The Buffalo Sabres announced that they have signed forward Vaclav Karabacek, 20, to a three-year, $695,000 per year contract. The Sabres originally drafted Karabacek out of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) in the second round (49th overall) of the 2014 NHL Entry Draft.
Without this agreement the Sabres would have lost the rights to negotiate with him June 1st and watched him re-enter this year’s draft.
The native of Praha, Czech Republic, has spent three years playing in the QMJHL, earning mileage playing for first the Gatineau Olympiques, then then the Baie-Comeau Drakkar, and finally finishing off this past season with the Moncton Wildcats.
All told he has tallied 117 points (56 goals and 61 assists) in 171 career games in the Q, chipping in another 32 points (16 goals and 16 assists) in 38 career playoff games.
Karabacek is the just the latest previous draftee to be signed before the June 1st deadline. After that date any players still unsigned are eligible to re-enter the upcoming draft in Buffalo this June (excluding players in the NCAA and without transfer agreements in overseas leagues).