Sabres sign long-serving player Zemgus Girgensons to a contract extension

"Definitely with what the team has here and the steps it's taken, I definitely would like to be a part of this," he said back in March.

It's clear that Girgensons is a player who has the respect of his teammates, not only for his loyalty but for his hardworking, 'willing to sacrifice' style of play. He's a grinder and he takes pride in his role as the team's assistant captain.

"Zemgus is, I would call it, a quiet leader, goes about his business but cares about his teammates and teammates care about him," Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams said in April. "He's literally the same every game. There's very little drop off [or] ups and downs with him."

Speaking of ups and downs, Girgensons has seen a LOT of them. Probably more than any other Sabres player in history. Originally drafted by the Sabres in the 1st round (14th overall) of the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, Girgensons has played for six coaches in his 10 years with the team and has played with literally dozens of teammates who have come and gone. I mean... the Sabres' leading scorers during Girgensons rookie season with Cody Hodgson and Christian Ehrhoff. The guy has seen some... stuff... most of it bad.

He's seen the likes of star plaers like Ryan O'Reilly, Evander Kane, Tyler Myers, Rasmus Ristolainen, Jack Eichel and Sam Reinhart both arrive in Buffalo to great fanfare and then leave with a whimper. And he's outlasted every single one of 'em.