Less than one week until veterans report to training camp, the Buffalo Sabres are set to begin their rookie camp Monday, September 13.

Thirty-seven players are scheduled to attend the four-day camp, including several recent draft picks and several members of the Portland Pirates, the Sabres’ AHL affiliate.

The camp will include a series of practice sessions open to the public. Scrimmages, off-ice conditioning and team meetings will complete the camp, which ends just two days before the Sabres are scheduled to reveal their new jersey design at a public ‘Puck Drop’ event.

Here, we evaluate some of the players who are scheduled to attend the camp.

Thirteen of the attendees spent last season with Portland, including forwards Tyler Ennis and Nathan Gerbe, who could both potentially make the big squad this season. Ennis earned nine points in 10 regular season games with the Sabres last season, while Gerbe earned five points in 10 games. Both are looking to secure a spot in Buffalo this season.

Wingers Jacob Lagace, Mark Mancari and Derek Whitmore will also attend the camp, but will likely be in Portland again this year barring a Sabres injury, as well as centers Felix Schutz and Travis Turnbull.

Of that group, Mancari is the only one with NHL experience. He played six games in 2009-10 with the Sabres, tallying one goal and one assist.

Defensemen T. J. Brennan, Dennis Persson, and Drew Schiestel will attend the camp and will also be in Portland again this year. Marc-Andre Gragnani, Mike Weber, and goaltender Jhonas Enroth all have prior NHL experience and will attend the rookie camp as well.

Recent Sabres acquisitions Dennis McCauley and Tim Conboy, who will likely spend the season in Portland, will attend the camp. McCauley spent much of last season with the Worcester Sharks of the AHL. The 6-3, 225 lb. left winger adds grit and size to the Portland team. He had 10 goals and 4 assists in 45 regular season games with Worcester last year.

Conboy split last year between the Carolina Hurricanes and their AHL affiliate, the Albany River Rats. He tallied 3 AHL assists and no NHL points in a combined 49 games. The right-winger will also add size to the team.

Also attending the camp will be eight of the 9 draft picks from 2010. First round pick Mark Pysyk, 3rd-round picks Jerome Gauthier-Leduc, Kevin Sundher, and Matt MacKenzie and fourth round pick Steven Shipley will attend. Fifth round selection Gregg Sutch, 6th round pick Cedrick Henley, and left wing 7th round pick Riley Boychuk will also attend.

The only 2010 draft pick not scheduled to attend is seventh-round right wing Christian Isackson.

2009 draft picks Zack Kassian, Brayden McNabb, Marcus Foligno and Maxime Legault are also going to attend the camp, as well as prospects Luke Adam, Paul Byron, Colin Stuart, and Corey Tropp. Defensemen

Alex Biega, Nick Crawford, Corey Fienhage and goaltenders David Leggio and Zane Kalemba will also be in attendance at this week’s rookie camp.

The prospects will most likely also attend the Puck Drop event on September 18, as they did last year, which includes an open practice, jersey unveiling, and autographs.

The Sabres announced Monday that they have signed free agent defenseman Shaone Morrisonn to a two-year contract. Morrisonn will earn $2.075 million each year of the contract.

The move came several hours after the team placed forward Tim Kennedy on waivers.

The Vancouver native was drafted by Boston in 2001, 19th overall. He was traded to Washington in March 2004, in a trade that sent Sergei Gonchar to the Bruins.

The 27-year-old consistently proved himself in Washington, among the leaders in hits and blocked shots. Last season, he had 163 hits and 104 blocks.

Morrisonn will provide an edge to the Sabres team. During the 2008 playoffs, he was the Capitals’ number one defenseman as he played every game with a broken jaw and separated shoulder.

Melissa Kania
NHLHS Buffalo Sabres Correspondent
mkania@nhlhotstove.com
Twitter: @melissakania

In a surprise move yesterday, the Buffalo Sabres placed recently signed forward Tim Kennedy on waivers, shortly after signing him to a one-year, $1 million arbitration contract.

Teams had 24 hours to claim the 24-year-old South Buffalo native off waivers. After no team claimed him, the Sabres called an afternoon press conference Tuesday and announced their plans to buy his contract out.

Kennedy is now a free agent, but will receive $333,333 from the Sabres for the buy-out.

The team had no choice but to accept Kennedy’s arbitration, since it was below the maximum $1.4 million walk-away limit. Team officials said the outcome of his hearing was more than they anticipated, which is why they placed him on waivers and bought him out.

Word has it that the team’s offer was roughly $830,000, and they were ‘very close’ to a deal at the time of arbitration. Kennedy knew at the time of his arbitration that there was a chance he’d be placed on waivers, but player and fans alike didn’t expect the move.

Kennedy played 78 games in his rookie season, accumulating 10 goals and 16 assists. He ended the season with a -3 rating and 50 penalty minutes.

Melissa Kania
NHLHS Buffalo Sabres Correspondent
mkania@nhlhotstove.com
Twitter: @melissakania

Just over 48 hours later, the results of Tim Kennedy’s arbitration hearing are in.

Arbitrators announced a 1-year, $1 million deal for Kennedy with the Sabres on Thursday.

In a normal case, the team would have 48 hours after the arbitrator’s decision is announced to either pick up the contract, or walk away, allowing Kennedy to become an unrestricted free agent.

However, Kennedy’s case is different because his award is too low. The new CBA has a minimum walk-away figure for this year of $1,611,180. The figure was originally $1,042,173 when the CBA went into effective, and has increased based on the league’s average salary increase.

Since Kennedy’s contract is for less than that, the team does not have the option of walking away, confirming that the Buffalo native will remain with his hometown team for at least another year.

Kennedy had 10 goals and 16 assists in 78 games last season, including three game-winning goals. The 24-year-old spent most of the 2008-2009 season with the Portland Pirates of the AHL, where he tallied 18 goals and 49 assists, as well as 67 penalty minutes.

Melissa Kania
NHLHS Buffalo Sabres Correspondent
mkania@nhlhotstove.com
Twitter: @melissakania