SABRES AGREE TO TERMS WITH VILLALTA
Veteran goaltender signs one-year pact with Buffalo for 2026-27 season
Jul 3, 2026The Buffalo Sabres announced today that the team has signed goaltender Matthew Villalta to a one-year, two-way contract for the 2026-27 season.
Villalta, 27, completed his third season with the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners in 2025-26, posting a 16-12-3 record with a 3.10 goals-against average and a .895 save percentage in 33 games. He also recorded one shutout and was one of 14 goaltenders to finish the season with multiple assists.
The veteran netminder posted his best season during the 2023-24 campaign when he set AHL career-highs in wins (31), goals-against average (2.54), and save percentage (.911), while adding three shutouts. Villalta was named to the 2024 AHL All-Star Classic, and his 31 wins led the league. He also made his NHL debut that year, appearing in two games for the Arizona Coyotes.
The Kingston, Ontario, native has 235 career appearances at the AHL level with Tucson and Ontario, showing a 123-83-20 record, 10 shutouts, 2.93 goals-against-average, and .903 save percentage since the start of the 2019-20 season. Additionally, Villalta has appeared in seven postseason contests, going 2-5 while adding three assists.
Villalta also boasts a 1-1-0 record in three NHL contests with the Arizona Coyotes / Utah Mammoth. He made his NHL debut on Feb. 16, 2024, against Carolina before earning his first NHL win in a 28-save effort at Nashville on Apr. 14, 2025.
Prior to turning pro, he completed a three-year stint with the Soo Greyhounds from 2016-19, boasting an impressive 98-20-9 record in the regular season while also owning a 21-15 mark in 37 playoff contests. He was named the OHL’s winner of the F.W. “Dinty” Moore Trophy for having the best goals-against average amongst all first-year players in 2016-17. The following year, he was named an All-OHL Third Team selection and was later awarded the Dave Pinkney Trophy for having the best goals-against average (2.58) in the league and leading all netminders with 40 wins.
Villalta was originally drafted by the Los Angeles Kings in the third round (72nd overall) of the 2017 NHL Draft.