Sabres' Dennis Gilbert wants to bring 'snarl' and 'anger' to hometown team
Sabres' Dennis Gilbert wants to bring 'snarl' and 'anger' to hometown team
Gilbert became a regular with the Calgary Flames the past two seasons, and there were times throughout the journey when he wondered if he’d ever join the team that he
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Dennis Gilbert almost became a member of the Buffalo Sabres nine years before it finally came to fruition.
Flames defenseman Dennis Gilbert during a 2023 game at KeyBank Center. The Buffalo native was signed by the Sabres this week. Lance Lysowski
Former Sabres General Manager Tim Murray and his staff were planning to select the Buffalo native and former St. Joseph’s Collegiate Institute standout with the 92nd pick of the NHL draft in 2015. Their media relations staff was preparing a Sabres jersey to present to Gilbert on-stage in Sunrise, Florida, when he was selected 91st overall by the Chicago Blackhawks.
The Sabres watched from the draft floor as Gilbert celebrated with his family, including Dennis Sr., formerly St. Joe’s football coach, and walked to the stage to receive a jersey from the Blackhawks. Gilbert went on to play three seasons at Notre Dame – including two trips to the Frozen Four and a national championship game appearance – before he began a professional career that’s included 188 games in the American Hockey League and 82 in the NHL with three different teams.
Gilbert became a regular with the Calgary Flames the past two seasons, and there were times throughout the journey when he wondered if he’d ever join the team that he loved as a kid in Western New York.
The day arrived this week when the 27-year-old signed a one-year contract worth $825,000 to give the Sabres the grit and physicality that Lindy Ruff wants on defense to complement the skill and puck-moving prowess of Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power.
“Obviously super exciting for my family and I,” Gilbert told reporters Wednesday morning. “It’s something in the back of your mind you always kind of hope for at some point in time could happen. I think at this point of my career, it’s a good time for it and hopefully I can come in and help.”
Gilbert is no longer a raw, inexperienced prospect trying to carve out a niche in the NHL. He’s been mostly a full-time player in Calgary since 2022 when he began to earn the respect and admiration of former Flames coach Darryl Sutter, a two-time Stanley Cup champion bench boss who lauded Gilbert’s work ethic and consistency.
The Flames had Gilbert in their lineup for 57 games over the past two seasons, as the former Buffalo Jr. Sabre averaged 12:04 of ice time and irritated opponents with his relentless, physical style of play. Calgary trusted Gilbert enough to play him next to top defensemen Nikita Zadorov and Chris Tanev, and its coach this season, Ryan Huska, used Gilbert with several partners because he’s able to complement a heavier, hard-hitting player like Zadorov and a skilled puck mover such as Rasmus Andersson.
The time in Calgary showed Gilbert that top defensemen on the team are going to get the bulk of ice time, so it’s important to find ways to make an impact that will help him stand out in however many minutes he receives each night.
“Gibby’s a guy that I’ve known over the years, obviously, and just from him being from here and watching him develop, I think he’s turned himself into, last year he really took a big step and turned himself into an NHL defenseman,” said Sabres General Manager Kevyn Adams. “He knows what he needs to do to play in this league. He’s a big, strong kid who’s very, very competitive and continues to work on his game to get better. Not afraid to fight, he’s done that a number of times. He competes hard so, again, another guy that you’re bringing in some size, physicality. We don’t have a lot of that on our back end.”
Gilbert understands his role and works tirelessly to try to fill it to help his team win. He kills penalties, blocks shots, fights opponents to stick up for teammates and, generally, does everything he can to try to make the game miserable for whomever he’s matched up against.
Those qualities attracted the Sabres to him during the pre-draft process in 2015 and again this summer as Adams tried to add more physicality to a lineup that finished with seven fewer points last season than it did in 2022-23 when it almost qualified for the playoffs.
“Definitely a defensive-first player,” said Gilbert. “I try to be extremely hard to play against. You can look at that in a multitude of ways. Obviously, I’ve been willing to fight in my career and that’s something that’s not going to change. But also, there’s a different – you can do things that are hard to play against that aren’t just fighting. It’s being super physical. It’s after the whistle. It’s boxing guys out, giving a cross-check.
“If somebody takes a run at somebody on your team and they don’t even connect, but you go over and say something to them or you’re getting in their face. All that stuff is a big part of that. … So, it’s something I definitely want to help bring here.”
It’s an element that’s been missing from the Sabres’ lineup throughout their 13 years out of the playoffs and should give Gilbert an advantage as he competes for a roster spot in training camp.
The surroundings aren’t unfamiliar. He trains each summer at LECOM Harborcenter, where he’s routinely skated with some of his new teammates the past few years. Gilbert arrived at KeyBank Center early Wednesday to work out with winger Alex Tuch and defenseman Jacob Bryson.
Gilbert has known Tuch since they played against each other in minor hockey. Adams, Sabres assistant coach Matt Ellis and director of player development Adam Mair were among those who trained Gilbert with the Academy of Hockey as he was working his way through the Blackhawks’ organization. Gilbert made his NHL debut in 2019, appeared in 21 games with Chicago the following season and spent the Covid-shortened 2020-21 campaign in Colorado.
Gilbert also won a state championship at KeyBank Center with St. Joe’s and scored a goal against the Sabres in Buffalo on Feb. 11, 2023, with a large group of family and close friends in the arena. He grew up rooting for the team and its long time coach, Ruff, who, along with assistant coach Marty Willford, will work to try to help Gilbert reach another level. Gilbert already has a good read on the lineup that he’s joining from his time training in the summers with players like Tuch and Tage Thompson, as well as his competitive matchups against them the past two seasons.
Training camp won’t begin for a few months. The Sabres’ mix on defense may change with Henri Jokiharju still a restricted free agent. But signing Gilbert was one of several moves made by Adams to transform the roster into one that’s “hard to play against.”
“I’ve had a unique look at it just because I’ve been able to skate with them in the summer, just in the past, you know, three, four, five years,” said Gilbert. “Like watching Tage’s progression from playing most of the year in Rochester to really popping a couple years ago, I was skating with him most of that summer so you could see it kind of coming. A lot of the guys are like that and there’s just so much talent and speed and ability kind of throughout the lineup.
“Hopefully with age and maturity and some of the guys that are coming in, including myself, we can try to bring some of that snarl and that anger and kind of make some more pushback and kind of keep it going that way.”