Sabres sign Jake Leschyshyn to one-year contract

According to PuckPedia, the Buffalo Sabres have signed forward Jake Leschyshyn to a one-year, two-way contract. The deal carries an NHL cap hit of $775,000 and a minor-league salary of $350,000 through the 2025-26 season. $400,000 of the contract is guaranteed.

Leschyshyn is coming off a three-year contract, which he originally signed with the Vegas Golden Knights in August 2022. That deal had a cap hit of $767,000.

Leschyshyn made his way to the New York Rangers in January 2023, when the Original Six franchise claimed him off waivers. The Raleigh, North Carolina native was set to become a restricted free agent this summer, but didn’t receive a qualifying offer from the Rangers, making him an unrestricted free agent.

Leschyshyn has spent most of his professional career in the minor leagues, including the entire 2024-25 campaign in the American Hockey League with the Hartford Wolf Pack, the Rangers’ top affiliate. He had one of his more productive seasons, scoring 13 goals and 11 assists for 24 points in 69 games, coming up short of his career-best 27-point performance while a member of the Henderson Silver Knights during the 2021-22 campaign.

It was that season when the former Regina Pats saw his most time in the NHL. Leschyshyn appeared in 41 games that year, scoring two goals and four assists for six points. It has been tough sledding for him to get back into an NHL lineup, last playing for the Rangers on Jan. 11, 2024.

Across three seasons in the NHL, Leschyshyn has played in 77 contests, having just six points with a plus/minus of -13. During his tenure in the AHL, which included parts of two seasons with the Chicago Wolves when they were affiliated with Vegas, the 26-year-old has appeared in 271 regular-season games, notching 50 goals and 54 assists for 104 points, with an additional nine points coming in 24 Calder Cup Playoff games.

Leschyshyn was initially picked by the Golden Knights in the second round, 62nd overall, in the 2017 NHL Draft.