SABRES EXTEND QUALIFYING OFFERS TO THREE AMERKS
Jul 11, 2022The Buffalo Sabres announced today that the team have extended qualifying offers to forwards Arttu Ruotsalainen, Brett Murray and goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen.
Ruotsalainen, 24, skated in 18 NHL games last season, recording two goal and two assists for four points. Additionally, he posted 51 points (18+33) in 57 games for the Amerks while he also led the team with eight goals and tied for first with 12 points (8+4) in 10 Calder Cup Playoff contests during Rochester’s run to the North Division Finals.
He was named the AHL Player of the Month for March after recording eight goals and 10 assists in 13 games.
In 35 career games with Buffalo, the 5-foot-9, 187-pound forward has netted 10 points (7+3) while also collecting 64 points (23+41) in 70 contests with the Amerks since the start of the 2020-21 campaign.
Murray, 23, split last season between Buffalo and Rochester. The Bolton, Ontario native tallied two goals and four assists for six points in a career-high 19 games with the Sabres while finishing the season with a personal-best 32 points (15+17) in 52 games with the Amerks.
Additionally, he recorded three goals and three assists six points while skating in all 10 postseason games.
Murray, who was originally drafted in the fourth round (99th overall) in the 2016 NHL Draft by the Sabres, has appeared in 21 games with Buffalo, totaling six points (2+4), while also skating in 134 contests with Rochester, notching 76 points (33+43).
Luukkonen, 23, saw action in nine NHL games in 2021-22 and posted a 2-5-2 record with a .917 save percentage and a 2.74 goals-against average.
The Espoo, Finland, native also played in a professional career-high 35 games for Rochester, going 15-14-6 with a .900 save percentage and a 3.28 goals-against average. He was named the AHL Player of the Week during a stretch in November in which he recorded his first AHL shutout.
Luukkonen was originally drafted in the second round (54th overall) in the 2017 NHL Draft by the Sabres. The 6-foot-4, 196-pound netminder has posted a 26-23-11 record in 60 AHL games while also showing a 3-8-2 mark in 13 contests with Buffalo.