Some interesting news came out of Buffalo on Thursday in that the Sabres are reportedly strongly considering using a buyout on forward Cody Hodgson.
While it's not certain Hodgson will be bought out, and a potential buyout can't become official until the Stanley Cup Finals conclude, it appears GM Tim Murray is leaning strongly towards doing so.
From Bob McKenzie (transcribed by todaysslapshot): “Certainly, when the general manager of the Buffalo Sabres says, ‘We’re thinking seriously of buying him out.’ They’re not thinking seriously of buying him out. They’ve decided they’re going to buy him out, I would imagine. General managers don’t talk like that and then say, ‘Ah, (we won’t).’“We’ll see. They haven’t said unequivocally, but boy, if I’m reading between the lines there it sure sounds like he’s going to get bought out.
McKenzie seems to think Hodgson will be bought out so chances are that's how this will play out.
It's somewhat interesting he'll be let go after one poor offensive season, particularly because his shooting percentage suggests he was unlucky as much as anything else.
As you can see Hodgson shot ~12% through the first three seasons of his career but failed to reach half that in 2014-15.
Is he the guy that scored 12% of the time over 200+ games or the guy who failed to shoot 5% last season? Unless he magically woke up one morning and forgot how to shoot a puck I'm assuming he's a lot closer to the guy we saw over the first few years of his career.
Hodgson didn't get off to a good start last season, lost his confidence and was never able to get going. That's not encouraging, obviously, but it's tough to get in a grove offensively when you're playing on a historically bad hockey team with very little talent around you.
Hodgson is not without his faults - he's not exactly a stud defensively and isn't a very good skater - but, last season aside, he has a good track record in terms of offensive production.
In three seasons prior to last year he never produced points at worse than a 42 point pace. He also never scored less than 15 goals and that was during the lockout shortened 48-game season.
Even if he doesn't regain his 20-goal form he's probably a safe bet for at least 10-15. That would be a big improvement in production over what New Jersey has been getting from Dainius Zubrus, Tuomo Ruutu and some of the other aging players on the roster.
At 25 years of age he still has some good hockey ahead of him and, if he's bought out, you can bet the price tag for his services won't be high.
If that's the case it might not hurt to give him a one-year deal and let him compete for a roster spot.
Recent posts