Bill Hoppe of the Times Herald pointed out that the Buffalo Sabres are down to four defenseman after Friday’s game against the Anaheim Ducks. The Sabres lost defencemen Taylor Fedun and Cody Franson to injuries—Fedun with a foot injury and Franson with an unspecified injury.
Fedun and Franson join Justin Falk (calf) and Dmitry Kulikov (upper body), leaving the Sabres with only Rasmus Ristolainen, Zach Bogosian, Josh Gorges, and Jake McCabe. The Sabres play the Detroit Red Wings on Monday night and coach Dan Bylsma was quoted as saying that none of the injured defensemen could play in that game.
That leaves the Sabres in need of at least two call-ups from the AHL Rochester Americans (Amerks). The leading candidates include newly acquired Mat Bodie, Erik Burgdoerfer, and Casey Nelson.
The Sabres acquired Mat Bodie from the New York Rangers in exchange for Daniel Catenacci. Bodie had 8G and 22A in 45 games for the AHL Hartford Wolf Pack, and 2G and 1A in 7 games for Rochester. He currently leads all Amerks defensemen in points. Second in points among active Amerks defensemen is Erik Burgdoerfer. The American native has 1G and 16A in 50 games for the Amerks, but went pointless in two games for the Sabres earlier this year. Finally, the Sabres could recall 24 year-old defenseman Casey Nelson. Nelson has 4 assists in 16 career NHL games over two years, and 4G and 9A in 45 AHL games this season.