Buffalo Sabres sign Justin Richards and Devin Cooley to one-year, $775,000 contracts

Credit: Jason Mowry-USA TODAY Sports

The Buffalo Sabres made a couple of minor signings on July 1st, signing forward Justin Richards and goalie Devin Cooley to matching one-year, $775,000 contracts.

Richards, 25, was a group 6 unrestricted free agent after finishing his one-year, $750,000 contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets. He sees raise of $25,000 in his salary, but still won’t make as much as he did on his $925,000 entry-level contract with the New York Rangers.

Richards only played two games with the Blue Jackets this season, registering an assist in one of them to give him two assists in three career NHL games. He spent most of the season with the Cleveland Monsters in the AHL, where he had 10 goals, 29 assists, and 39 points in 61 games.

He was an undrafted free agent, instead playing three years at the University of Minnesota-Duluth before signing an entry-level contract with the Rangers.

Cooley, 26, was a group 6 unrestricted free agent after the conclusion of his one-year, $787,500 contract with the Nashville Predators. He sees a slight decrease in salary of $12,500, and will have the lowest cap hit of his professional career up to this point.

Cooley played 26 regular season games in the AHL with the Milwaukee Admirals, where he had a 15-8-2 record and a .909. save percentage. He also played four playoff games for the Admirals, where he went 2-2 with a .916 save percentage as they went all the way to the Western Conference Finals before losing in six games to the Coachella Valley Firebirds.

While these two will most likely spend their season in the AHL, the Sabres also made a few signings that will have a bit more impact on their NHL roster. They added a couple veterans to their blueline by signing Erik Johnson and Connor Clifton, re-signed center Tyson Jost, and brought Dustin Tokarski back to the organization after a season with the Pittsburgh Penguins. They still have close to $5.9 million in cap space with no restricted free agents on their main roster.