AHL team suspends player for wanting to leave the organization

The Rochester Americans, AHL affiliate of the Buffalo Sabres made a statement on their social media on Saturday that has caught the eyes of many for an odd process to terminate a player's contract.

In their post, the Americans announced that they've suspended defenceman Nicolas Savoie in order to terminate his contract because he is wanting to pursue educational opportunities by going to college.





According to Ben Steiner, Savoie has committed to playing for University of New Brunswick for the 2024-25 season, meaning that the 21-year-old will be sitting out for the rest of the current campaign.



While it doesn't happen often, it's not uncommon for players to leave professional hockey in order to further their education and Savoie is just the latest person to do so. However, the whole process he needs to go through just to leave the Americans' organization is bizarre, especially that they need to suspend him before even terminating his contract.

In 21 ECHL games this season for the Jacksonville Icemen, the 2023 Memorial Cup champion put up six points, while going pointless in three AHL games for Rochester.