Yesterday, we passed along a report claiming Buffalo was closing in on an extension for forward Tyler Ennis.
Today, the Sabres made it official.
Buffalo announced it has re-upped with Ennis on a multi-year deal, less than 24 hours after NHL Network reported the two sides had agreed to a five-year, $23 million deal. Though the Sabres didn’t confirm the term or money in their press release, the figures have been confirmed by a source of the Buffalo News.
Ennis, 24, will pull in an annual $4.6M cap hit with the new contract, putting him only behind Matt Moulson ($5 million annually) among Sabres forwards.
The deal comes on the heels of Ennis’ solid 2013-14 campaign, in which he scored a career-high 21 goals in 80 games, finishing with 43 points (Cody Hodgson led the team with 44.) Ennis also logged a career-high 18:51 TOI per game last season and finished third on the team in total faceoffs taken, although had a lousy winning percentage (38.7).
With the move, Buffalo now has a cap payroll of approximately $57 million, a far cry from a few weeks ago when people were openly wondering how GM Tim Murray was going to get the club to the cap floor.