The Buffalo Sabres have signed forward Zemgus Girgensons to a one-year contract. The deal carries an AAV of $2.5 million.
Girgensons is coming off of a three-year deal that paid him $2.2 million annually. This past season, he scored 10 goals and 18 points in 80 games for the up-and-coming Sabres.
Girgensons has carved out a role for himself in the NHL as a low-event, defensively-conscious fourth-line center. He has been consistently playing this role for the last nine seasons, all with the Sabres. He was originally selected 14th overall by Buffalo in the 2012 NHL Draft after playing two seasons with Dubuque Fighting Saints in the USHL.
The Latvian native played behind Johnny Gaudreau in his first season in Dubuque, putting up good numbers. In his second season, he led the team with 55 points in 49 games and four points in two playoff games. The Sabres chose Girgensons just a few picks before Tom Wilson, Tomas Hertl, Teuvo Teravainen, and Andrei Vasilevskiy.
While he didn’t turn into anything like those players, Girgensons has been the one constant in Buffalo in a decade of turmoil. Aside from the 2020-21 season which he didn’t play in at all due to a hamstring injury, the 29-year-old has been gracing the Sabres’ bottom six since he stepped into the NHL for the 2013-14 season.
Girgensons showed some offensive promise in his first two seasons in the NHL. He scored 22 points in 70 games in his rookie season, then followed that up with a 15-goal, 30-point campaign in 61 games in his sophomore year. However, he hasn’t scored more than 20 points in any season since then.
The Sabres are looking to make the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time since 2008-09 and the roster could see some changes before the puck is dropped this October. Girgensons was a pending UFA and now that he is signed that clears up one piece of business for Kevyn Adams and the Sabres.
In his career, Girgensons has scored 81 goals and 174 points in 625 games. He ranks ninth in his draft class in games played.
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