Buffalo Sabres re-sign Defenseman Marc-Andre Gragnani to one-year contract –NHL offseason Update
Buffalo Sabres re-signed defenseman, Marc-Andre Gragnani to a one-year contract, nearly a month and a half after the player became a restricted free agent on July 1, announced the Eastern Conference team on Thursday, August 11.
Having played only three National Hockey League (NHL) regular seasons, Gragnani could not file for a salary arbitration hearing coming out of his entry-level contract, thus, had to negotiate for a re-signing, which was expected before the new season began
in October.
Up until now, Buffalo has accumulated its defenseman counting to eight, which include not only Gragnani’s name, but well know defenders such as Christian Ehrhoff, who was acquired after becoming a free agent from Vancouver Canucks and Robyn Regehr, in a
trade with Calgary Flames.
Gragnani’s contract is a one-year contract, of which the financial terms and conditions were not disclosed by the NHL team, but are believed to be not as high as expected before, since Sabres are already above their salary cap ceiling by $4 million.
Drafted as the 87th overall selection during round-three of the 2005 NHL Entry Draft by Buffalo Sabres, Marc-Andre Gragnani, will be entering his fourth consecutive major league season with Buffalo.
Selected after his impressive 71 points (16 goals, 55 assists) performance during the 2005-2006 season, Gragnani played his first two NHL games in 2007-2008. He participated with Rochester Americans in the American Hockey League (AHL) for the remaining portion
of the season.
During the 2008-2009 season, Gragnani appeared in four games and continued to played with Portland Pirates in the AHL for another 76 games in which he put up 51 points (9 goals, 42 assists).
The Montreal, Quebec, Canada national, spent the following 2009-2010 season in Portland as well and potted 43 points (12 goals, 31 assists) in a total of 66 games.
Last season, Gragnani contributed a career high of three points (1 goal, 2 assists) in nine major league games with Buffalo, and is expected to participate in a considerable amount of more games next season.
Playing in all seven games during the 2011 NHL playoffs and registered seven points (1 goal, 6 assists), Gragnani proved himself to be a defenseman who can easily perform under pressure.
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