A final hurdle has been cleared in Lawrence Pilut's desire to return to the National Hockey League.
Pilut, a defenseman for the Sabres from 2018-20, officially had his contract terminated by Traktor Chelyabinsk of the Kontinental Hockey League, the club announced Friday. The 26-year-old is a restricted free agent and his NHL rights are owned by Buffalo.
A source told The Buffalo News that the Sabres are "very interested" in signing Pilut and the left-shot defenseman is even willing to return on a two-way contract, which would allow the club to assign him to Rochester of the American Hockey League if he doesn't make the NHL roster out of training camp.
He's willing to bet on himself again.
Pilut signed a two-year contract with Traktor in June 2020 because the Sabres' previous management was initially unwilling to give him a one-way contract after he split two seasons between Buffalo and Rochester. When Jason Botterill's staff finally agreed to Pilut's request, it was too late.Â
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A deal with Pilut would give the Sabres additional depth on defense. He can play the left or right side and would benefit from playing under Don Granato in Buffalo or Seth Appert in Rochester. If Pilut joined the Amerks at the start of the season, he would likely get top-pairing ice time with a role on the power play. The club is expected to feature top prospects Isak Rosen and Aleksandr Kisakov.
Pilut was one of many players impacted negatively by the Sabres' coaching change in 2019, when Ralph Krueger replaced Phil Housley. Under Housley, Pilut produced promising underlying stats that showed he can help kickstart offense at 5-on-5. Under Krueger, well, Pilut barely got an opportunity. He wasn't a fit for the system, which didn't allow defensemen to join the rush and contribute offensively.
Pilut was selected an American Hockey League All-Star with the Amerks in 2018-19. He finished that season in Rochester with 26 points in 30 games, a promising debut campaign after he was named the Swedish Hockey League's top defenseman the year prior.
And the move to Russia was initially beneficial to Pilut. He had an outstanding season in 2020-21 with seven goals and 28 points in 57 games. His production and play dropped a bit this past season, but the Sabres view him as an ideal fit for what they're building.
Buffalo's defense depth chart is deep with Rasmus Dahlin, Owen Power, Mattias Samuelsson, Henri Jokiharju, Jacob Bryson and Casey Fitzgerald. There's little depth below the NHL, though, and Pilut is still only 26 years old.
Skating was the one concerning deficiency in Pilut's game, but he should benefit from a different defensive-zone structure – Housley's man-to-man scheme had his defensemen chasing the puck too often – and he would solve their problem of having to find capable, young defensemen on the cheap.
Pilut appeared in 33 games with the Sabres under Housley in 2018-19, totaling one goal and six points. He played in only 13 games for Krueger.
