Timothy T&interval; Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports activities
The longer term is brilliant in Buffalo.
The Buffalo Sabres kicked off their opening evening with a bang on Wednesday, agreeing to phrases with defenseman Owen Energy on a seven-year contract extension value a mean annual worth of $8.35 million.
The deal, which kicks in firstly of the 2024-25 season, ties Energy to Buffalo by the 2031-32 marketing campaign and retains him and fellow first-overall choose Rasmus Dahlin entrenched as key members of the group’s core for almost the following decade.
Regardless of having simply 87 video games of NHL expertise below his belt, Energy has blossomed as one of many league’s prime younger defenders, placing collectively a top quality rookie season in 2022-23 by racking up 4 targets and 31 assists for 35 factors in 79 video games whereas logging almost 24 minutes per evening in common ice time. If that weren’t sufficient, Energy additionally earned a spot on the NHL’s all-rookie first group and completed third in that yr’s Calder Trophy voting.
Whereas not overly flashy, Energy’s extremely stable and accountable recreation is the right counterpart to Dahlin’s extra high-octane type, with the 20-year-old demonstrating the poise of a participant way more skilled than himself.
After getting Dahlin, Tage Thompson, Dylan Cousins, and Mattias Samuelsson locked as much as long-term extensions over the previous yr, Energy was the ultimate piece to the Sabres’ future puzzle. Together with his deal right now, the long run is kind of brilliant in Upstate New York, because the Sabres look primed to change into an Jap Convention juggernaut very quickly.
Correction: The time period of Energy’s seven-year contract initially displayed an incorrect variety of years.
Information Abstract:
- Sabres Signal Owen Energy to Seven-12 months Extension
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