Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen Out A Week With Lower-Body Injury
The red-hot Buffalo Sabres are going to be down a netminder for the next little while. According to Paul Hamilton of WGR Sports Radio, the Sabres expect Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen to miss the next week with a lower-body injury.
Fortunately, the Sabres are likely comfortable with that. Since the hot streak began in December, not only has Lyon been a boon to the team, but he’s been one of the league’s best over that stretch. The 33-year-old netminder has won nine out of 10 games with a .928 SV% since December 1st.
Greenway To Meet With Doctors Regarding Ongoing Discomfort
- Sabres winger Jordan Greenway has been limited this season after undergoing two sports hernia surgeries over the last 13 months. He doesn’t play in back-to-backs and practice time has been limited. Bill Hoppe of the Olean Times Herald mentions that the veteran is expected to meet with doctors on Thursday to determine if what he’s dealing with in terms of discomfort is something that can be fixed or if it’s something he just has to keep playing through. If any sort of procedure is needed, now would be a good time with the three-week break coming up which would limit the amount of time Greenway would miss.
Latest On Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen
The Buffalo Sabres announced mid-game that Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen would not return against Toronto due to a lower-body injury. The goaltender’s night ended after 12:14, surrendering two goals in five shots. He looked to be bothered after Auston Matthews found the back of the net, subsequently pulling himself, leaving Colten Ellis to take over. Buffalo ended up coming away with a 7-4 win.
Luukkonen missed the start of the season with a lower-body issue, but has been healthy since then. He has been catching up with Alex Lyon, now having backstopped the Sabres in 20 games, with a respectable .905 save percentage and 2.66 goals-against-average. The 26-year-old has formed an impressive duo with Lyon, not to mention Ellis, who has led Buffalo to keep three goaltenders on their active roster.
Snapshots: Sabres Injuries, Ravensbergen, Olympic Freeze
The Buffalo Sabres are arguably the NHL’s hottest team at this moment, having won 18 of their last 22 games. They’ve kept up their winning ways more recently despite the loss of center Josh Norris, who suffered a rib injury on Jan. 14. While the latest injury to the Sabres’ oft-injured pivot was a cause of concern, it appears he is progressing in the right direction and is nearing a return to game fitness. Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff told the media, including Buffalo Hockey Beat’s Bill Hoppe, that Norris’ status has been upgraded to day-to-day. Blueliner Jacob Bryson, who was placed on IR on Jan. 23, is also day-to-day.
While star Tage Thompson is undoubtedly Buffalo’s best and most effective forward, Norris has pushed him for that mantle at times this season. The 26-year-old has scored 17 points in 19 games this season, including a stretch in early December where he managed seven points in just four games before suffering another injury. Norris was acquired by the Sabres last season at the deadline in a trade that sent pivot Dylan Cozens (and a second-round pick) to the Ottawa Senators. It was a calculated risk for Buffalo, who elected to take on Norris’ $7.95MM AAV contract that runs through the end of the decade. Former GM Kevyn Adams’ calculated risk has paid off when Norris has been healthy, but he’s only played in 22 total games as a Sabre. Now that he’s inching closer to full health, whether he can stay on the ice will be the clear top storyline to watch regarding Norris as his Sabres tenure progresses.
Other notes from across the hockey world:
- San Jose Sharks 2025 first-round pick Joshua Ravensbergen will leave the CHL to play NCAA hockey for Michigan State University next season, ESPN’s Kevin Weekes reported today. Ravensbergen, 19, is one of the top goalie prospects in the sport, and will leave the WHL’s Prince George Cougars to play college hockey, rather than turn pro. Ravensbergen, who turns 20 in November, would have been eligible to play in the AHL (or ECHL) next season after at some point signing his ELC. Now, he’ll forgo that path in order to follow Detroit Red Wings prospect Trey Augustine as a top young goalie developing with the Spartans. The move also signals that Augustine is likely to turn pro after three seasons at Michigan State. Augustine was his conference’s top goalie last year and has a .938 save percentage in 17 contests in 2025-26.
- Puckpedia outlined some of the NHL’s roster restrictions for the upcoming Olympic break in a post today, highlighting a few ways in which NHL teams will be restricted from moving players while NHL games pause for the tournament in Italy. During the roster freeze, which begins the afternoon of Feb. 4 and ends on Feb. 23, no trades are permitted. In addition, players who are waivers-exempt can only be sent down if they have not played in 16 of the team’s 20 NHL games prior to the freeze, or have been on the NHL roster for 80 league days prior to Jan 21. Puckpedia also clarified that players can be placed on waivers during the freeze, but if a team is waived after a team’s final game before the freeze begins, that player will not need to report until Feb. 17. These rules are likely to impact some of the transactions that get made in the coming days ahead of the freeze, as teams position themselves, and their prospects, for the break in the schedule.
Sabres Acquire Gavin Bayreuther From Hurricanes
The Sabres and Hurricanes have made a small swap of AHL depth. Buffalo announced that it has acquired defenseman Gavin Bayreuther from Carolina in exchange for winger Viktor Neuchev. Bayreuther has subsequently been assigned to AHL Rochester while Neuchev will be sent to AHL Chicago.
Bayreuther returned to North America this season after playing for Lausanne in Switzerland in 2024-25. The 31-year-old inked a one-year, two-way deal with the Hurricanes that carried a guaranteed salary of $150K. He received a pair of recalls to Carolina, one in November and one in December, but hasn’t seen any NHL playing time this season. Instead, he has suited up in 33 games with the Wolves, notching four goals and nine assists.
Bayreuther does have a reasonable amount of NHL experience in his career, however. He has suited up in 122 games at the top level over parts of four seasons with the bulk of that playing time coming over three years with Columbus. In those appearances, Bayreuther has five goals and 23 assists along with 139 blocked shots while averaging a little more than 15 minutes per game of playing time. He’ll serve as some veteran recallable depth with both Conor Timmins and Jacob Bryson dealing with injuries. He will be eligible for unrestricted free agency once again this summer.
As for Neuchev, the 22-year-old was a third-round pick by Buffalo back in 2022, going 74th overall, following a strong offensive showing in the MHL where he finished eighth in league scoring with Avto Yekaterinburg, tallying 67 points in 61 games. He was promoted to Yekaterinburg’s KHL squad the following season and while he only collected a dozen points in 57 outings, it was still enough for Buffalo to sign him to an entry-level deal, one that he is in the final season of.
In 57 games in 2023-24 (his first season in North America), Neuchev had 11 goals and 17 assists. Injuries limited him to just 39 games last season although he was reasonably productive with seven goals and 15 helpers in those outings. This season, his output is down a bit as he has six goals and ten assists through 34 contests and will now look to make an impression in Carolina’s prospect pool. He will be a restricted free agent this summer with the Hurricanes needing to issue a two-way qualifying offer to retain his rights.
Sabres Place Jacob Bryson On IR, Recall Zachary Jones
The Sabres placed defenseman Jacob Bryson on injured reserve Friday and recalled Zachary Jones from AHL Rochester to replace him on the active roster, according to Rachel Lenzi of The Buffalo News.
Bryson, 28, is now ineligible to play in the Sabres’ next two contests in what is a light week for them. He suited up in Thursday’s 4-2 win over the Canadiens but left the team’s road trip today and returned to Buffalo to be evaluated for an upper-body injury, head coach Lindy Ruff told Lenzi.
Playing time has been difficult to come by for Bryson as of late. While he’s suited up in 10 of Buffalo’s last 11 games, his bottom-pairing ice time has been incredibly restricted, averaging just 9:19 of ice time per game since the calendar turned to 2026.
The 5’9″ Bryson is in his sixth NHL season, all with Buffalo. He’s been a clear-cut bottom-pairing/press box option since debuting in 2021, four years after the Sabres made him a fourth-round pick out of Providence College, and has 48 points and a -38 rating in 287 career appearances.
Five of those points have come in 33 outings this year. The Sabres have rarely had all their defensemen healthy, contributing to him playing in two-thirds of their games. Michael Kesselring has missed much of the year with lower-body issues and is still being load-managed as he steps back into the lineup, while Conor Timmins has been out with a broken leg since before Christmas.
Now, they’re short another depth option, meaning Kesselring’s in-and-then-out-again routine may be ending. It’s hard to find a more direct replacement for Bryson than Jones, a similarly undersized lefty who’s produced at essentially the same exact pace throughout his career.
Buffalo has recalled Jones multiple times to serve as short-term roster depth since plucking him from the Rangers in free agency last summer, but he hasn’t yet made his Sabres debut. That hasn’t stopped him from playing the most dynamic offensive hockey of his life in Rochester, where he leads the team in scoring with 37 points (six goals, 31 assists) in 32 games.
It’s concerns over Jones’ defensive game that have kept him from locking down an everyday NHL role. With a -1 rating in Rochester despite that elite scoring line, those concerns haven’t dissipated. And with Buffalo’s defense group already being lefty-heavy, it stands to reason that right-shot depth option Zach Metsa has a clearer path to minutes in Bryson’s absence than Jones does.
Sabres Sign Josh Doan To Seven-Year Extension
According to ESPN’s Emily Kaplan, the Buffalo Sabres are nearing a contract extension with forward Josh Doan. A few moments later, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that it’ll be a seven-year, $48.65MM ($6.95MM AAV) deal. The Sabres have confirmed the contract.
PuckPedia provided the year-by-year breakdown of Doan’s extension:
- 2026-28: $3.45MM salary, $3.5M signing bonus
- 2028-29: $6.95MM salary
- 2029-33: $6.95MM salary, seven-team no-trade clause
General Manager Jarmo Kekäläinen makes his first major move as the new leader of Buffalo’s front office. Doan’s next extension will keep the forward in upstate New York through the 2032-33 NHL season, when he’ll be 31 years old.
Few would have predicted a mammoth extension for Doan just six months ago. Over the summer, the Sabres acquired Doan and defenseman Michael Kesselring from the Utah Mammoth for JJ Peterka. At the time, Doan was believed to be a long-term fit in the middle six of Buffalo’s forward core.
That’s largely what he showed with his last organization. Throughout the first two years of his career, Doan registered 12 goals and 28 points in 62 games split between the Arizona Coyotes and Utah Hockey Club, averaging 13:18 of ice time with a +4 rating. He had relatively impactful possession and defensive metrics, though nothing would indicate he would break out as he has with the Sabres.
In Buffalo, he’s already surpassed his previous career totals. Throughout 49 games this year, Doan has scored 15 goals and 35 points, averaging 16:04 of ice time per game. That production is good for third on the team in goal-scoring and fourth in total scoring. He isn’t showing any signs of slowing down, either.
Not only has Doan alleviated the concerns of trading a player of Peterka’s offensive caliber, but he actually has three more points than Peterka this season in the same number of games played. According to MoneyPuck, the line of Peyton Krebs, Tage Thompson, and Doan has averaged a 55.1% xGoals% in all situations, which is the 20th best in the league for forward units that have played in 150 or more minutes together.
Additionally, his on-ice Goals% (60.4%) is the highest on the team by a healthy margin, arguably making him the most productive forward on the team this season. He has shown some new shortcomings on the defensive side of the puck, though Buffalo is likely willing to overlook that as long as he keeps tearing it up in the other direction.
Photo courtesy of Eric Hartline-Imagn Images.
Beck Malenstyn Forced Out Of Game
- Buffalo Sabres forward Beck Malenstyn left the team’s victory over the Nashville Predators early after blocking a shot, and while the team did not announce any injury to the player, his status is nonetheless worth monitoring. The 27-year-old is a key bottom-six player for head coach Lindy Ruff, offering aggressive forechecking and physicality on a nightly basis. He has seven points in 48 games this season playing fourth-line minutes, with a regular role in the team’s rotation of penalty killers.
Sabres Activate Alex Lyon, Place Joshua Norris On IR
The Buffalo Sabres will again carry three netminders on their active roster. According to Rachel Lenzi of The Buffalo News, the Sabres have activated goaltender Alex Lyon from the injured reserve and have placed forward Joshua Norris on it in a corresponding roster move.
Although unfortunate, Norris’ placement on the IR was expected. After suffering an upper-body injury on Wednesday, Norris had his recovery timeline downgraded to week-to-week, following initial reports that it would only be a few days.
Still, it doesn’t appear that a week-to-week timeline is set in stone yet. According to Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News Sports, there’s no sense that Norris will be held out of Buffalo’s lineup through the Olympic Break, with head coach Lindy Ruff saying, “This can turn around in a day or two.”
Meanwhile, Lyon will return to the Sabres lineup after missing several weeks of action due to a lower-body issue. Before losing nearly a month due to injury, Lyon was arguably Buffalo’s best option in net, managing a 10-6-3 record in 21 games with a .906 SV% and 2.82 GAA.
Still, regardless of the stability that he’s provided between the pipes, his tenure in Buffalo could be nearing its end. In his introductory press conference, General Manager Jarmo Kekäläinen stated that he has little interest in carrying three netminders on the roster for the rest of the season.
Given his play this season and an affordable contract through the 2026-27 season, Lyon projects as the most movable netminder if the Sabres go that route. Additionally, Buffalo still has youngster Devon Levi knocking on the door in the AHL, meaning there could be a few goaltenders moved out of upstate New York by the end of the season.
Phil Goyette Passes Away
Long-time NHL forward Phil Goyette has passed away at the age of 92, per an announcement from the Canadiens, one of his former teams.
Goyette made his NHL debut for Montreal in 1957, playing 14 regular-season games before becoming a regular in the playoffs to help lead the Canadiens to the Stanley Cup. That turned out to be his first of four straight Cup victories through the 1959-60 season. Goyette spent three more years with Montreal after that before joining the Rangers for the 1963-64 campaign.
Goyette spent another seven seasons in New York, putting up three seasons of more than 60 points, his best production by far to that point in his career.
He found another level offensively upon joining St. Louis in 1969. In his first season with the Blues, Goyette finished fourth in league scoring, picking up 78 points in 72 games, his first of two straight seasons of recording more than a point per game. He also won the Lady Byng Trophy that season as the league’s Most Gentlemanly Player. However, that was his only season in St. Louis as Buffalo selected him in the 1970 Expansion Draft.
Goyette went on to play parts of two seasons with the Sabres before wrapping up his playing career back with the Rangers. Overall, he played in 940 career regular season games, recording 674 points while chipping in with 46 points in 94 playoff contests with those four Stanley Cup titles.
Upon retiring as a player, Goyette decided to give coaching a chance as he was named the inaugural head coach for the Islanders in 1972, spending a partial season with them.