Griffith came into camp having had multiple NHL opportunities during his four professional seasons, but he has yet tstick with a club. He played in 30 games for Boston in 2014-15, and played in 24 games for Toronto and Florida last season.
When he signed a one-year deal with Buffalo on July 1, he saw an opportunity for a fresh start with a franchise that was turning a corner with a new general manager in Jason Botterill and a new coach in Phil Housley.
"It was kind of a fresh start for everybody here," he said. "The whole organization has been great to me and helped me along throughout this camp. To be surrounded by good people, it's obviously a great atmosphere."
"I think his attitude is infectious, and he's got to play like he has the last two games," Housley said. "He's got to be up in the forecheck. Everybody can compete in their own way. I know he's a smaller guy but he gets on pucks and finds a way to win puck battles."
Griffith believes Housley's system, which demands pace, will bring the best out of him. After playing well alongside Sam Reinhart through two periods on Friday, Housley placed him on a line with Buffalo's two most dynamic skaters in Evander Kane and Jack Eichel beginning in the third.
The trio couldn't find the back of the net, but they did generate multiple scoring chances. Griffith remained on their line for practice on Sunday.
"They're super fast and that's the way I like to play," Griffith said. "We didn't end up scoring on them, but we had some good chances. We were moving the puck pretty well today, but I think it will come as chemistry develops too."
They'll have three more days to develop that chemistry before the Sabres open the regular season against Montreal on Thursday night. Griffith has earned his right to be there; next he'll look to prove he can stay.
"It doesn't matter who you are, there's always going to be somebody looking to take your spot," he said. "I think that's why we're out here, we're doing competition drills, keeping the competition high, kind of placing an emphasis on that kind of stuff to make sure guys are going hard."