Ryan Johnson’s run in the Sabres organization is over, and Buffalo is bringing back two defensemen from Pittsburgh in the deal.
On Monday, the Sabres sent Johnson, the 31st overall pick in 2019, to the Penguins in exchange for Caleb Jones and Daniel Laatsch.
Johnson, 25, had recently cleared waivers and opened the season with the Rochester Americans. He was with Buffalo for 41 games as a rookie in 2023-24, but after that he only appeared in six NHL games.
Jones, 29, adds another left-shot option to the Sabres’ blue line. Over 255 career NHL games, he has 14 goals, 56 points and 90 penalty minutes.
The 6-foot-1, 189-pound Texas native started his NHL career with Edmonton and later spent time with Chicago, Colorado, Los Angeles and Pittsburgh. He was selected by the Oilers in the fourth round, 117th overall in 2015.
Jones also served a 20-game suspension last season after violating terms of the NHL/NHLPA Performance Enhancing Substances Program. He started this season with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Pittsburgh’s AHL affiliate, and his last NHL action came last season when he appeared in seven games for the Penguins.
Laatsch, meanwhile, is a 6-foot-5, 193-pound left-shot defenseman who is 24 and spent most of last season, his first as a pro, in the ECHL. Pittsburgh picked him in the seventh round in 2021, 215th overall.
After clearing waivers late last month, Johnson said he was glad to be back in Rochester. He had played the first four games with the Amerks this season.
“I really like this organization, and it would’ve felt pretty early to already have a departure,” he said Sept. 26 following a preseason game with the Amerks in LECOM Harborcenter.
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The Sabres quietly shuffled their blue line depth on Sunday, striking a trade with the Penguins that sends Ryan Johnson to Pittsburgh and brings Caleb Jones and Daniel Laatsch into Buffalos organization. All three defensemen are currently assigned to minor league teams, so this is more of an organizational move than a move that changes the NHL roster right away, but it does mark the end of Johnsons time with the Sabres.
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For a team sitting at 2-3-0 and seventh in the Atlantic Division, losing its top defenseman in the middle of a game is the kind of development that can ripple well beyond one result. Buffalo did not have much margin for error already, and Dahlin's absence leaves another question hanging over a roster still trying to find its footing early in the season. [Read more 🡒]