Sabres To Activate Jordan Greenway

The Sabres are activating forward Jordan Greenway from injured reserve as he makes his season debut tonight against the Bruins, head coach Lindy Ruff confirmed (via Paul Hamilton of WGR Sports Radio 550). Center Noah Ostlund is being returned to AHL Rochester in the corresponding move.

It’s now been more than a seven-month absence for Greenway. His 2024-25 season ended a few weeks early due to a lower-body injury, and he then had follow-up surgery on a previous core muscle injury over the offseason. He underwent that procedure in mid-July, causing him to miss training camp and now nearly the first month of 2025-26.

The 28-year-old will be making his return to the lineup in an unfamiliar position. He’s expected to center a line between Jason Zucker and Jack Quinn, Ruff said yesterday. While Greenway played a bit of center in his junior/college days, it’s not a position he’s logged any significant time at in the NHL. He’s never taken more than 100 faceoffs in a season and hasn’t played a single game down the middle for Buffalo since the Sabres acquired him from the Wild at the 2023 trade deadline.

Greenway is kicking off his ninth season in the league, but has been hampered by injuries for much of his career. He only ever cracked the 70-game mark during his rookie season despite playing a key checking role as a top-nine forward for both Minnesota and Buffalo, essentially from the jump. Last year was one to forget expeditiously for the 6’6″ forward. Multiple injuries limited him to only 34 appearances and his two-way effectiveness was reduced, only notching eight points with a -4 rating. He still managed 100 hits, his fourth straight year at or above the mark, despite the limited time.

Those injury concerns also didn’t stop the Sabres from giving Greenway some security. He inked a two-year, $8MM deal with trade protection back in March to keep him around through the 2026-27 campaign.

With Greenway and defenseman Michael Kesselring coming off IR in the past few days, the Sabres are the healthiest they’ve been all season. They don’t have any defensemen on injured reserve and their total IR count is down to three with Joshua Norris, Justin Danforth, and Tyson Kozak still on the list.

Meanwhile, Ostlund’s first recall of the season ends after 11 days. The 2022 first-round pick slotted into the lineup four times during his summons, but his usage wasn’t tangibly different from the limited minutes he got in an eight-game recall last season. He’s still looking for his first NHL point, although he did show marked improvement defensively. He managed an even rating and 51.4 xGF% at even strength compared to his -6 rating and 37.1 xGF% last year. He was off to a hot start in Rochester with a goal and four assists through four games and will look to pick that back up in the coming days.