The 27-year-old blueliner played 43 games during the regular season and two playoff games
The Buffalo Sabres will be opening training camp is less than two weeks and while there have been continuous rumors of the club making trades or free agent signings, GM Jarmo Kekalainen has not made any move since early July. On Friday, the club took care of some contractual housecleaning, signing defenseman Zach Metsa to a one-year, $900,000 contract extension.
The 27-year-old blueliner joined the Sabres organization at the end of the 2022-23 season as a free agent signing after playing five years at Quinnipiac University. Metsa stepped right into the pros, playing 13 Calder Cup Playoff games for the AHL Rochester Americans.
Other Sabres Stories
After scoring 24 points as a rookie in 2023-24, Metsa nearly doubled his offensive output with 46 points (7 goals, 39 assists) in 69 games in 2024-25, and scored at nearly a point per game pace last season in 19 games in Rochester, but effectively stepped up for the Sabres in December after Conor Timmins broke his leg.
Metsa played all but four of his 43 games from December till the end of the campaign, when Buffalo made their remarkable run to an Atlantic Division title. The Sabres record with the diminutive righty in the lineup was 31-7-5, during which he had six points (2 goals, 4 assists) and a +16 plus/minus.
With the extension, the Sabres lock Metsa up through the 2027-28 season, as he was entering the final year of a two-year, $1.625 million deal signed in July, 2025. With the departure of Bowen Byram and Michael Kesselring, the frequent injury history of Timmins, and the lack of familiarity with newly acquired Louis Crevier, Metsa provides a safety net for Lindy Ruff.
Buffalo does not want to be put in a position of having to call up 2025 first rounder Radim Mrtka before he is ready, and Metsa is someone that Ruff knows he can plug in when needed.
Follow Michael on X, Instagram @MikeInBuffalo
THN.com/Free