Buffalo Sabres re-sign Henri Jokiharju to one-year, $3.1 million contract

The Buffalo Sabres announced Friday the team has re-signed defenseman Henri Jokiharju to a one-year contract worth $3.1 million. The 25-year-old blueliner led all Sabres’ defensemen with a plus-14 rating last season.

Jokiharju appeared in 74 games and collected three goals and 20 points. He ranked fourth on the Sabres in average ice-time on their back end and should push for top-four minutes in 2024-25. The native of Oulu, Finland also recorded 84 shots on goal, landed 92 hits, blocked 106 shots and saw consistent minutes on the second penalty-kill unit. At 25, there’s still some untapped potential to his game and there’s a chance he’ll see some more minutes on the power-play in 2024-25. The Sabres have built themselves a young blue line with a lot of upside, it’s obvious with just the one-year deal, they are being patient committing to Jokiharju long-term.

Entering his sixth season in Buffalo, Jokiharju was originally acquired from the Chicago Blackhawks during the summer of 2019, in a one-for-one swap for former eight-overall pick Alex Nylander. Nylander appeared in 65 games for the Blackhawks and was later traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Meanwhile, Jokiharju’s Sabres tenure includes 309 games and he’s done a good job creating himself a role in Buffalo. He’ll look to stay healthy during the 2024-25 season as Jokiharju has yet to play a full 82-game season, playing in a career-high 74 last season.

Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams had himself a busy end to the week as the team also announced they acquired Ryan McLeod and Tyler Tullio from the Edmonton Oilers and gave up highly-touted prospect Matt Savoie. The very interesting trade had quite the shock value across the hockey world.

Adams is trying to do whatever he can to get his team over the hump and back into Stanley Cup Playoff contention in the Eastern Conference. The Sabres finished 39-37-6 and missed out on the second wild-card spot by seven points.