*Photo from The Leafs Nation*
Just like I said in the Brendan Smith post, you can never have too many defensemen. The Buffalo Sabres and D Ilya Lyubushkin have agreed to a two year contract, according to an announcement made by the Sabres.
The Sabres managed to snag Lyubushkin away from the Toronto Maple Leafs, where he played the second half of last season after being traded by the Arizona Coyotes. He set career highs last season in hits and blocked shots, with 187 and 92 respectively.
Sabres GM Kevyn Adams said of Lyubushkin that "He plays a hard game, he's a bigger game, he's solid, he can kill penalties. He can kind of play with any type of player. We just felt that with the defensemen that we have and the young defensemen that we have and the skill that we have, he'd be a good fit."
Combined between the Coyotes and Maple Leafs last season, Lyubushkin tallied two goals and 13 assists, averaging 17:27 of ice time per game with a -2 plus/minus rating in 77 games. He added one assist in 7 playoff games for Toronto.
In his NHL career, spanning 4 seasons with Arizona and Toronto, Lyubushkin has 3 goals and 22 assists, posting a -20 plus/minus rating while averaging 15:36 of ice time per game in 211 regular season games, with the one assist in 7 playoff games being his only playoff experience.
Lyubushkin's two year deal is worth $5.5 million over both years. He'll make $2.75 million annually with the Sabres, and will be a UFA when the deal expires. There are no performance or signing bonuses in his contract.
The signing of Lyubushkin marks another move in a rather quiet Sabres offseason. They re-signed both Craig Anderson and Victor Olofsson earlier in the offseason.
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