserve in mid-November, but there may be a fear with a number of teams looking for goaltending help that the 28-year-old would get claimed.
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