Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Brassard earns training camp invite

The question of who will help man the crease when the Sabres participate in the 2014 NHL Prospect Tournament in Traverse City appears to have been answered with QMJHL veteran Francois Brassard earning a training camp invite.


Brassard, 20, was originally a sixth round draft pick by the Ottawa Senators in 2012 (he was chosen three spots after the Sabres secured the services of Linus Ullmark), but went unsigned at the June 1 deadline. He played the last three seasons as a teammate of current Sabres prospect Mikhail Grigorenko with the QMJHL’s Quebec Remparts, most recently amassing 28 wins with a 2.95 GAA and .909 save%  in 2013-14. Brassard was traded to Cape Breton at the QMJHL draft, and as of now, is expected to return to junior in 2014-15 for an overage season.

A scrappy, athletic netminder, Brassard attended Hockey Canada’s Programme of Excellence goaltender camp last summer. It appears that he will serve as backup to Andrey Makarov when the team descends upon Traverse City in mid-September.