page_title: Cody Hodgson
section_title: Buffalo Sabres
hierarchical_section_title: Cody Hodgson / Playing career / Buffalo Sabres
caption_attribution_description: English: Cody Hodgson (19) with the Buffalo Sabres takes a face-off against Jordan Schroeder (45) with the Vancouver Canucks while Kevin Bieksa (3 white) looks on.
context_page_description: Cody Douglas Hodgson is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey centreman.
  Hodgson played at the major junior level for four seasons with the Brampton Battalion of the Ontario Hockey League. After being selected tenth overall in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft by the Vancouver Canucks, Hodgson won the William Hanley Trophy, Red Tilson Trophy and the CHL Player of the Year Award, as well as First Team All-Star honours for the 2008–09 season. While training in the 2009 off-season, Hodgson suffered a back injury that required a year for him to fully recover. In 2010–11, he played his professional rookie season with the Canucks' minor league affiliate, the Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League. The season also marked his debut at the NHL level with the Canucks and he went on to participate in the team's run to the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals. During his rookie season the subsequent year, Hodgson was dealt to the Buffalo Sabres at the 2012 trade deadline. He announced his retirement in 2016 after he was diagnosed with malignant hyperthermia.
context_section_description: Minutes before the NHL trade deadline on February 27, 2012, Hodgson was dealt, along with defenceman Alexander Sulzer, to the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for fellow rookie forward Zack Kassian and defenceman Marc-André Gragnani. Canucks General Manager Mike Gillis acknowledged the trade as an effort to balance his team out by trading Hodgson's skill and finesse in return for Kassian's size and toughness. Analysts from TSN and The Vancouver Sun also echoed the sentiment, commenting that while the Canucks gained elements in Kassian that were required to succeed in the playoffs, Hodgson's skill set reflected the style of play that Vancouver's success was based upon.
  In a telephone interview with TSN shortly after the trade, Hodgson told reporters he was "in shock," adding that "It's tough to leave Vancouver." There were, however, reports in the media that Hodgson had asked for a trade from the Canucks, an allegation that Mike Gillis neither confirmed nor denied. The reaction in the Vancouver media was largely of surprise that Gillis would trade away a well-performing rookie. Vancouver Sun columnist Iain MacIntyre declared it "a stunner" and "one of the most unpopular trades in Vancouver in years." Another Sun article likened the deal to a lopsided 1996 trade between the Canucks and Pittsburgh Penguins in which two first-round prospects of opposite playing styles – the skilled Markus Näslund and the larger, more aggressive Alek Stojanov – were exchanged. Näslund went on to become the Canucks' all-time leading goal- and point-scorer, while the latter had a short career in the minor leagues.
  Hodgson made his Sabres debut two days after the trade, registering four shots on goal and 16 minutes of ice time in a 2–0 win against the Anaheim Ducks. After going pointless in his first ten games with Buffalo, Hodgson recorded two assists in a 7–3 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning on March 19. Two nights later, he scored his first two goals as a Sabre in a game against the Montreal Canadiens. Leaving Vancouver gave Hodgson a larger on-ice role, earning nearly five minutes more ice time per game as a Sabre. Completing his first NHL season with the Sabres, he finished with 41 points (19 goals and 22 assists) over 83 games. He ranked fifth in League rookie scoring and first in power play goals (7), despite earning less ice time than his first-year peers (his 13 minutes and 49 seconds per game averaged the least among the top 14 rookie scorers). As a team, the Sabres then failed to qualify for the 2012 playoffs, finishing ninth in the Eastern Conference. Hodgson was assigned to the AHL's Rochester Americans immediately before the 2012–13 NHL lock-out took effect.
  Hodgson signed a six-year, $25.5 million extension with the Sabres on September 11, 2013.
  In the second year of his contract extension with the Sabres in the 2014–15 season, Hodgson suffered the worst season in his professional career, contributing with just 6 goals and 13 points in 78 outings for the cellar-dwelling Sabres. With the option to buy-out his contract at a lower rate due to his age, on June 29, 2015, the Sabres, in the midst of a rebuild, placed Hodgson on unconditional waivers in order for a release to free agency.
caption: Hodgson taking a faceoff against Jordan Schroeder
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