The Buffalo Sabres and Zach Metsa have opted to extend their relationship through the 2027-28 season as the versatile defenseman signed a one-year, $900,000 extension with the team Friday.
Metsa is slated to make $850,000 for the Sabres this season, his second in the NHL. The 27-year-old had two goals and four assists in 43 games for Buffalo while adding two goals and 13 assists in 15 games for the Rochester Americans. He also scored a goal in Buffalo’s 8-3 win at Montreal in Game 6 of the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Metsa is scheduled to be part of the pregame autograph session Saturday at 4:30 in Sahlen Field as part of the Buffalo Bisons’ annual “Hockey Night at the Ballpark” celebration.
Metsa played multiple roles on the Buffalo blueline last season, and figures to again serve as a No. 6-7 defenseman in the Sabres’ rotation. His plus-16 rating last season was the best in the NHL among defensemen who played fewer than 600 minutes played. Metsa averaged 10:58 per game, and the Sabres outscored their opponents by a whopping 24-8 margin when he was on the ice at 5 on 5.
Metsa, the captain of Quinnipiac University’s NCAA championship team in 2023, signed a two-year AHL contract with Rochester as an undrafted free agent and led the Amerks with 39 assists in 2024-25. That prompted the Sabres to reward him with his first NHL contract last summer.