Wednesday, May 18, 2011

McNabb joins the fold

As expected, the Buffalo Sabres have announced the signing of 2009 draft pick Brayden McNabb to a three-year entry-level contract.

From the Sabres website:

“Brayden is a big kid with great offensive abilities, and he’s continued to improve every year in Kootenay,” said Sabres General Manager Darcy Regier. “His outstanding performance in the WHL Playoffs was just another positive sign in his development, and we are thrilled to now have him under contract for the next three years.”

McNabb (6’5”, 216 lbs., 1/21/1991, shoots left) just finished his fourth full season with the Kootenay Ice of the Western Hockey League, and is headed to the Memorial Cup Championship that begins this weekend in Mississauga. McNabb’s 27 points led all Canadian Hockey League defenseman in the postseason, and his 24 assists were more than any other CHL defenseman’s total points.

A native of Davidson, Saskatchewan, McNabb was tied for second overall in WHL Playoff scoring, and had a 12-game point streak from April 3-May 10 where he scored 21 points (2+19). He also posted a league-best plus-23 rating in the Ice’s 19 playoff games.

The 20-year-old McNabb improved his regular season point total for the third year in a row, finishing second among WHL blueliners with 72 points (21+51) in 59 games. In four full seasons with Kootenay from 2007-11, McNabb had 176 points (50+126) in 258 games, along with 419 PIMs.


Sorry for posting in this late, but I was away in Florida and only able to broadcast messages via twitter...