WGR

‘“I looked up to the older guys that have played in the NHL to see how they prepare for everything, and to see how professional they are not just as hockey players, but (people) too,” he said.’

‘The Sabres head coach does a lot of thinking in these summer months and a lot of it is out of the box. Granato analyzed what Thompson brings to the ice, and decided his talent fit those of a center. Granato didn’t care that he hadn’t played center regularly since before his college days at UConn.’

‘If you want a comparison, Victor Olofsson scored 30 goals and 33 assists for 63 points in 66 games during his only AHL season. Olofsson was 23-years-old that year with the Amerks, while this season, both Quinn and Peterka were 19.’

‘Tickets to attend the Sabres Prospects Challenge at Harborcenter will go on sale in August for $10.’

‘“I never got offered a deal [from the Islanders], but Buffalo was really high on my list, actually. ‘Factor’ [Ryan O’Reilly] was here, and ‘Eichs’ [Jack Eichel], were their one-two centers and I’m like, ‘Man, this team’s going places. This team’s on the rise.'”‘

‘“You don’t get too many opportunities to sign an NHL contract,” Rosen said. “I also felt like Buffalo has very good opportunities here, and I think that’s perfect for me.”’

‘Ruotsalainen did not play well in Buffalo last season, scoring just two goals and two assists for four points in 18 games. That earned him a demotion to Rochester, and it didn’t get any better right away. As it turned out, Ruotsalainen didn’t score in his first seven games, but after that – including the playoffs – he scored 26 goals and 35 assists for 61 points in 60 games.’

‘Peca has stayed close to Quinn and Peterka and he’s loved it, “Jack had that experience in Rochester the year before, so he was a little bit more understanding to some of the stuff being taught and was expected, but JJ took awhile. JJ I think only had three goals through his first 20 to 25 games (four goals in 23 games. He then scored 24 goals in 47 games) then, he started to understand some of the things that we were trying to teach him and next thing you know, he ended up with four or five or six hat tricks (three), so he’s an impressive young man and I still view him as a unicorn because I can’t find anybody that I’ve ever played with or against that resembles the type of player that he can become, so I’m excited to see both of them play next year.” Peca added, “The scary part is he has no idea as to how good he can be which is scary. It’s the blend of the power and speed and the skill set with his hands and his shot and his ability to play a physical game and he can dominate in any environment.”‘

‘Many were surprised at the way the Jets handled Comrie’s situation. They claimed they wanted him back, but they didn’t play him those final 90 minutes to make it happen. Comrie doesn’t blame them, “In the situation we were in, it was different because we were a team really fighting to make a playoff spot. I mean yes, it looked like a tough situation for us to make the playoffs at the time, but I knew that our coach (Dave Lowry) was a newer coach and he was trying to keep his job, so he was going to play his guy, so I don’t know if I was in his situation if I would’ve done anything differently and maybe it worked out for the best because I’m very happy to be a Sabre now.” Winnipeg missed the playoffs by eight points.’

‘Murray was the Sabres’ fourth-round pick in the 2016 NHL Draft, and was a bit of a late bloomer.’