Nathan Lieuwen’s time with Sabres is up.
Lieuwen, a 2011 draft pick who debuted for Buffalo in ’13-14, has signed an AHL deal with the San Antonio Rampage, the minor league affiliate of the Colorado Avalanche.
Lieuwen, 24, has been bit the injury bug over the last few seasons, missing extensive time to concussions. When healthy, he posted some good numbers -- including that aforementioned ’13-14 campaign, when he played seven NHL games and had a .922 save percentage with AHL Rochester -- but wasn’t tendered a qualifying offer by Buffalo GM Tim Murray at the end of this season, making him an unrestricted free agent.
Yesterday, Murray inked goalie prospect Jason Kasdorf to a two-year deal, which all but suggested Lieuwen was on his way out. Kasdorf projects to be No. 4 on a depth chart that starts with Robin Lehner, and will (presumably) see Linus Ullmark and Anders Nilsson battle it out for second and third spots.
Lieuwen could be in line for a more prominent role in Colorado. Semyon Varlamov and Calvin Pickard are entrenched at the NHL level, but the situation behind them is a bit unclear, with the likes of ex-Bruins farmhand Jeremy Smith and ’13 draftee Spencer Martin in the mix.
On that note, the Rampage also brought in goalie Kent Simpson on a one-year deal on Monday.