{"id":1000994,"date":"2026-08-14T20:46:18","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T20:46:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1000994\/"},"modified":"2026-08-14T20:46:18","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T20:46:18","slug":"sabres-hire-david-warsofsky-among-seven-front-office-additions-pro-hockey-rumors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1000994\/","title":{"rendered":"Sabres Hire David Warsofsky Among Seven Front Office Additions \u2013 Pro Hockey Rumors"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Buffalo Sabres have announced<\/a> seven staff changes in their front office. Most notably, former NHL and AHL defenseman David Warsofsky<\/a><\/strong> has been hired as a Defense Development Coach. Buffalo has also rehired Eric Weissman<\/strong><\/a> to be their Director of College Recruiting and Reserve List Scouting. Jack McNaughton<\/strong><\/a> will join the team as a Goalie Scout and emergency backup goaltender (EBUG), Chris Knieste<\/strong> has been hired as a Data Engineer, and Ariel Amaral<\/strong> has been hired as a Data Scientist. Buffalo has also promoted Matthew Barlowe<\/strong><\/a> to Manager of Hockey Systems and Domenic Galamini Jr.<\/strong><\/a> to Manager of Hockey Research and Development.<\/p>\n

These hires represent sweeping changes to the Sabres\u2019 development and analytical approaches. Warsofsky\u2019s shift into a newly-formed position will place extra emphasis on Buffalo\u2019s development of young defenders \u2013 an asset that should be invaluable after the Sabres used first-round picks on Radim Mrtka<\/strong><\/a> and Daxon Rudolph<\/strong><\/a> 2025 and 2026 respectively.<\/p>\n

Warsofsky, the brother of San Jose Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky<\/strong><\/a>, was once a prolific junior defender. He captained the U.S. National Team Development Program in 2008, leading a club that also featured Kyle Palmieri<\/a><\/strong>, Jimmy Hayes<\/a><\/strong>, and Nick Leddy<\/a><\/strong>. The St. Louis Blues drafted Warsofsky in the fourth-round of the 2008 NHL Draft, following a near-point-per-game season with the NTDP. He followed a high-scoring tenure with the NTDP with three seasons at Boston University, where he continued to post dazzling two-way results.<\/p>\n

Warsofsky turned pro with the Providence Bruins in 2011 and earned his first call-up to the NHL in 2013. He would go on to appear in short-term stints with the Bruins, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Colorado Avalanche through the 2010\u2019s \u2013 though he was much more established in the AHL. Warsofsky\u2019s ability to move pucks and control both blue-lines stood out through a career in the minors that spanned 11 seasons, 476 games, and 252 points in the AHL. His defensive prowess began to slip as the 2020\u2019s neared, spurring Warsofsky to sign in Germany\u2019s DEL. He played parts of three seasons overseas before retiring in 2024.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Warsofsky has spent the two seasons since supporting the ECHL\u2019s South Carolina Stingrays, first as an assistant coach and then as head coach and Director of Hockey Operations. The Stingrays finished first and second in the league, respectively, under Warsofsky\u2019s lead but failed to push past the second round of the playoffs. Now, the former pro defender will use his talents to improve Buffalo\u2019s existing blue-line and hone their next generation.<\/p>\n

Weissman\u2019s return will mark another notable addition to the Sabres staff. He worked as an amateur scout for Buffalo from 2005 to 2017 before departing for a pro scout role with the Los Angeles Kings. Weissman was specifically an AHL scout with the Kings operating out of Chicago. However, he is an alum of State University of New York College at Cortland \u2013 or, SUNY Cortland \u2013 just a few hours away from Buffalo. This shift will return him to his New England roots in a much more impactful role within the Sabres\u2019 front office. Weissman\u2019s focus will shift towards the collegiate ranks, though his support of reserve lists will also take advantage of his AHL experience.<\/p>\n

McNaughton will join the Sabres following the end of his collegiate career at the University of Western Ontario. He posted a 20-22-1 record and .896 save percentage in 48 USports games. He is more well-known for his career in the WHL, which spanned four seasons with the Calgary Hitmen. There, McNaughton notched a 46-24-8 record and .884 save percentage. NHL teams are required by the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) to designate one EBUG per season \u2013 a role that McNaughton will now fill, on top of scouting duties.<\/p>\n

Rounding out Buffalo\u2019s front office changes are a litany of changes to their analytical staff. Barlowe and Galamini will take a step up in responsibility after serving the team as analysts since 2021. Part of their elevated duties will be managing Buffalo\u2019s utilization of emerging technology, including artificial intelligence, for the purposes of research and development. The Sabres also mentioned that Galamini will continue his work utilizing complex statistical modeling and spatio-temporal data for player evaluation. These models provide an elevation from traditional expected-goals models intended to track event location and biomechanics. Public descriptions of these models have been captured<\/a> by Hassaan Inayatali<\/strong><\/a>, who has served as an analyst for the Chicago Blackhawks and Edmonton Oilers.<\/p>\n

Backfilling the analyst vacancies left by Barlowe and Galamini will be Knieste and Amaral. Knieste holds dual bachelor degrees in chemical engineering and computer science from the University of Delaware. He has a rich experience with coding in multiple forms, captured in his personal website<\/a>. Amaral holds a PhD in Astronomy and Astrophysics from the University of Toronto. She has studied magnetic fields and polarisation but will now shift to a different passion \u2013 building profiles and datasets around NHL talents. With their support, Buffalo is likely to take a major stride in their utilization of analytics in strategy and player evaluation.<\/p>\n

Photo courtesy of Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Buffalo Sabres have announced seven staff changes in their front office. Most notably, former NHL and AHL…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1000995,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[42],"tags":[1720,400782,400783,400784,400785,400786,1649,293,62,67,132,68],"class_list":["post-1000994","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-buffalo-sabres","tag-david-warsofsky","tag-domenic-galamini-jr","tag-eric-weissman","tag-jack-mcnaughton","tag-matthew-barlowe","tag-newsstand","tag-nhl","tag-sports","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117095826348295059","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1000994","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1000994"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1000994\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1000995"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1000994"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1000994"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1000994"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}