Former UND captain Colton Poolman signs one-year deal with Buffalo Sabres – Grand Forks Herald

GRAND FORKS — Colton Poolman is on the move.

The East Grand Forks High School graduate and former UND hockey captain, who spent his entire professional career with the Calgary Flames organization, will join the Buffalo Sabres.

Poolman signed a one-year contract with the Sabres on Tuesday. His deal is worth $775,000 if he plays in the NHL. The Sabres have not released Poolman’s AHL salary.

This is Poolman’s fifth NHL contract since leaving UND in 2020. All of those deals were one-year, two-way contracts.

The first four were with the Calgary Flames.

Poolman spent all four seasons with Calgary’s American Hockey League affiliate. He played 213 AHL games, recording six goals and 39 points. He has yet to make his NHL debut.

Poolman has helped his team qualify for the AHL playoffs the past three seasons, reaching the conference final in 2022.

The 6-foot-1, 190-pound defenseman played three years of prep hockey for the Green Wave. As a senior, he led East Grand Forks to its first boys hockey state championship in school history, defeating Hermantown in the final.

Poolman spent the next two seasons playing junior hockey – one for the Fargo Force of the United States Hockey League, the other with the Penticton Vees of the British Columbia Hockey League.

He spent four seasons at UND, serving as captain for the last two. As a senior, Poolman led UND to the Penrose Cup as the National Collegiate Hockey Conference regular-season champion. UND was No. 1 in the Pairwise rankings when the season was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

After the season, Poolman was named the NCHC Defensive Defenseman of the Year.

Poolman will now try to crack a Sabres roster that includes Rasmus Dahlin (2018 No. 1 pick), Owen Power (2021 No. 1 pick) and Bowen Byram (2019 No. 4 pick).

The Sabres are currently in the midst of the longest playoff drought in NHL history, having last qualified in 2011 and last won a series in 2007.

As of July 2, 2024
Jacob Bernard-Docker, Ottawa Senators ($825,000)
Jackson Blake, Carolina Hurricanes ($832,500/$80,000)
Brock Boeser, Vancouver Canucks ($6,650,000)
Drake Caggiula, Edmonton Oilers ($775,000/$550,000)
Judd Caulfield, Anaheim Ducks ($837,500/$70,000)
Derek Forbort, Vancouver Canucks ($1,500,000)
Rhett Gardner, Philadelphia Flyers ($775,000/$425,000)
Tyson Jost, Carolina Hurricanes ($775,000)
Matt Kiersted, Florida Panthers ($775,000)
Tyler Kleven, Ottawa Senators ($916,667/$80,000)
Brock Nelson, New York Islanders ($6,000,000)
TJ Oshie, Washington Capitals ($5,750,000)
Shane Pinto, Ottawa Senators ($2,500,000)
Colton Poolman, Buffalo Sabres ($775,000 / TBD)
Tucker Poolman, Vancouver Canucks ($2,500,000)
Jake Sanderson, Ottawa Senators ($8,050,000)
Nick Schmaltz, Utah Hockey Club ($5,850,000)
Cole Smith, Nashville Predators ($1,000,000)
Troy Stecher, Arizona Coyotes ($775,000)
Christian Wolanin, Vancouver Canucks ($775,000/$500,000)

Schlossman has covered college hockey for the Grand Forks Herald since 2005. He has been recognized by Associated Press sports editors as the Herald’s top broadcast reporter four times and the North Dakota Sportswriter of the Year once. He resides in Grand Forks. Contact him at [email protected].