- The Sabres signed Louis Crevier to a four-year extension before his first regular-season game in Buffalo
- The 6-foot-8 defenseman came over from Chicago in the Bowen Byram trade
- Read below for Crevier’s reaction and his full pregame video
The Sabres didn’t wait to see Louis Crevier play a regular-season game before paying him.
Buffalo signed the 25-year-old defenseman to a four-year extension on Thursday with a $4 million average annual value. The deal runs through 2030-31. Crevier was set to become a restricted free agent next summer.
Crevier talked about the new deal before Thursday’s opener in Columbus. Mostly, he sounded relieved.
“Just really happy,” Crevier said. “I think it’s something I’ve worked for for a while, now, and I’m just super glad that it’s behind me. And just having stability is just going to help me a ton to play hockey.”
Catch Crevier’s full pregame media availability video:
He was also asked about locking in this early. To him, it was a no-brainer.
“At the end of the day, we’re hockey players, and I just want to play hockey,” he said. “And if a team wants me for four, five more years with this year, I couldn’t really refuse it.”
Buffalo landed Crevier from Chicago in June in the trade that sent Bowen Byram and Jordan Greenway to the Blackhawks. The No. 4 overall pick headlined the Sabres’ return, so Crevier mostly got lost in the shuffle. Byram, for his part, scored a hat trick in his Blackhawks preseason debut.
His road here was a long one. Chicago took him in the seventh round in 2020, and he spent close to two seasons in Rockford before sticking in the NHL. Last year he put up seven goals and 25 points in 78 games while averaging 17:08 a night.
The shot is real, too. His hardest shot last season clocked in at 102.83 mph, fourth-hardest in the league according to NHL EDGE.
Lindy Ruff got a long look at him in camp, where Crevier skated with both Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power. The coach liked what he saw.
“My first impression was his puck movement was good,” Ruff said. “He’s defended well. So, I think playing with either one of those guys is a good fit.”
In his Sabres debut Thursday night, he logged 16:14 with a shot and two blocked shots. Buffalo still lost 6-3 as Matthew Knies scored twice in his Blue Jackets debut.
Not the result Buffalo wanted. But Crevier got his first game in blue and gold out of the way on the same day he signed through 2030-31.
