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Atlantic Notes: Luukkonen, Imama, Tkachuk

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Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News is reporting that Buffalo Sabres goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen won’t play for Team Finland at the upcoming IIHF World Championship. The 25-year-old is a restricted free agent on July 1st and without an extension in place has elected to not play in the event. The news is not surprising given that Luukkonen would be risking injury without the security of a long-term deal in place. It will be a blow to Finland’s roster for the tournament.

Luukkonen’s future looked murky at the start of the season, but the native of Espoo, Finland put up terrific numbers on a weak Sabres team registering a record of 27-22-4, along with five shutouts, a 2.57 goals-against average and a .910 save percentage. His underlying numbers were also strong as he posted 9.4 goals saved above expected in 54 games. His contract negotiations will be interesting to watch as the Sabres will have to make a bet on whether or not Luukkonen can carry his strong play into the next few seasons.

In other Atlantic Division notes:

The Ottawa Senators have re-assigned forward Bokondji Imama to their AHL affiliate in Belleville. The 27-year-old was recalled two weeks ago by Ottawa and registered zero points and 7 PIM in six games while averaging 5:35 of ice time. He suffered an upper-body injury in Monday’s game against the Rangers and missed the Senators season finale against Boston on Tuesday. The Montreal, Quebec native is a former sixth-round pick of the Tampa Bay Lightning and has registered a single goal in 15 career NHL games. Imama has spent the bulk of his seven-year professional career in the AHL where he has 29 goals and 43 assists in 310 career AHL games.

Bruce Garrioch of The Ottawa Sun reports that Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk will represent Team USA at the upcoming IIHF World Championships. A day after being nominated for the King Clancy Memorial Trophy, the 24-year-old spoke with the Ottawa media and talked about the disappointment with his team’s season but expressed excitement about representing his country on the world stage. The former fourth overall pick had another strong season for the Senators, posting 37 goals and 37 assists in 81 games to lead the team in scoring for the second time in three years.

Lower-Body Injury For Thompson Will Keep Him Out Of Worlds

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  • During his end-of-season media conference (video link), Sabres GM Kevyn Adams indicated that the lower-body injury that Tage Thompson sustained in Monday’s season finale against Tampa Bay will take a few weeks to heal. Accordingly, he won’t play for Team USA at the upcoming Worlds.  After a slow start to his year, Thompson wound up collecting 29 goals and 27 assists in 71 games, an output that was down from the past two seasons but was still good enough to finish with three points of the team lead.

Buffalo Sabres Reassign Noah Ostlund

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Playing the season with the Växjö Lakers of the SHL while on loan from the Buffalo Sabres organization, forward Noah Ostlund is set to make his debut in North American hockey. Earlier today, the Sabres organization announced that they have reassigned Ostlund to their AHL affiliate, the Rochester Americans.

According to Scott Wheeler of The Athletic, Ostlund clocked in as the fifth-best prospect for the Sabres headed into the 2023-24 NHL season. Being selected with the 16th overall selection of the 2022 NHL Draft, Ostlund has spent all of his professional playing career in Sweden until today.

After being drafted by Buffalo, Ostlund spent much of last season playing for Djurgårdens IF of HockeyAllsvenskan. Over 37 games last season, Ostlund scored eight goals and 26 points in total.

Now a full-time player in Sweden’s top professional league, Ostlund still kept pace, scoring 12 goals and 23 points in 38 games. Outside of professional hockey, Ostlund has certainly made a name for himself in international competition, scoring four goals and 14 assists over the last two World Junior Championship tournaments.

Having already clinched a spot in the 2024 Calder Cup playoffs, Ostlund should get a decent opportunity down the stretch with the Americans. As the team will likely take away some of his minutes come playoff time, Ostlund will still be available for important playoff games as he appears to earn a roster spot with the Sabres next season.

Tage Thompson's Season Concludes Due To Lower-Body Injury

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  • In an update from Colby Guy of The Associated Press, both Aleksander Barkov and Oliver Ekman-Larsson could return to the lineup tonight as the Florida Panthers look to put themselves in the best position possible to capture the Atlantic Division crown. As both players are dealing with minor injuries sustained in their most recent game against the Buffalo Sabres on April 13th, the Panthers may opt to keep them out until the playoffs if they are not completely recovered. Nevertheless, the game tonight against the Toronto Maple Leafs will likely serve as a preview of one of the Round One matchups of this year’s playoffs.
  • During the team’s game last night against the Lightning, the Sabres lost forward Tage Thompson for most of the game due to a lower-body injury, officially ending his 2023-24 NHL season (X Link). With Buffalo’s season officially over, Thompson is not in any danger of missing any regular season action but could miss the IIHF World Championships for Team USA over the summer. Seeing a massive dip in his production from last year, Thompson will finish the season with 27 goals and 56 points over 71 games for the Sabres this year.

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Buffalo Sabres Fire Don Granato

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The Buffalo Sabres have relieved head coach Don Granato of his duties after missing the playoffs for the 13th consecutive season. The Sabres have also fired assistant coach Jason Christie as well as video coordinator Matt Smith. The team will now be looking for their eighth coach since last making the playoffs in 2010-11 and have had Lindy Ruff, Ron Rolston, Ted Nolan, Dan Bylsma, Phil Housley, Ralph Krueger and now Granato behind the bench.

Buffalo came into this season with playoff expectations after narrowly missing the postseason last year finishing 10th in the Eastern Conference with 91 points. However, this year they took a step back to just 84 points and were eliminated from postseason contention last week. Many factors led to Buffalo’s ultimate demise, but one of the key contributors was that many of the Sabres top scorers took a big step back this season offensively. Alex Tuch dropped from 79 points to 59, Tage Thompson missed time and went from 94 points to 56, and Rasmus Dahlin fell from 73 points to 59. The biggest falloff was Jeff Skinner who had 83 points last year but tumbled to 46 this season. Unfortunately for Granato, he wasn’t able to get more offense from the Sabres depth players and it ultimately cost him his job.

The 56-year-old was hired by the Sabres midway through the 2020-21 season and went on to coach an additional three years in Buffalo, finishing with a record of 121-125-27 which equates to a .512 points percentage. He began his NHL coaching career as an assistant with the Chicago Blackhawks back in 2017 and could very well end up as an assistant once again after a tumultuous time with the Sabres.

As for Buffalo, they will once again be looking for a new bench boss as they look to end the second-longest playoff drought in all of North American professional sports.

Bowen Byram Out For Personal Reasons, Dahlin Ready For Captaincy

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The Buffalo Sabres will be without newcomer defenseman Bowen Byram on Thursday due to a personal matter (Twitter link). Byram also missed the team’s morning practice. He has so far played in 16 games with the Sabres, netting three goals and seven points. That’s a 0.438 point-per-game pace, a significant boost over the 0.363 scoring pace he managed prior to being traded, when he scored 20 points in 55 games with the Colorado Avalanche. His combined 27 points in 71 games mark a new career-high for Byram, topping his 24 points last season.

Buffalo will now be back to square one, trying to make up for a lack of defense depth now without Byram or Erik Johnson, who was also traded at the Trade Deadline. This likely opens the door for Kale Clague to step back into the lineup for Buffalo’s last three games. Clague has made two other appearances in the Sabres lineup this season, recording one assist and one penalty. He was a much more frequent lineup piece last season, playing in 33 games with Buffalo and recording four assists, but he lost his platoon role to rookie Ryan Johnson this year. Johnson, who has played in his first 41 NHL games this year, is currently assigned to the minor-leagues but could receive a call-up if Buffalo wants added depth to close out the season.

  • Staying with the Sabres defense, star Rasmus Dahlin has shared that he is ready to take on the Sabres captaincy, if the opportunity presents itself, per Paul Hamilton of WGR550 (Twitter link). Buffalo recently traded two-year captain Kyle Okposo, leaving the role once again vacant. Dahlin is serving alongside Zemgus Girgensons as the team’s assistant captains, though Girgensons is on an expiring deal and faced trade rumors earlier in the season. That leaves Dahlin, who is signed through the 2031-32 season, as seemingly the last man up in Buffalo’s search for leadership. He could face competition from top centerman Tage Thompson, long-tenured veteran Jeff Skinner, or grizzled personality-piece Alex Tuch – though it’s hard to envision the Sabres not once again placing their trust in Dahlin, who this season became the first Sabres defender since Phil Housley to score 20 goals.

Injury Notes: Barabanov, Sandin, Kostin, Bryson

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Winger Alexander Barabanov has reportedly played his last game with the San Jose Sharks, with a lower-body injury expected to end his season and the Sharks not likely to re-sign him this summer, per Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News (Web link). Barabanov suffered the injury from a blocked shot on March 26th and hasn’t played since, missing San Jose’s last five games.

This is an abrupt and quiet end to what was a quiet season for Barabanov. He played in 46 games, scoring just four goals and 13 points – the lowest scoring rate of his career. It’s a disappointing follow-up to what seemed to be Barabanov’s breakout season last year, when he managed a career-high 15 goals and 47 points in just 68 games. He’ll now set his eyes on free agency – the 30-year-old’s first chance to play outside of San Jose since he became a full-time NHL player in 2021. While he’ll certainly have to take a price cut from his current $2.5MM cap hit, Barabanov could be an intriguing pick-up for teams needing more depth down the wings.

Other notes from around the league:

  • Washington Capitals defenseman Rasmus Sandin left the team’s Sunday matchup against the Ottawa Senators with an upper-body injury, following a hit at the end of the first period (Twitter link). The 24-year-old has moved into an integral role for the Capitals, averaging 21:34 in ice time over his last 10 games. Rookie Vincent Iorio is currently Washington’s seventh defenseman. He could be poised for a crucial role, with Washington currently two points back of an Eastern Conference Wild Card with just six games to go.
  • The San Jose Sharks were without hot-streak winger Klim Kostin on Sunday due to illness, per Curtis Pashelka (Twitter link). Kostin has nine points through his first 14 games with the Sharks, averaging six more minutes of ice time than he did in 33 games with Detroit. The Sharks traded minor-league defenseman Radim Simek and a 2024 seventh-round pick for Kostin at the Deadline and have him signed through next season. He was replaced by undrafted rookie Collin Graf, getting his NHL debut just days after signing his first professional contract. Graf recorded one assist in the start.
  • Jacob Bryson suffered an upper-body injury in the Buffalo Sabres’ Sunday afternoon game, leaving after just nine minutes of play (Twitter link). Bryson has played in just 31 games this season – the fewest of his career. He’s recorded one goal and eight points in those appearances, extended his streak to four consecutive seasons with just one goal on the year. Buffalo will have to decide between Kale Clague and rookie Ryan Johnson, who is currently in the AHL, if Bryson has to miss any time.

Stillman Done For The Season, Greenway Practices In Non-Contact Jersey

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  • Sabres blueliner Riley Stillman is done for the year after undergoing surgery to fix a lower-body injury, per an announcement from AHL Rochester (Twitter link). After being on an NHL roster full-time the last two years, the 26-year-old played exclusively in the minors this season, notching six points in 47 games for the Americans.  A restricted free agent with arbitration eligibility and a $1.35MM qualifying offer, Stillman looks like a strong non-tender candidate unless he’s willing to agree to a cheaper deal before qualifying offers are due in late June.
  • Still with Buffalo, winger Jordan Greenway took part in practice today in a non-contact jersey, relays WGR 550’s Paul Hamilton (Twitter link). The 27-year-old has missed the last week with an upper-body injury.  Greenway has 24 points in 62 games this season and with the Sabres still hanging around the playoff picture, they’d certainly like to get him back in the lineup soon.

Sabres Jordan Greenway Could Return Tomorrow

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Tampa Bay Lightning forward Tanner Jeannot will miss tonight’s game against the Montreal Canadiens as the rugged forward has been deemed day-to-day with an upper-body injury. Jeannot suffered the injury in last night’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs after fighting Ryan Reaves and taking a punch that brought him to the ice. The 26-year-old did not return after the fight.

Much was made last February when Tampa Bay acquired Jeannot in exchange for five draft picks and Callan Foote, and to this point, Estevan, Saskatchewan native hasn’t been able to come close to duplicating the success he had in Nashville. Through 50 games this season, Jeannot has six goals and seven assists and is -11.

In other Atlantic Division notes:

  • Bill Hoppe of The Times Herald tweeted that the Buffalo Sabres might get Jordan Greenway back into their lineup tomorrow night. The news comes from Sabres head coach Don Granato who said that Greenway remained a possibility to dress when the Sabres take on the Philadelphia Flyers. The seven-year veteran hasn’t dressed since last Saturday and has spent this week dealing with an upper-body injury, but is apparently okay after having imaging done earlier this week. Greenway has averaged a career-high 17:16 in ice time per game this season and has nine goals and 15 assists in 62 games.
  • Bruce Garrioch of The Ottawa Sun is reporting that Ottawa Senators forward Angus Crookshank is unlikely to return this season as he is out indefinitely with a lower-body injury. The 24-year-old rookie has dressed in 13 games this year and has averaged just a shade over 10 minutes of ice time per game. He’s played in a bottom-six role but did get some top-6 minutes on his most recent recall and will likely be in the mix for a spot in the Senators forward group next season. Crookshank hasn’t produced much in the way of offence, but he has chipped in with two goals and an assist.

Sabres Loan Devon Levi To The AHL

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The Buffalo Sabres have loaned netminder Devon Levi to the Rochester Americans of the AHL. The Dollard-Des-Ormeaux, Quebec native has been with the Sabres since March 16th and dressed in three games for Buffalo during his recall, posting a 1.78 goals-against average and a .947 save percentage.

Despite strong numbers during his recent recall, the 22-year-old has had a tough season at the NHL level. In 23 NHL games, the former seventh-round pick has posted a 10-8-2 record to go along with a 3.10 goals-against average and a .899 save percentage.

At the AHL level, Levi has been strong in 19 games registering an 11-5-3 record with a 2.52 goals against average and a .927 save percentage. He will now join the Americans to assist them with their playoff push. Rochester is currently in third place in the North Division and has been hot as of late with seven wins in their last ten games. Barring an unforeseen collapse, Levi should be able to get some valuable playoff experience with Rochester in the coming months.

The Sabres goaltending situation has been interesting throughout the season as they’ve carried three NHL goalies for long stretches. Levi and Eric Comrie have struggled at times and given that Levi likely needs more development in the AHL the Sabres could pursue a stopgap option this summer.

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