Sunday, June 3, 2018

Sabres Expected To Buy Out Ex Viper Tryout Moulson:

The Buffalo Sabres are expected to buy out former Vernon Vipers forward Matt Moulson.

Moulson was in his fourth season with the Sabres, went pointless in 14 games this season before being placed on waivers December 4th 2017 was later loaned to to the American Hockey League Ontario Reign December 5th 2017.

Moulson has played the past eleven seasons in the NHL with four different teams (Los Angeles, New York Islanders, Minnesota and Buffalo. Moulson was drafted 263rd overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 9th round of the 2003 NHL Entry Draft.

Moulson attended the 2001 Vernon Vipers training camp, was released during camp.

Former Vernon Vipers forward Justin Bourne (2001-2003) write's a good story on his former blog about Matt Moulson and the two attending the Vipers training camp in 2001.

Matt Moulson's Player Profile:

http://www.eliteprospects.com/player.php?player=9744

This was posted on YardBarker.com

Sabres expected to buy out Matt Moulson

Originally posted on Pro Hockey Rumors  |  By Brian La Rose  |  Last updated 5/26/18

The Sabres are expected to buy out winger Matt Moulson once the window to do so opens up in mid-June, reports Kevin Paul Dupont of the Boston Globe.  The plan to do so shouldn’t come as much of a surprise after Moulson cleared waivers earlier this season after just 14 games with Buffalo.

Moulson re-joined the Sabres in July of 2014, inking a five-year, $25MM deal. (He briefly spent time with them in 2013-14 after they acquired him from the Islanders, but he was later flipped to Minnesota before the trade deadline). However, he failed to live up to expectations and has provided Buffalo with a total of 35 goals over four seasons which is what earned him a one-way ticket to the minors.

After the Sabres decided that they didn’t want Moulson to take playing time away from anyone on their own AHL affiliate, they loaned him to Ontario of the AHL, the minor league affiliate for Los Angeles. The 34-year-old was more productive with them, collecting 46 points (18-28-46) in 49 games which should help his cause as he looks for a new deal.

A decision to buy a player out often results in a fair bit of short-term cap savings for the team but that won’t really be the case here.  Due to the front-loaded nature of his contract (he has already received $22M), the Sabres will incur a cap charge of $3.67M for 2018-19 plus $667K the following season.  Meanwhile, Moulson will hit the open market and will likely have to settle for a two-way contract as he looks to get back to the NHL with a new organization.

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