- Buffalo Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff announced today that defenseman Michael Kesselring suffered an injury in the team’s game Saturday against the Detroit Red Wings, and “an extended period of time” as a result. The nature of the injury is not yet clear, but Ruff said that Kesselring’s absence would be “on the longer side – weeks.” The big 25-year-old right-shot blueliner, who was acquired this past summer from the Utah Mammoth in the J.J. Peterka trade, has played in nine games this season. In better injury news, Ruff also announced that forward Zach Benson will return to skating in a non-contact capacity
Sabres Rumors
Sabres Recall Zach Metsa, Place Michael Kesselring On IR
The Sabres announced they’ve recalled defenseman Zach Metsa from AHL Rochester. They didn’t have an open roster spot but placed fellow rearguard Michael Kesselring on injured reserve to make one, according to Rachel Lenzi of The Buffalo News. Kesselring is still being evaluated after sustaining an apparent ankle injury Saturday against the Red Wings, but is expected to be out long-term, head coach Lindy Ruff told reporters (including Paul Hamilton of WGR Sports Radio 550).
Metsa has already been recalled once this season. He was summoned for 11 days last month, resulting in the first four appearances of the 27-year-old’s NHL career. He didn’t record a point and averaged a minuscule 8:49 of ice time per game, but managed to record a +3 rating and four shot attempts. The 5’9″ righty added two blocks and a hit but didn’t have great possession metrics, controlling 42% of shot attempts at 5-on-5 despite starting nearly 80% of shifts in the offensive zone.
The Wisconsin native went undrafted out of the BCHL in 2017 but eventually landed at Quinnipiac University, where he spent five seasons and captained the team to a national championship in 2023. He recorded a 9-28–37 scoring line in 40 games during his graduate season, earning NCAA All-Tournament Team honors, but he didn’t initially secure an NHL contract. He spent the last two seasons on minor-league deals with Rochester before finally landing his first big-league deal, a two-year, two-way pact, from the Sabres in July.
Metsa has rewarded Buffalo’s commitment with his best play yet in the minors. The talented playmaker at the blue line has two goals and nine assists for 11 points through 11 games with a +2 rating. Ten of those points have come in his last six games down in Rochester, including a three-assist night against the Bridgeport Islanders on Saturday.
His right-shot attribute made him the natural replacement for a fellow righty in Kesselring instead of more experienced names like Zachary Jones or Ryan Johnson. He’ll serve as the Sabres’ extra defenseman for the foreseeable future, but with Conor Timmins serving as the only other right-shot rearguard on the active roster, he might have the inside track toward a No. 6 job over lefty Jacob Bryson.
Kesselring, 25, was viewed as the principal piece of the return the Sabres received from the Mammoth for winger JJ Peterka during the offseason. So far, though, it’s been winger Josh Doan who’s proved the more invaluable part of the deal with 12 points in 18 games. That’s not entirely Kesselring’s fault, though. He sustained an undisclosed injury in training camp that, together with his now-injured ankle, has limited him to nine games. However, he’s been a non-factor when healthy, averaging just 15:37 of ice time per game and posting a -3 rating with no points.
Rasmus Dahlin Rejoins Sabres, Zac Jones Assigned To AHL
A little more than a week ago, Sabres blueliner Rasmus Dahlin took a leave of absence to return to Sweden to be with his fiancée who continues to recover from a heart transplant from the summer. He has now returned to the team as Mike Harrington of The Buffalo News relayed (Twitter link) that the captain has returned to the team and took part in today’s morning skate. The Sabres subsequently announced that blueliner Zac Jones has been sent back to AHL Rochester to make room for Dahlin on their active roster.
Dahlin had played in 14 games before briefly stepping away but had gotten off to a tough start by his high standards with the team scuffling early on. He had a goal and eight assists in those outings along with 17 blocks in a little over 24 minutes a night. However, like several of his teammates, some defensive miscues proved to be problematic.
But even with that, his return will certainly be a welcome one. He anchors Buffalo’s top pairing at even strength and runs their number one power play while also seeing some action shorthanded. Dahlin’s return will likely take Jacob Bryson out of the lineup after he got into the last three games.
As for Jones, he was brought up a little more than a week ago following a very strong start with the Americans (where he had 13 assists in 11 games) but didn’t see any action with Buffalo. Despite being up for more than a week, he still leads all AHL blueliners in points. Jones is in his first season with Buffalo after signing a one-year, $900K contract with them in free agency. He has 28 points in 115 career NHL outings, all with the Rangers.
Latest On Tage Thompson
- The Buffalo Sabres have struggled as of late, and are currently trying to navigate their way out of a five-game losing streak. One of the cards head coach Lindy Ruff is playing to help jump-start his team’s offense has been moving star forward Tage Thompson back to the middle of the ice. Thompson has been playing center, in part due to the injury suffered by incumbent first-line center Josh Norris. Thompson told The Athletic’s Matthew Fairburn that the move back to center has allowed him to feel “like [him]self,” and that he feels he can have more control over the game from that position. Thompson ranks second on the Sabres in scoring with 14 points in 17 games, and if this move back to center can help unlock an even higher level of play for the 28-year-old, it’s a move Ruff might have to consider even after the team gets players back from injury.
Illness Taking A Toll On Zucker
What looked to be a short-term absence due to illness for Sabres winger Jason Zucker has now become a longer one. Matthew Fairburn of The Athletic notes (Twitter link) that the veteran hasn’t been able to eat solid food in nine days while battling the illness and has lost considerable weight as a result. Accordingly, he’s going to need a bit of a build-up from a conditioning standpoint once he’s able to eat again before he can be cleared to return. Zucker had been off to a solid start to his season before being sidelined, picking up four goals and three assists in a dozen games, providing the type of secondary scoring that Buffalo has been lacking for a while now.
Sabres Activate, Reassign Carson Meyer
Nov. 11: Meyer has cleared waivers and has been reassigned to Rochester, the team announced.
Nov. 10: Sabres forward Carson Meyer has landed on waivers today, per Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. That’s an indication he’s been cleared to return after starting the year on the season-opening injured/non-roster list. Assuming he clears tomorrow, he’ll get his campaign started with AHL Rochester.
Meyer, 28, last appeared in the NHL with the Blue Jackets in April 2024. The 5’11” winger has 41 games of NHL experience, all with Columbus, which drafted him in the sixth round in 2017. He’s got two goals and four assists to his name with a -4 rating, averaging 9:03 of ice time per contest.
The Ohio State product and Ohio native spent last year in the Ducks organization. He’d signed a two-way deal with Anaheim for 2024-25 after reaching Group VI unrestricted free agency, playing outside of Ohio for the first time since spending the 2015-16 season with Nebraska’s Tri-City Storm in the USHL. Meyer cleared waivers and was productive for the Ducks’ AHL affiliate in San Diego, recording 21 points in 29 games, but had his season cut short by an ACL surgery.
His recovery from that surgery was why Meyer was a non-participant in Buffalo’s camp and why he was on SOIR. He inked a two-year, two-way deal with Buffalo this past offseason that pays him $350,000 for 2025-26 and $375,000 for 2026-27 if he’s in the minors the whole way through.
He’ll be relied upon to be a top producer for a Rochester side that’s been stretched thin offensively due to a rash of injuries in Buffalo. Three of its six top scorers, Zachary Jones, Noah Ostlund, and Isak Rosen, are currently up with the Sabres.
Sabres’ Jiri Kulich Diagnosed With Blood Clot, Out Indefinitely
Sabres center Jiri Kulich will miss a “significant amount of time” after a blood clot was diagnosed during an unrelated injury absence, head coach Lindy Ruff told reporters today (per Joe Yerdon of Bleacher Report). Ruff demonstrated optimism about Kulich being able to play again this season, but wouldn’t commit to it, leaving the door open to Kulich’s IR stint being permanent for the balance of the campaign.
They’ll have a better estimate of Kulich’s return timeline based on how his treatment progresses in the next three to four weeks, Ruff said. That’s normal for clotting issues. The Penguins recently had the same thing sideline rookie Filip Hallander and immediately gave him a three-month timeline.
Kulich had already missed three games with a facial injury and was placed on IR late last week as Buffalo tries to manage a crushing amount of injuries to its forward group. Five regulars – Kulich, Zach Benson, Justin Danforth, Joshua Norris, and Jason Zucker – are currently on injured reserve with none expected back in the short term. Understandably, the team’s offense has faltered. Their 2.67 goals per game are sixth-worst in the league, and they’re averaging just 1.75 per game over their last four outings.
Kulich’s long-term health now takes the forefront, though. The 21-year-old had played in 12 straight to begin the year and was frequently serving as their top center between Benson and Tage Thompson. He’s notched three goals and five points with a -4 rating while averaging a career-high 16:22 per game. The No. 28 pick in the 2022 draft is in just his second season as a regular but has managed an 18-11–29 scoring line through his first 75 career games.
With both of Thompson’s usual linemates out of commission, he’s seen Ryan McLeod and Alex Tuch elevated to ride shotgun. That trio practiced together again today, although Buffalo is off until Wednesday after losing 6-3 to the Hurricanes on Saturday.
Sabres Looking To Move Alexandar Georgiev
It has been a rough run over the last year and a bit for veteran goaltender Alexandar Georgiev. After struggling mightily between Colorado and San Jose last season, his first trip through unrestricted free agency didn’t yield much interest. Instead, he had to wait until just before the start of training camp to get a contract as he signed a one-year, $825K deal with the Sabres as an insurance policy with some uncertainty surrounding Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen heading into camp.
However, after a poor training camp, Buffalo elected to bring in a different insurance policy, claiming Colten Ellis off waivers from St. Louis. As a result, Georgiev was placed on waivers and was sent to AHL Rochester after passing through unclaimed. Meanwhile, Luukkonen has returned and the Sabres appear to be intent on carrying three goalies this season.
Meanwhile, Devon Levi is Buffalo’s preferred goaltender in Rochester. While he hasn’t had the immediate NHL impact they were hoping when they signed him a few years ago, he’s still a decent prospect and needs to be getting the bulk of the playing time. As a result, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported earlier this week that Buffalo is now trying to find a new home for Georgiev.
The 29-year-old has respectable career numbers at the NHL level despite his recent struggles. In 303 games over parts of eight seasons, he has a 151-108-26 record with 2.99 GAA, a .903 SV%, and 15 shutouts. However, the last time he posted a save percentage over .900 was back in 2022-23 so it’s fair to suggest that anyone who might be looking to add him would be viewing him more as injury insurance than someone who could come up and play in the NHL right away.
With Levi getting the bulk of the workload, Georgiev has been limited to just two appearances in the minors through the first month of the season where he has allowed seven goals on 67 shots in a pair of losses. That said, a chance to play more regularly might result in a better performance moving forward.
The fact that Georgiev’s contract is a one-way pact will also limit his value. While more teams are now willing to pay NHL money to a third-string netminder, quite a few still try to avoid doing so while those who have an AHL netminder on a one-way deal likely won’t be looking to add another. However, as goalie injuries pick up, Buffalo might have a chance to move him for a future considerations type of return over the coming weeks. For someone who was a number one NHL goalie to start last season though, this is quite the fall from grace for Georgiev and his value.
Sabres Recall Zac Jones
The Sabres announced that they’ve recalled defenseman Zachary Jones from AHL Rochester. Jones will replace rearguard Rasmus Dahlin on the active roster as he heads to the non-roster list following today’s news of an indefinite leave of absence.
Jones, 25, has parts of five NHL seasons under his belt but hasn’t yet appeared for Buffalo this year. He was briefly rostered for a couple of days last month but didn’t get into a game. The lefty debuted with the Rangers back in 2020-21 and languished in a fringe press box/minor-league role for essentially his entire tenure. He never logged more than 46 appearances in a campaign, that career-high coming last season, and was finally non-tendered by the club last summer.
Despite looking like he could at least be a reliable No. 7 option in New York, the market for Jones wasn’t very strong. He accepted a high-paying two-way deal from Buffalo ($950K NHL/$550K AHL) and cleared waivers at the beginning of the season. Aside from that two-day call-up in October, he’s spent the season in Rochester with mixed results. Jones has always been viewed as an offensively talented rearguard who was considered enough of a defensive liability to keep him out of an everyday role. Nothing he’s done in Rochester has changed that perception. He’s off to an electric start on the scoresheet with a league-leading 13 assists but has a -4 rating, tied for second-worst on the team.
That dichotomy will keep him from being an NHL regular, but he remains an intriguing call-up option if a team needs a puck-mover in sheltered minutes. With Buffalo’s offensive heartbeat on the blue line in Dahlin now unavailable, bringing up an offensive-minded name from the minors is a natural choice. Jones, a 2019 third-round pick, has a 4-24–28 scoring line in 115 career appearances while averaging 15:54 of ice time per game.
Rasmus Dahlin Taking Leave Of Absence
Buffalo Sabres captain and star defenseman Rasmus Dahlin is taking a leave of absence from the team, head coach Lindy Ruff announced today. There is currently no timetable on how long Dahlin will be away from the team. The Athletic’s Matthew Fairburn noted that the absence is for Dahlin to return to Sweden, his home country, to be with fiancée, Carolina Matovac.
In September, Dahlin and Matovac jointly announced that Matovac had undergone a heart transplant over the summer following a traumatic health scare while travelling in Europe. In the letter, Dahlin said “this has undoubtedly been the most challenging chapter of our lives” and expressed gratitude for those who supported them at the time.
Per The Buffalo News’ Mike Harrington, Ruff told the media that “things are going well” at the moment with Matovac, but also that it was important to let Dahlin step away at this time. He added that Dahlin has “got the support of everyone on this” and that “this is bigger than hockey.”
Dahlin is one of the Sabres’ most important players, and has been since he was made the number-one overall pick at the 2018 draft by the team. He’s their captain, their number-one defenseman, and leading defensive scorer. Taking a moment to consider the hockey implications of this announcement, it appears likely that both Bowen Byram and Owen Power will be leaned on more heavily by Ruff while Dahlin is away.