The Buffalo Sabres made another addition to the roster a few days ahead of training camp. They brought in forward Riley Sheahan on a professional tryout contract. It’s the first PTO they’ve handed out for training camp since Cody Goloubef in 2017.

The Sabres have been searching for another body to bring into camp for the past month. They looked into options such as Anthony Duclair and Andreas Athanasiou. However, both of those players landed elsewhere and Sheahan was the player they brought in.

The 29-year-old forward has bounced around the league the last few years. He has spent time on the Edmonton Oilers, Florida Panthers, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Detroit Red Wings over the last four years.

Depth Addition

At this point in his career, Sheahan is a bottom-six forward at best. He has a history of productive seasons, but his last 30-point campaign was three years ago. He played in a fourth-line role with the Oilers last season. His most common linemates were Josh Archibald and Jujhar Khaira, according to Evolving Hockey.

There’s not a lot Sheahan brings at this point beyond depth. The stronger side of his game over the last few years is his defensive game. He’s responsible at that end of the ice and his skating ability allows him to get the puck out of his own end of the ice.

As you can see in the twins’ new player cards, he breaks out as a low-event player. The part that the Sabres seem to have a particular interest in is his penalty-killing ability. That has been a focus of the offseason for the club. General manager Kevyn Adams mentioned his performance on a top-10 PK team in Edmonton.

Bottom-Six Roster Battle

At the end of the day, he’s another body to add to the mix in the battle for a bottom-six spot. He’ll compete with Curtis Lazar, Arttu Ruotsalainen, Tage Thompson, and Casey Mittelstadt. Especially in this season, you can never have too much depth on your roster.

Even if he doesn’t make that active roster, it would make sense to add him to the taxi squad. He’s a veteran forward that could step in with an injury or if Covid-19 takes someone out of the lineup for a few games.

At this point, I would put his chances of making the active roster as slim, but we’ll see if he can catch the eye of the coaching staff over the next few weeks.

Data via: Evolving Hockey

Photo credit: Bill Wippert/NHLI via Getty Images