The Buffalo Sabres broke a 15 year playoff drought this last year, and with the moves they’ve made in the offseason, they may just be the emerging face of the Atlantic division. General manager Jarmo Kekkalainen has aggressively wheeled and dealed around the league, and it looks to be paying off.

That includes locking up restricted free agent forward Peyton Krebs to a four year, 4.5 million dollar average annual value contract after he put up career high regular season numbers and six points during the Sabres’ playoff run. The former Vegas first round pick showed his versatility as a fourth line center and a top line wing for Buffalo this year, earning him a solid pay bump after four years in Western New York.

Red Wings fans may look on the move with a little envy, though as the team has largely been silent after a busy first day of free agency. That isn’t true for their AHL affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins, however.

The team has been busy replacing a lot of top half roster depth after the loss of names like Amadeus Lombardi, Eduards Tralmaks and Erik Gustafsson. In the last week, the team has signed former University of Michigan captain Nolan Moyle, and most recently Ronnie Attard and Kaden Bohlsen.

The moves should help to ensure that rookie netminder Trey Augustine is well insulated in his first season of professional hockey. The former Michigan State product will have high expectations, with both of the Red Wings top two netminders only signed through the end of next season.

He and Michal Postava will likely be holding things down in net in Grand Rapids, but its possible Augustine ends up sharing the net with someone else if Postava shows he’s ready for the next step.

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Red Wings Extra

Carter Mazur has had a long and difficult road to getting NHL minutes. After making a couple of false starts over the last two years, Mazur figures to be a regular in the bottom half of the Red Wings forward group. The young forward recently spoke with Red Wings team media about the opportunity to be playing as an NHL regular for his hometown team after signing a two year extension earlier this offseason.

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