Buffalo Sabres place 27-year-old defenseman on waivers, opening door for NHL rivals

The Buffalo Sabres have placed defenseman Jack Rathbone on waivers, which means any NHL team can now claim him.

If nobody does, he is expected to head back to the Rochester Americans, where he has spent most of the past two seasons.

This is well-worn territory for the 27-year-old.

Rathbone cleared waivers with Buffalo in 2024 and again in 2025, and he was placed on waivers once more back in September.

Around that time he also landed on non-roster injured reserve for an undisclosed reason, and Rochester's head coach described a lower-body injury as week-to-week.

Where his health stands now is unclear.

Vancouver made him a fourth-round pick, 95th overall, in 2017.

The Boston native has appeared in 28 NHL games, all with the Canucks, and his last NHL action came in 2022-23, when he played 11 games and finished with a goal and an assist.

Probably not. Teams rarely spend a waiver claim on a depth defenseman who hasn't played an NHL game in more than three years, and a claiming club would have to fit him on its NHL roster right away.

His numbers in Rochester have been steady rather than eye-catching, with 41 points in 112 games over the last two seasons.

The price would be low. Rathbone is in the second year of a two-year contract that carries a cap hit below $1 million, and the deal expires after this season, so a team would be taking on almost no long-term risk ahead of his unrestricted free agency in 2027.

The reason behind the timing hasn't been made clear, so the practical question is simply whether he clears.

If he does, the Sabres can assign him to Rochester, where he has been a regular on the back end.

For now, nothing changes unless a team acts.

Waiver claims come quickly, usually within a day, and if Rathbone clears, this will register as a routine roster adjustment rather than a headline transaction.

If someone does bite, it would be a notable vote of confidence in a player who has spent most of his pro career in the minors.

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