BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Buffalo Sabres signed Coach Don Granato to a two-year contract extension on Wednesday, rewarding him for the team’s improvement in his first full season.

Granato had two years left on his existing contract and is now locked up through the 2025-26 season. He will make just under $2 million in each season of the extension, not including bonuses, a person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the Sabres did not reveal the terms of the contract.

Sabres General Manager Kevyn Adams praised the coach for developing a young core of players, including center Tage Thompson, who scored a career-best 38 goals last season.

“Don’s mentality of `earning it’ resonates throughout the team. It is more than just a mindset, it is a driving force for our players and staff,” Adams said in a statement. “He is someone who the players have a tremendous amount of respect for, and he dedicates himself to bettering each individual on the team.”

The 55-year-old Granato has a 41-55-14 record since taking over as Buffalo’s interim coach in March 2021 after Ralph Krueger was fired while the Sabres were in the midst of a franchise-worst 18-game skid. Granato became the full-time coach the following summer and guided the Sabres to a 32-39-11 record last season.

Though Buffalo missed the playoffs for an NHL-record 11th consecutive year, the team showed promise by closing with a 12-6-3 record to finish fifth in the Atlantic Division – matching the team’s best placing since finishing third in 2011-12.

• The Buffalo Sabres continued locking up their young core of players by signing defenseman Mattias Samuelsson to a seven-year, $30 million contract.

The 22-year-old Samuelsson established himself as one of the team’s top defensemen in his second NHL season last year. He finished with 10 assists in 42 games after missing the start of the season with a leg injury.

At 6-foot-4 and 231 pounds, Samuelsson plays a defense-first role to complement Buffalo’s more offensive-minded defensemen such as Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power.

Samuelsson is from Philadelphia and was selected by Buffalo with the 32nd pick in the 2018 draft. He is the son of former NHL defenseman Kjell Samuelsson, who played for Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, the New York Rangers and Tampa Bay during a 14-year career.

Samuelsson’s signing comes a little over a month after Buffalo signed 24-year-old center Tage Thompson to a seven-year, $50 million contract.

WEDNESDAY’S GAMES

HURRICANES 4, BLUE JACKETS 1: Martin Necas had a goal and two assists and Carolina beat visiting Columbus in the season opener for both teams.

Seth Jarvis, Brady Skjei and Andrei Svechnikov also scored for the Hurricanes, who’ve won four consecutive opening games.

Patrick Laine had the Columbus goal.

CANADIENS 4, MAPLE LEAFS 3: Josh Anderson scored with 17.9 seconds left to give Montreal a win over visiting Toronto.