Teams around the NHL made some of their final roster cuts yesterday to get down to the 23-man roster that is due to the league by 5 PM EST. today. As such, the waiver wire was jam-packed as clubs hoped to sneak their final cuts through and down to the AHL to start the year.

The Sabres have an opportunity to make a late preseason upgrade their roster ahead of Thursday night’s opener with the Montreal Canadiens. Since they were the worst team in the league last season, the Sabres currently hold the number one spot in the waiver priority and will do so for the first month of the season.

Alex Barre-Boulet | Tampa Bay Lightning

The player that may be the most interesting is Tampa Bay Lightning forward Alex Barre-Boulet. The 24-year-old was signed as an undrafted free agent from the QMJHL three years ago.

To this point, he has been unable to find a consistent spot in the lineup with the Lightning. We know about the roster depth for the two-time defending Stanley Cup Champions. It has forced some of their prospects to overcook in the AHL and wait for their opportunity.

Barre-Boulet falls into that category. He has spent the last two years tearing up the AHL with the Syracuse Crunch. As a rookie, he scored 34 goals and registered 68 points in 74 games. The following year he backed that up with 27 goals and 56 points in 60 games.

Last season, he only played 10 games with the Crunch, registering 12 points. He got his first taste of NHL action this past season playing 15 games with the Lightning. He scored three goals in those 15 games and had some impressive underlying defensive numbers in most public models, including Micah McCurdy’s.

The Lightning gave the undersized forward a legitimate run in the AHL. In his 15 games, his primary linemates were Brayden Point and Ondrej Palat, according to Evolving Hockey. Unfortunately for him, he’s once again on the outside looking in at the Lightning roster after this preseason. It appears the Bolts gave the final roster spot to 2016 second-round pick, Taylor Raddysh.

Barre-Boulet is a talent that the Sabres could take a run at to see if his potential can translate to the NHL. Even if the Sabres don’t put in a claim on him, I’d be surprised to see that he clears waivers.

Connor Ingram | Nashville Predators

As of now, the plan is for the Sabres to go into the season with a tandem of Craig Anderson and Dustin Tokarski. If they want to attempt to upgrade at the position the waiver wire gives them that opportunity.

Connor Ingram of the Nashville Predators is the goaltender that I would target. The 24-year-old was a third-round pick of the Lightning back in 2016. Ingram checked into the NHL Player Assistance program to handle some personal issues in January of this year. He only appeared in five AHL games for the Chicago Wolves last season.

Before that, he was dominating the AHL playing for the Crunch and Milwaukee Admirals. He held a save percentage above 91.4% in all three AHL campaigns before last year.

Ingram appeared in only two preseason games for the Predators and outplayed David Rittich. He put up a .946 save percentage and was at 1.4 goals saved above expected in all situations, according to Natural Stat Trick. Rittich, on the other hand, put up a rate of 2.04 below expected. Yet, he was the one given the backup role behind Juuse Saros.

He deserves an NHL opportunity and I hope someone gives it to him.

Kevin Stenlund | Columbus Blue Jackets

Kevin Stenlund was a surprise cut to me from the Blue Jackets. He’s not going to be the type of player that stands out night in and night out. However, he can be an effective bottom-six forward in an NHL lineup.

His AHL numbers with the Cleveland Monsters are modest and he has 20 points in 68 games NHL games. The draw to Stenlund has been his ability to perform well defensively. It’s a small sample, but Evolving Hockey’s goals above replacement model grade him out strong defensively, as you’ll see below.

He would bring some size to the Sabres lineup with the 6’4″ frame, but they may feel they have enough players on their roster of similar ability.

Honorable Mentions

Beyond these three there are a few other players the Sabres could looking into. That list includes goaltenders Collin Delia and Malcolm Subban from the Chicago Blackhawks. Defenseman Jacob Larsson from the Anaheim Ducks and forward Adam Brooks from the Toronto Maple Leafs are two other players that could be worth considering.

We’ll find out at 2 PM today if Kevyn Adams decided to make any last-second additions to his roster.

Photo Credit: NHL.com

Data via: Evolving Hockey, Cap Friendly, Natural Stat Trick, and Micah McCurdy