One of the National Hockey League’s all-time leaders in blocked shots has been on the KeyBank Center ice for most Buffalo Sabres practices and morning skates since training camp began last month.
And he’s not among Don Granato’s 23 rostered players.
In a flat-cap time, there's just not many teams that can afford a $10 million contract for the next four years, and the Sabres aren't budging about retaining any salary, Mike Harrington says.
Dan Girardi, a retired NHL defenseman who was an interim assistant coach under Granato last season, remains around the team despite holding the title of development coach. Although Girardi didn’t become a full-time member of Granato’s staff, he’s attending on-ice workouts to mentor and provide the Sabres’ young defensemen with an additional resource during the 82-game season.
“I don’t think of Danny as a development coach,” Granato said of Girardi. “He has too much experience, and he did a tremendous job last year instilling some calm and confidence in our defensive group and even our whole team. He’s respected by everybody here, and anytime you can get him around our guys more, even our coaching staff more, the better.”
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Girardi coached the Sabres’ defensemen and penalty kill after Granato took over as interim coach on March 17, less than two years after he played his last NHL game with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Connor McDavid is off to a furious start, with 13 points in five games.
Across 13 NHL seasons as a defenseman, Girardi appeared in 927 games and recorded 56 goals with 264 points while averaging 21:33 of ice time. His 1,913 blocked shots were the most in league history when he retired in September 2019, although the mark has since been surpassed by Brent Seabrook and Kris Russell. The NHL didn’t begin tracking the statistic until 2005.
Girardi is still on the New York Rangers’ payroll five years after playing his final game with the organization. According to CapFriendly.com, Girardi counts $1,111,111 against the Rangers’ salary cap through the 2022-23 season because he was bought out with three years remaining on his contract.
Girardi played two seasons with the Lightning before retiring. The Welland, Ont., native appeared in 143 playoff games after he wasn’t drafted by an NHL team.
There were rumors over the summer that Girardi was going to re-join the Rangers, but he remained with the Sabres as a development coach, a role he was initially hired for in December 2020.
Response
There was too much David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand, too much Charlie Coyle and too much of old friend Linus Ullmark.
Sabres goalie prospect Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 21 saves in the Rochester Americans’ 5-3 win over Syracuse on Friday night. The victory came after a difficult season debut for Luukkonen, who allowed six goals on 18 shots in his first game. Luukkonen, 22, has an .881 save percentage in 27 American Hockey League games since 2019.
Still waiting
Sabres defenseman Christian Wolanin was a healthy scratch for a third consecutive game on Saturday. Claimed on waivers by Buffalo, Wolanin has appeared in only 21 regular-season games in the NHL since 2018-19. He has zero goals and three assists during that span.
Reinforcement
Winger Brett Murray was officially added to the Sabres' roster Saturday afternoon after appearing in the Amerks' first two games. The move was made to provide Granato with an additional healthy forward in the event one of his players came out of the 4-1 loss Friday with an injury.
Murray, a fourth-round draft choice in 2016, appeared in two games for the Sabres last season.
