- Last night’s contest against Boston won’t be the only one that Sabres captain Kyle Okposo misses as Mike Harrington of The Buffalo News notes that the veteran is likely to miss at least a couple more games. For now, the plan is for the 34-year-old to rest for a few days and then re-evaluate him from there. Okposo is off to a nice start to his season with nine points in his first 14 games.
Sabres Rumors
Buffalo Sabres Loan Kale Clague To AHL
The Buffalo Sabres are inching back to full health after a slew of injuries to their defense corps. Today, the team loaned Kale Clague to the AHL’s Rochester Americans, as announced by the team’s PR department.
The Buffalo News’ Mike Harrington notes that Clague’s return to Rochester suggests that Henri Jokiharju is ready to play in Buffalo’s next game, a Tuesday night matchup against Vancouver. Jokiharju skated in a regular contact jersey during Saturday’s morning skate after missing three and a half weeks with a face injury.
In his time up with the big club this season, the 24-year-old Clague recorded an assist, a -2 rating, and a 15:49 average time on ice in seven contests in place of Jokiharju. He had been up with the team since October 23, a few days after Jokiharju sustained his injury.
Clague spent most of his time playing the right side alongside rookie Owen Power, directly replacing Jokiharju’s spot in the lineup. Despite some hiccups, the pairing did well together, generating a good amount of chances for the Sabres.
Kyle Okposo Won't Play Against Boston
- Sabres winger Kyle Okposo will miss tonight’s game against Boston, relays Bill Hoppe of the Olean Times Herald. The captain is dealing with a lower-body injury and is listed as day-to-day. While the 34-year-old only has one goal in the early going, he’s tied for third on Buffalo with eight assists through 14 games. Jack Quinn will return to the lineup in Okposo’s place after being a healthy scratch on Thursday night.
Buffalo Sabres Assign Jeremy Davies To AHL
The Buffalo Sabres have assigned defenseman Jeremy Davies to the AHL Rochester Americans, per a team announcement.
Davies was originally recalled by the Sabres on October 31st after forward Riley Sheahan was sent down, and now heads back to Rochester despite having not skated in a single game for the big club.
Davies, 25, signed in Buffalo this summer as part of a trio of depth defenders who joined the Sabres on one-year deals. He earned that contract after a solid year in the Nashville Predators organization, one where he scored 31 points in 54 AHL games. That performance earned Davies six NHL games, a decline from the 16 games he played in 2020-21.
This year, Davies has played seven games, all in Rochester. With Ilya Lyubushkin back at full health, there was simply no more need to keep Davies on the Sabres’ active roster. He now heads back to the AHL looking to help Rochester climb the AHL’s North Division standings.
Injury Notes: Zadina, Byram, Hornqvist, Chytil, Dahlin
After a major offseason overhaul rivaled only by the Ottawa Senators, expectations have been big for the Detroit Red Wings this season, however the team has gotten itself off to an up-and-down start. Sitting at 5-3-2 coming into today, the team would be faced with one of its tougher tasks of the young season this afternoon: a showdown with the New York Islanders, who were on a five-game winning streak. Detroit answered the call, shutting out the Islanders 3-0. That win appears to have come at a price, however. Forward Filip Zadina went down late in the third period after appearing to block a Ryan Pulock shot.
After the game, Red Wings head coach Derek Lalonde, provided an update to the media, including Michigan Live’s Ansar Kahn. According to Lalonde, Zadina’s injury “doesn’t look good” and Detroit may not see the winger for a while, adding that the team would know more tomorrow. Soon to be 23-years-old, Zadina has yet to become the player Detroit hoped he would be when he was drafted sixth-overall in 2018, and has zero points through his first nine games this year, including today. But, with Detroit missing more than its fair share of forwards, including Tyler Bertuzzi, Jakub Vrana, Oskar Sundqvist, and Robby Fabbri, losing Zadina for any period of time will surely be felt.
- For those who watched today’s NHL Global Series contest in Tampere, Finland between the Colorado Avalanche and Columbus Blue Jackets, noticeably absent from Colorado’s blueline was Bowen Byram. The defenseman was replaced in the lineup by Jacob MacDonald, who was playing in just his fourth game of the season. Thus far, there is no word on the severity of Byram’s injury, however The Athletic’s Peter Baugh reports that it’s a lower-body injury. While no injury is good news, for Byram, who has dealt with a number of concussion-related issues in his past, having the injury apparently be unrelated to that is somewhat of a relief. The former fourth-overall pick is off to a strong start to the season, scoring two goals to go with three assists in 10 games to date.
- Florida Panthers winger Patric Hornqvist, who suffered an upper-body injury early in Thursday’s game against the San Jose Sharks, is considered day-to-day, head coach Paul Maurice told the media, including Bally Sports’ Katie Engleson. The veteran has just one goal through 11 games to start the season, but with Florida missing several key pieces from last year’s team, they will need a quick recovery from Hornqvist and renewed production to help supplement their offense going forward.
- New York Rangers center Filip Chytil expects to play in the team’s game tomorrow afternoon against the Red Wings. While Rangers head coach Gerard Gallant did not confirm that Chytil would be in the lineup, the forward did tell USA Today Sports’ Vince Mercogliano that he feels 100%. Still, Gallant is hopeful he can play Sunday. Chytil, who hasn’t played since October 23rd, was believed to be dealing with a concussion, said Larry Brooks of the New York Post. The 23-year-old had three points in six games prior to the injury.
- Per Mike Harrington of The Buffalo News, Buffalo Sabres head coach Don Granato confirmed that defenseman Rasmus Dahlin will miss tonight’s game in Tampa Bay against the Lightning with an upper-body injury. Granato declined to go into specifics on the injury but, Harrington says, it likely occurred during Friday night’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes, when Dahlin was involved in a scuffle with Hurricanes forward Jesperi Kotkaniemi. Thankfully for Buffalo, Dahlin is listed as day-to-day, but his injury is yet another in a long line of defensemen going down in the Buffalo organization this season, whether that be at the NHL or AHL level. Defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin, who has missed the last four games with injury, draws back in tonight in place of Dahlin.
Riley Sheahan Clears Waivers
Oct 31: Sheahan has cleared waivers and was assigned to the Rochester Americans. In his place, the team has recalled Jeremy Davies to give them another defenseman while they continue to deal with injuries on the back end.
Oct 30: The Buffalo Sabres have made a roster move today, placing veteran center Riley Sheahan on waivers, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. Sheahan was activated off of injured reserve by Buffalo on October 18 and has not yet skated in a game this season.
Sheahan, 30, signed in Buffalo this summer, receiving a one-year, two-way $950k/375k deal to serve as a depth center for the Sabres. A 2010 first-round pick, Sheahan spent 2021-22 as a member of the inaugural Seattle Kraken team, getting into 69 games and scoring 17 points.
A veteran of over 600 NHL games, Sheahan’s placement on waivers is somewhat surprising, as he’s played in just four AHL games since 2013-14. That being said, though, at this stage of his career Sheahan is likely more of a team’s fifth center than a regular bottom-sixer. As Bleacher Report’s Joe Yerdon notes, it’s possible that this waiver placement could be in order to add extra flexibility to move Sheahan at a later date.
In any case, the Sabres will hope that Sheahan clears waivers and that they can stash their useful veteran center with the AHL’s Rochester Americans.
Ilya Lyubushkin Re-Exits Lineup With Lower-Body Injury
- Half of the Buffalo Sabres blueline is out of game action now. The Buffalo News’ Lance Lysowski reports that Ilya Lyubushkin is not playing tonight due to a lower-body injury, with Lawrence Pilut drawing back into the lineup in his place. Lyubushkin missed a game earlier in the season with a lower-body injury, and it’s unclear whether the two are related. He has one assist in six games to begin his Sabres career.
Matt Bartkowski Signs AHL PTO
Veteran defenseman Matt Bartkowski has found a new home, at least for now. The Rochester Americans announced they’ve signed Bartkowski to an AHL PTO. The team expects Bartkowski to meet them for today’s game in Laval against the Rocket. Rochester is the AHL affiliate of the Buffalo Sabres.
The addition of Bartkowski appears to be the result of a chain reaction in the Sabres organization after a rash of injuries on Buffalo’s blueline. When the Sabres lost defensemen Henri Jokiharju and Mattias Samuelsson in short order last weekend, the team recalled fellow defensemen Lawrence Pilut and Kale Clague from Rochester. Of course, that helped to repair the Sabres’ ailing defense-corps, but served to dismantle Rochester’s, stealing two of their best defenders. The Americans initially responded by recalling Zachary Berzolla from the ECHL, and earlier this week added another NHL veteran in Brandon Davidson on an AHL PTO.
A veteran of 256 career NHL games, Bartkowski last played in the NHL back in 2020-21, dressing for just one game with the Minnesota Wild. The 34-year-old hasn’t seen even semi-regular NHL time since he played 18 games as a member of the Calgary Flames all the way back in 2017-18. The defenseman did have some NHL interest this summer coming off of two exceptional AHL seasons with the Iowa Wild and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, signing a PTO with the New York Rangers back in September, who ultimately released him from that tryout. Bringing Bartkowski in should give the Americans a healthy, veteran presence to help patch the holes not only on their own blueline, but that of the entire NHL-AHL-ECHL organization.
More On Sabres’ Defense Search
Buffalo Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams was clear this week that the team might make a move to add some defensive depth in the wake of injuries to Mattias Samuelsson and Henri Jokiharju. The executive claimed it wouldn’t be a big move though, striking some of the top names off the speculation board. One that remained was Ethan Bear, given his situation with the Carolina Hurricanes.
Bear requested a trade in the past and hasn’t played at all this season, despite signing a one-year, $2.2MM deal in the summer. The right-shot defenseman might seem like the perfect answer for the Sabres right now, especially given his relatively young age. While Buffalo has discussed Bear with the Hurricanes, according to Darren Dreger of TSN, he doesn’t believe they are willing to give up an asset at this point.
The Hurricanes are clearly not willing to just give Bear away, even with the awkwardness surrounding the situation. The 25-year-old does still hold some value as an asset. It also makes sense that the Sabres aren’t willing to pay for someone like that, given they won’t have much room for him once everyone is healthy. Samuelsson avoided a long-term injury and is expected back in a few weeks, meaning the available minutes will quickly disappear.
If the Sabres do make an addition, it seems more likely to be a veteran depth player that can move in and out of the lineup when necessary. For Carolina, that means one fewer team on the market for Bear, who they seem in no rush to move.
Buffalo Sabres Considering Depth Addition
The Buffalo Sabres lost Mattias Samuelsson and Henri Jokiharju within a few days of each other, suddenly robbing their defensive group of much of its depth. The good news, as general manager Kevyn Adams told reporters including Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News, is that while Samuelsson will miss several weeks, he will not need surgery. Jokiharju meanwhile is week-to-week with a fracture from taking a puck to the face.
With that in mind, Adams explained that the team is considering adding an NHL-level defenseman of some kind, but downplayed the significance of any such move. It won’t be a big change (if one comes at all) but the Sabres are in an interesting situation when it comes to additions like this.
With so much cap space available – the team is still ~$20MM under the ceiling – they could afford to add a bad contract from another team looking for space, with a sweetener to go with it. While it might look odd to add a big ticket for just a few weeks of depth play until Samuelsson and Jokiharju come back, weaponizing the cap space the team has right now can be an effective way to make sure their window is open even longer down the road.
Remember, that cap space isn’t going to be there forever in Buffalo. The team has big extensions kicking in for Tage Thompson and Samuelsson next season and has Dylan Cozens to sign next summer. The following year, Rasmus Dahlin, Owen Power, Jacob Bryson, and Peyton Krebs are all up for new deals, meaning that extra breathing room is going to disappear quickly.
It’s an enviable position to be in, not needing to make a big move but having the capacity to help out another team. While they obviously want their young studs back in the lineup, Adams has all the leverage here in any negotiations as he calls around the league.