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Injury Notes: Hellebuyck, Ellis, Perbix

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On today’s episode of Insider Trading, Darren Dreger of TSN discussed Connor Hellebuyck, saying that the Jets goaltender is nearing a return, as soon as next week. Dreger says the star wanted to return even sooner, but Winnipeg is making sure he is eased back in properly. Next Monday’s home game vs. Ottawa could be the focus. 

Hellebuyck underwent a minor arthroscophic knee procedure in November, which came with an estimated 4-6 week timetable, but thankfully the back-to-back Vezina winning netminder has recovered quickly and is set to come back by year’s end. He was 8-6-0 with a .913 save percentage and 2.51 GAA prior to going down. 

The defending President’s Trophy winners have faltered a bit so far this season, losing six out of their last 10 and currently three spots out of a wild card spot, but the team has had to lean heavily on Eric Comrie, a respectable backup who has never played in more than 20 games a season. Hellebuyck’s return will be instrumental for the group going into 2026 as they look to get back on track.

Elsewhere across the league:

  • Midway through tonight’s game the Buffalo Sabres announced that goaltender Colten Ellis will not return due to an upper-body injury, leaving Alex Lyon to take duty. He was shaken up after Oilers forward David Tomasek drove to the net, catching the goalie’s head with his shoulder, which earned a penalty, and ending Ellis’ night with a minute remaining in the first period. The 25-year-old has flashed potential as a backup this season, after being claimed off waivers from St. Louis in October. 
  • Nashville beat reporter Brooks Bratten shared that defenseman Nick Perbix would return to the lineup tonight against Colorado. The Minnesota native had missed the last three games with an upper-body ailment, and has been a dependable blueliner since signing from Tampa Bay last summer. Nashville opted for seven defensemen tonight, as forward Tyson Jost was healthy scratched against his former team. 

Buffalo Sabres Recall Isak Rosen, Place Jason Zucker On IR

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The Buffalo Sabres announced today that forward Isak Rosén has been recalled from the club’s AHL affiliate, the Rochester Americans. In a corresponding move, Buffalo placed veteran forward Jason Zucker on injured reserve.

With Zucker now out indefinitely due to an undisclosed injury, this recall presents Rosén with an extremely valuable opportunity to establish himself, finally, as a full-time NHL player.

Of the 30 skaters drafted in the first round of the 2021 NHL Entry Draft, Rosén is tied for 25th in terms of career NHL games played. Despite the fact that Rosén has not developed quite as quickly as some of his peers from the 2021 draft class, most evaluators have remained optimistic about Rosén’s NHL future.

In January, The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler reiterated his projection of Rosén as a potential 20-goal top-nine forward. Over the summer, Steven Ellis of Daily Faceoff called Rosén “the best pure winger” in the Sabres’ system and ranked him No. 5 in the Sabres’ prospect pool.

With that said, some evaluators have been more pessimistic about Rosén’s NHL future. The Athletic’s Corey Pronman wrote in August that Rosén’s relatively slight “frame plus average compete level leaves questions on whether he can translate his skill to the NHL.”

With Zucker out indefinitely, Rosén is likely to get the chance to validate his believers and prove his doubters wrong at the NHL level. He has already begun to do so, to a limited extent, this season. Rosén spent most of November in Buffalo, skating in a total of 10 games for the Sabres. He started off well, scoring his first NHL goal in his first game of his recall. He finished his NHL stint in late November with seven points in just 10 games, a level of production that slots him in as the ninth-most productive Sabres forward so far in 2025-26.

While it’s unclear at this moment whether Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff will slot Rosén in directly to the lineup spot formerly occupied by Zucker, he’d likely be a superior offensive option to other Sabres depth forwards. Outside of his strong NHL scoring from his first recall, Rosén has also impressed at the AHL level, scoring 19 points in 13 games.

Beyond just the key on-ice implications of this recall for Rosén’s odds of becoming a full-time NHLer, this season also carries significant financial ramifications for the player. Rosen is set to turn 23 in March and is coming up on the expiry of his entry-level contract. Rosén’s entry-level deal didn’t carry any signing bonuses for 2025-26, meaning if Rosén fails to secure a lasting spot in the NHL, he’ll play most of the campaign on just his $80K AHL salary. For a player who has made at least $172.5K in each of the past two seasons of his ELC, that would represent a significant pay cut.

As a result, while Zucker’s injury was certainly unfortunate news for the Sabres as a whole, and most definitely not something Rosén is celebrating, Zucker’s absence does create a hole in the Sabres’ NHL lineup that Rosén could massively benefit from. This is potentially the opportunity for Rosén to get a long runway to prove himself at the NHL level that he’s been waiting for, and now all that’s left for him to do is to continue to produce and continue to make the most of the ice time he receives.

Photos Courtesy of Mark Konezny-Imagn Images

Sabres’ Jason Zucker To Miss Significant Time

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Sabres winger Jason Zucker is going to miss significant time after sustaining an undisclosed injury in last night’s 7-4 loss to the Flames, head coach Lindy Ruff said on WGR 550 this morning. He was seen favoring his leg at points during the contest but finished the game – not before taking a slash from MacKenzie Weegar with seconds left in the game that presumably aggravated whatever he was dealing with (video via The Sabre Report).

“Something happened inside the game,” Ruff said. “He missed some time in the second period and came back and played, but the initial view by our crew last night after the game is he will miss some time.”

Zucker has already had one multi-game absence this season, although it wasn’t injury-related. The 12-year vet contracted a viral illness at the beginning of November that caused him to lose a significant amount of weight, and it took him weeks to get back into regular conditioning form. He ended up missing eight games.

However, the 33-year-old has arguably been Buffalo’s best forward since getting back in the lineup. He’s recorded a point in seven of his last nine games, including three multi-point efforts. His 11 points (five goals, six assists) in nine games since Nov. 11 lead the Sabres and are tied for 12th in the league during that time. The year, he’s now up to a 9-7–16 scoring line in 20 games. That’s got him fifth on the team in points, tied for second in goals, and third in points per game. That’s great production for a winger whose 15:32 average time on ice is tied for eighth among Buffalo forwards.

He’s a significant loss for a reeling Sabres team that’s now lost three games in a row, all by three goals. They’re still without a regulation win on the road this season and are four points deep into last place in the Eastern Conference with an 11-14-4 record. Per MoneyPuck, their chances of making the playoffs have dropped to 5.6%. Only the Predators (4.2%) have worse odds.

For a Sabres team whose depth forward contingent is already weakened by extended absences for Justin Danforth and Jiri Kulich, they’ll presumably place Zucker on injured reserve soon to add a forward from AHL Rochester. That will likely be 2022 first-rounder Noah Ostlund, who was working his way into a regular job in the lineup but was forced down to the minors over the weekend to allow the Sabres to carry seven defensemen on their road trip without placing anyone on waivers. Fellow first-rounder Isak Rosen, who had seven points in only 10 games during a prior call-up this year, is also a good option.

Sabres Recall Zach Metsa, Reassign Noah Ostlund

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The Buffalo Sabres have recalled defenseman Zach Metsa from the AHL’s Rochester Americans. Metsa was reassigned last Monday. He played in three games with Rochester last week and recorded two points, one penalty, and a plus-two.

Metsa played in the first four NHL games of his career earlier this season. He hasn’t found a scoresheet yet, other than one penalty, but has recorded a plus-three. Metsa has been a much more electric piece for Rochester. He has 13 points in 14 games with the Americans, good for second on the blue-line in scoring behind Zac Jones’ 20 points in 20 games.

Metsa, 27, is emerging as a potential NHL option after two strong AHL seasons to start his career. He joined Rochester as an undrafted free agent in 2022-23, after five years at Quinnipiac University, where he won one NCAA National Championship. Metsa had a quiet first year – with just 28 points in his first 72 AHL games. That preluded a true breakout last season. He recorded 49 points in 77 games, including playoffs, last season. That led Rochester’s defense in scoring and ranked third on the team overall. He has kept up the hot scoring through this season, helping to cement his spot on top of Buffalo’s call-up sheet over the more experienced Jones.

To make room for Metsa’s recall, Buffalo has also loaned center Noah Ostlund back to the AHL. The second-year pro has been Metsa’s counterpart on offense, bouncing between the NHL and AHL lineup for much of the year. He has seven points in six AHL games and six poinst in 20 NHL games. It’s the first scoring of his NHL career, after he failed to produce in the first eight games of his career last season. Ostlund will look to rediscover his offensive production with a return to the Americans, after only posting one assist in his last nine games with Buffalo.

Sabres Activate Josh Norris From Injured Reserve

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4:05 p.m.: The Sabres have activated Norris. Defenseman Zach Metsa is headed down to AHL Rochester in the corresponding move, per Heather Engel of NHL.com. Metsa was recalled from Rochester on Nov. 17 to serve as an extra defenseman with Michael Kesselring on injured reserve, but he’s been a healthy scratch in seven straight and hasn’t played an NHL game since a previous recall in October. The 27-year-old is without a point in four appearances this season but has a +3 rating in his first taste of the big leagues.

11:01 a.m.: Sabres center Joshua Norris will make his return to the lineup Monday against the Jets, head coach Lindy Ruff confirmed to reporters (including Rachel Lenzi of The Buffalo News). The team will need to open a roster spot to activate him from injured reserve.

The injury-plagued Norris is wrapping up yet another multi-week absence. The 26-year-old sustained an upper-body injury while taking a faceoff late in Buffalo’s season opener and has spent nearly two months on the shelf as a result. He also suffered a season-ending mid-body injury last year, just a week after the Sabres acquired him from the Senators in the Dylan Cozens swap. Dating back to his pickup, he’s only played in four of 46 possible games for Buffalo.

He’ll be getting his feet wet in a significant role, centering the Sabres’ top line between Zach Benson and Tage Thompson. That’s where the Sabres planned to use him to start the year, but Benson was unavailable for the first three games of the season after taking a puck to the face in practice. Tonight marks the season debut for that line as a result.

If Norris plays every game the rest of the way for a total of 58 appearances, that would still mark one of the most durable seasons he’s had in his NHL career. He’s only ever topped the 60-game mark once during his 35-goal breakout with Ottawa back in 2021-22. Since then, shoulder issues have decimated his availability. He only managed eight appearances in 2022-23 and played 50-some games for the Sens in each of the following two seasons before they cut bait and sent him to Buffalo for Cozens.

When healthy, though, Norris has displayed the upside the Sharks saw in him when they selected him No. 19 overall in the 2019 draft. He’s spent nearly all of his time in the league as a top-six piece and has averaged 17:49 of ice time per game across 240 career appearances. Per 82 games, he scores at a 31-goal, 54-point pace. If he can finally stay healthy for an extended stretch, he’d fill a significant hole Buffalo has down the middle and could go a long way toward elevating the Sabres’ offense out of the bottom half of the league.

Samuelsson In Concussion Protocol

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Sabres defenseman Mattias Samuelsson exited Friday’s game against New Jersey after going into concussion protocol, notes Bill Hoppe of the Olean Times Herald.  He was hit with around 12 minutes left in the third and left the ice bleeding; head coach Lindy Ruff didn’t have an update on him after the game.  Samuelsson has had a strong bounce-back showing this season, picking up 12 points in 22 games (just two shy of tying his career best from a year ago) while recording 52 blocked shots.  Notably, he is logging just under 22 minutes per game, second only to Rasmus Dahlin and was showing that he could consistently handle the top-four role that GM Kevyn Adams had envisioned when he signed the blueliner to a seven-year deal coming off his entry-level contract in 2022.

Poll: Who Will Be The Next Pending UFA To Sign An Extension?

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As expected, the upcoming unrestricted free agent class has been thinned out over the last couple of months. From Connor McDavid to Adrian Kempe, there are very few top-level pending UFAs left on the board. Still, there’s some belief that the list could get even shorter relatively soon.

Of the highest-scoring pending UFAs in the league right now, Evgeni Malkin, Nick Schmaltz, Alex Ovechkin, John Carlson, Alex Tuch, and Artemi Panarin lead the way. However, in the cases of Malkin, Ovechkin, and Carlson, they are all 35 years or older, and there’s no guarantee they’ll continue playing beyond the 2025-26 campaign. That leaves Schmaltz, Tuch, and Panarin as the three likeliest options to sign an in-season extension.

Much has been made of Schmaltz’s situation with the Utah Mammoth this season. Despite getting off to an excellent start with 10 goals and 22 points in 23 games, there is some indication that the relationship between Schmaltz and Utah has soured.

According to a report from late October by David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period, the Mammoth apparently attempted to trade Schmaltz to the Carolina Hurricanes during the past offseason when the first round of extension negotiations proved unfruitful. Schmaltz was involved with the trade talks at the time, as he provided Utah with a list of teams with which he would sign an extension. Since then, there have been no updates as to any further negotiations between the two sides.

Meanwhile, Tuch has gotten off to a similarly good start to his contract year with the Buffalo Sabres. A native of Syracuse, NY, Tuch’s love for the Buffalo area is well known, leading many to believe that he’ll sign an extension with the team this season. However, given that the Sabres are headed for a 15th consecutive year without reaching the playoffs, few people would blame Tuch if he were to depart for a more competitive situation.

Lastly, there have been a few updates between Panarin and the New York Rangers, though it doesn’t appear anything is close between the two sides. Reports from earlier in the year indicated that the Rangers would only extend Panarin if he were amenable to a much lower salary, which is something Panarin has not appeared enthusiastic about. The 34-year-old Russian has scored six goals and 20 points in 24 games.

Despite all three potentially leading the pack of prospective UFAs next summer, and additionally being quality trade assets, there’s plenty of time remaining in the regular season to get a deal done. Which of these three, if any, do you think will be the next to sign?

Mobile users click here to vote.

Sabres, Alexandar Georgiev Terminate Contract

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Nov. 24: Georgiev cleared unconditional waivers, per Friedman, meaning he’s had his contract with Buffalo terminated and is free to sign with Spartak.

Nov. 23: Insider Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet shared this afternoon that Sabres goaltender Alexander Georgiev has been waived with the intent of contract termination. Georgiev is set to move on to Russia and join Spartak of the KHL.

Georgiev was waived last month, then cleared and joined the AHL’s Rochester Americans. There, the Sabres affiliate had a wealth of goaltending, arguably at a legitimate NHL level, with Devon Levi alongside Georgiev, as well as prospect Topias Leinonen. Before the season, Buffalo had significant question marks in net with Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen banged up, and the respectable but not exactly standout Alex Lyon tasked with holding things down.

As it has turned out, Lyon has performed steadily, and waiver pickup Colten Ellis has also exceeded expectations. There was no real path forward for Georgiev in the organization. The Bulgarian native played in two games for Rochester, both ending in losses with a 3.57 GAA. He now seems to be in greener pastures, joining a solid Spartak club, which has needed help in net, where he will be a star at the KHL level.

Originally undrafted out of the Finnish Liiga, an unusual path for most Russian players, Georgiev made an impression with the Rangers, who signed him in 2017. Making his NHL debut in 2018, Georgiev has the distinction of serving as backup for franchise icon Hendrik Lundqvist in his final season as a Ranger, gradually taking a higher workload. With the emergence of star Igor Shesterkin, though, Georgiev’s future in New York became uncertain.

After the 2021-22 season, Georgiev was dealt to the freshly minted Stanley Cup Champion Colorado Avalanche for draft picks in order to replace Darcy Kuemper. Georgiev emerged as a low-stakes, affordable option for a team strong enough up front to make up for any shortcomings in net. Sure enough, Georgiev posted his best season as a pro, leading the NHL with 40 wins and becoming an NHL All-Star.

Unfortunately for Georgiev, despite twice leading the league in wins, all while still remaining under 30 years old, Colorado quickly pulled the plug in 2024-25 amidst his shaky play. While unusual for a team to do so with a former All-Star, it appeared the success was largely driven due to the team in front of him. Georgiev was dealt to the hardcore rebuilding San Jose Sharks, where Colorado brought back Mackenzie Blackwood in return.

In the thick of an aggressive rebuild, getting heavily outshot most nights, Georgiev naturally did not have as much success in San Jose in a role that is especially tough on any goaltender. GM Mike Grier let his contract expire after 2024-25.

Georgiev was signed in September by Buffalo, with an opportunity to re-establish himself as an NHLer; however, with the emergence of other netminders in the organization, doors shut quickly. Still just 29, it is not impossible he could make an NHL return, but for now, Georgiev will likely be eager to return closer to home as a major standout player in the KHL.

Sabres Activate Zach Benson, Assign Isak Rosen To AHL

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Ahead of today’s game, the Buffalo Sabres shared that forward Isak Rosen is headed to AHL Rochester, and in a corresponding move, fellow forward Zach Benson has been activated off injured reserve. 

It had been speculated yesterday that Benson was nearing a return, and now Buffalo eagerly welcomes back the skilled youngster ahead of a big matinee tilt hosting Carolina. Sidelined with a lower-body injury throughout the month, the 20-year-old returns with a point-per-game pace in eight games so far, all assists. Somewhat unusually for a player drafted 13th overall (2023), Benson wasted no time becoming an NHLer, already with 154 games to his name at age 20. The winger has not yet jumped off the page statistically, with a career high of 30 points, but now healthy, Benson could be in for a major breakout going into 2026. 

On paper, the move to send down Rosen is a bit of a head scratcher. The 22-year-old former first round pick has shown serious improvement so far this year, with seven points in ten games, especially while filling in during Benson’s absence. However, with waiver exemptions in mind, the choice essentially came down to Rosen or Noah Ostlund, another first round selection. Head Coach Lindy Ruff has opted to keep the true center Ostlund in the lineup, set to hold things down on the third line today. Elsewhere, 26-year-old depth forward Joshua Dunne also appears set on Buffalo’s fourth line for the foreseeable future, as clearly they chose Rosen to go down, not risking losing Dunne on waivers. 

Such a transaction for Rosen may be short-term, but Rochester will be glad to have the Swede for the time being. Despite playing in half the games as his counterparts, Rosen is right amongst the Americans’ leaders in points, with 12 in eight games. Buffalo’s performance this afternoon may indicate if another shake-up is in order, with Rosen coming back sometime before December.

Benson Could Return Sunday

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  • After welcoming back Jason Zucker last night against Chicago, the Sabres should get another key winger back on Sunday versus Carolina. Head coach Lindy Ruff told reporters including Matthew Fairburn of The Athletic (Twitter link) before last night’s game that winger Zach Benson probably could have suited up in that one but they elected to be cautious and give him a couple of extra days of rest.  Benson has missed a little more than three weeks with his lower-body injury but had been a strong playmaker beforehand, picking up eight assists in as many games.

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