Sabres loan Matt Moulson to Kings' AHL affiliate

By AP
Published

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) The Buffalo Sabres are shipping Matt Moulson to California to continue playing after the underachieving winger cleared waivers.

The Sabres loaned Moulson to the Ontario Reign of the American Hockey League on Tuesday, rather than their nearby affiliate, the Rochester Americans. Ontario is the top minor league affiliate of the Los Angeles Kings.

General manager Jason Botterill said Moulson has been a ''true professional'' about being placed on waivers. The 34-year-old has no points in 14 games this season and is in the fourth season of a $25 million, five-year contract.

''From an organizational standpoint, we felt that with our young forwards in place in Rochester, we did not want to take away from their development and ice time by adding another veteran player at this time,'' Botterill said.

''Matt has previously spent time within the Kings organization early in his career and we felt this would be the best opportunity for him.''

Moulson played parts of two seasons earlier in his career for Los Angeles. He remains property of the Sabres and counts $3.975 million against their salary cap while in the minors.

Three times a 30-goal scorer when playing with John Tavares for the New York Islanders, Moulson has 369 points in 650 regular-season games.

Buffalo waived Moulson after acquiring forward Scott Wilson from the Detroit Red Wings for a 2019 fifth-round pick.

In the first season under Botterill and coach Phil Housley, the Sabres are 6-17-4 and their 16 points are the fewest in the NHL.

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