AMHERST – Forward Adam Mair cleared waivers today and will remain with the Sabres.

“I’m here. I’m part of the team,” Mair said early this afternoon after he practiced with the rest of the Sabres at the Pepsi Center. “Nothing has changed my approach to the game, my approach to the team, the guys. I’m here to be a piece of the puzzle and help this team win hockey games.”

Sabres coach Lindy Ruff thought there was a small chance another team would claim Mair, who was waived Monday after the team couldn’t trade him.

“You just don’t see much movement going on,” Ruff said. “I thought maybe. Maybe was wrong.”

A regular for six seasons, Mair has become a spare part this year, playing only three of the 14 games. He underwent offseason hip surgery, missed most of training camp and never regained his old spot as a fourth-line center or winger.

But the 30-year-old wanted to stay in Buffalo, where he keeps a permanent home.

“I think being here the length of time I have been,” Mair said, “you grow close to the city, the community, the team. You want to work at that common goal at the guys, and that’s getting back to the playoffs and trying to win a Stanley Cup.

“You put in so much time over the years that you don’t want that time to kind of feel wasted,” he said. “You want to see that bear fruit.”

Ruff acknowledged it’s difficult keeping extra players. When Toni Lydman returns from his groin injury, the Sabres will have three.

“It’s not healthy,” he said. “Most teams have one guy and possibly two. You just bring somebody up from the minors to play. We think we’ve been lucky so far with injuries.”

Mair said spending a day on waivers wasn’t stressful.

“The situation’s out of your control,” he said. “There’s no need to worry about it or feel stressed about something like that. You try to focus on things that you can control, and that’s what I do on the ice, off the ice to become the best player I can be.”