Portland, ME – The holdout is over for Mark Mancari as he signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Buffalo Sabres reportedly worth $575,000.

Mancari, 24, was a restricted free agent, requested a trade this summer because he felt that his chances of making the NHL with the Sabres were limited. Sabres’ GM Darcy Regier attempted to trade the disgruntled forward, but there were no trading partners available for Mancari.

“We’ve worked on that, but to no success, and so we’ll continue,” Regier told the Buffalo News. “We’d love to have him as part of the organization and have him in training camp, but right now we don’t have a contract.”

As a result, he held out of Buffalo’s training camp for nearly a month before coming to terms on a deal.

Mancari’s option to play hockey this season were limited as Regier pointed out because he was an RFA, his NHL rights were owned by the Sabres and while Europe was an option, it didn’t appear likely Mancari could play in Europe.

“The ball is in (Mancari’s) court,” said Regier. “Obviously, we retain his rights and his European options may be limited, I know he had them a while back. We have an offer out to him and we’re still hopeful that we’ll get him in camp. I spoke to him just prior to camp and we’re still waiting on him.”

Provided Mancari can clear waivers, he’ll be destined for Portland for the season unless there’s an opening on the Sabres roster. In 73 games with Portland, he scored 29 goals, 38 assists for 67 points with a plus-9 rating, which tied him for the team lead in points with Tim Kennedy.