The Buffalo Sabres have announced the following new hires and promotions:
David Warsofsky has been hired as a defense development coach. The former defenseman was an NCAA national champion at Boston University and went on to play 14 professional seasons. He spent 2025-26 as head coach of the ECHL’s South Carolina Stingrays.
Eric Weissman has rejoined the club as director of college recruiting and reserve list scouting. Weissman previously worked for the Sabres as an amateur scout from 2005 to 2017 and has since served as a pro scout for the Los Angeles Kings.
Jack McNaughton has been hired as a goalie scout and emergency replacement goaltender. McNaughton has spent the last four seasons as a goaltender for the University of Western Ontario and previously played for the WHL’s Calgary Hitmen. (NHL teams are required to have a designated emergency replacement goaltender beginning this season in accordance with the new collective bargaining agreement.)
Matt Barlowe has been promoted to manager, hockey systems. Barlowe will continue to manage and develop all internal systems used by hockey operations staff, and has spear-headed the organization’s use of AI tools for research and development.
Domenic Galamini Jr. has been promoted to manager, hockey research and development. Galamini will continue to manage and lead all long-term research projects, including the use of complex statistical modeling and spatio-temporal data for player and strategy evaluation.
In addition to their R&D responsibilities, Barlowe and Galamini play a pivotal role in the data-driven evaluation of all pro and amateur players, and they co-lead the Rochester Americans’ use of data and analytics at the AHL level.
Chris Knieste has been hired as data engineer. Knieste holds a dual bachelor's degree in chemical engineering and computer science from the University of Delaware with extensive experience in public hockey analytics research. He will be responsible for designing, building, and maintaining internal systems used by management, coaches, scouts, analysts, and all other hockey operations staff.
Ariel Amaral has been hired as data scientist. Amaral holds a PhD in Astronomy & Astrophysics from the University of Toronto, where her doctoral research involved quantifying the strength and structure of extragalactic magnetic fields using large-scale radio polarization datasets. She will be responsible for creating and communicating knowledge about hockey players, teams, systems, strategies, development, and training using a variety of complex data sources.
