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Henri Jokiharju

Buffalo Sabres Make Several Roster Moves

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December 11: The Sabres announced that they have returned Murray on loan to Rochester after yesterday’s recall. Murray did not play in last night’s loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins and has not played in the NHL since last season, though he has been impactful as a member of the Americans.

December 10: The Buffalo Sabres have announced four roster moves in advance of tonight’s game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. First, they placed defenseman Henri Jokiharju and forward Vinnie Hinostroza on injured reserve. To fill those two roster spots, the team recalled forward Brett Murray and defenseman Kale Clague from their AHL affiliate, the Rochester Americans.

Per Sabres coach Don Granato, as relayed by Noted Hockey’s Joe Yerdon, Jokiharju is out week-to-week with a lower-body injury. That’s a major loss for the Sabres as they look to climb back into the Wild Card race.

While Jokiharju’s offensive production (four points in 16 games) isn’t anything to write home about, he was playing over 20 minutes per night (fourth-most on the Sabres) and playing nearly three minutes on the penalty kill per game on the Sabres’ top penalty kill unit.

In Jokiharju’s place, the Sabres bring up Clague, who they signed this offseason to a one-year, $750K two-way deal. Clague has split time between Buffalo and Rochester this year, scoring six points in 14 AHL games and one point in seven NHL games.

In his NHL action so far this year Clague has played just under 16 minutes a night with no penalty-killing time, meaning Granato will need to look to his current stable of blueliners to fill the void left by Jokiharju’s injury.

Hinostroza, 28, is placed on injured reserve just a week after Granato said, per The Buffalo News’ Lance Lysowski, that he had been nursing a day-to-day minor injury. The former Chicago Blackhawk has eight points in 15 games so far this season while playing in a limited role.

He’ll be replaced on the roster by Murray. The 24-year-old was a 2016 fourth-round pick of the Sabres out of the CCHL’s Carleton Place Canadians and signed in Buffalo after a two-year collegiate career as a Penn State Nittany Lion, as well as a final year in the USHL in 2018-19. Murray has nine goals and 15 points in 22 AHL games so far this year and scored six points in 19 NHL games last season.

Buffalo Sabres Loan Kale Clague To AHL

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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.

Buffalo Sabres Considering Depth Addition

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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.

Snapshots: Samuelsson, Bear, Wright

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Buffalo Sabres fans held their breath last night when freshly extended defenseman Mattias Samuelsson went down with an injury in their game against Vancouver. Now, The Buffalo News’ Lance Lysowski reports that Samuelsson avoided a long-term injury but is still set to miss at least “a few weeks,” joining Henri Jokiharju on the list of injured Sabres top-four defensemen.

An exact timeline won’t be had on Samuelsson until the team returns to Buffalo, head coach Don Granato said today, and the injury will force some depth defenders to shine in order for Buffalo to keep up its strong start. Lawrence Pilut will make his season debut in the team’s next game after two seasons overseas, and free-agent acquisition Ilya Lyubushkin will be tasked with replacing Samuelsson as the defensive anchor on the top pairing alongside the red-hot Rasmus Dahlin.

  • It’s no secret the Canucks are in trouble, winless so far to start the year. With injuries and general positional depth weakness hampering their defense, the team has been looking to add, and Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported on 32 Thoughts that the team has checked in on defenseman Ethan Bear as a potential trade acquisition. Bear, the 25-year-old right-shot defenseman, has been thrust down the depth chart in Carolina and has yet to appear in a game this season. The Hurricanes were shopping him prior to the season’s start, and the Canucks have more than enough room thanks to LTIR to accommodate his $2.2MM cap hit. He still has some upside and could provide some better matchups once Quinn Hughes returns to the lineup.
  • Sportsnet’s Jason Bukala ponders whether the Seattle Kraken may opt to send Shane Wright back to the OHL’s Kingston Frontenacs after an unimpactful start to the season. Wright hasn’t received many opportunities, he has shown smooth skating and pace, but Bukala points out that Wright’s had some positional issues defensively and may need a bit more development before being able to execute his playstyle properly at the NHL level.

Lawrence Pilut Recalled By Buffalo Sabres

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After Henri Jokiharju took a puck to the face and exited last night’s game, the Buffalo Sabres have recalled Lawrence Pilut from the minor leagues. The team has not yet announced the extent of Jokiharju’s injuries.

Pilut, 26, is still waiver-exempt (amazingly), one of the biggest reasons why he wasn’t on the team to begin the year after a strong preseason. The Swedish defender is back in North America after spending the last two seasons in the KHL, and had two points in his first three games with Rochester before the recall. Undrafted, Pilut has found success at basically every level of hockey, including for a time in the NHL. In 2018-19 he played 33 games with the Sabres, recording six points and generally looking as though he could handle minutes in the big leagues.

When those minutes didn’t continue, he took an opportunity to play a bigger role in the KHL and had 28 points in 57 games during his first season in Russia. While he may never become a full-time player with the Sabres, Pilut represents some very solid depth for a club that looks like a real playoff contender this year. Buffalo is 3-1 and coming off an impressive victory over the Calgary Flames last night.

With Jokiharju exiting early, Mattias Samuelsson and Rasmus Dahlin both logged huge minutes, each nearing the 26-minute mark in the game. Jacob Bryson and Owen Power each cracked 20 themselves, while Casey Fitzgerald played just over 15. Where Pilut fits into that group remains to be seen, though with Ilya Lyubushkin nearing a return from his day-to-day injury, it’s not even a guarantee that he gets into a game at all. The Sabres continue their western trip with a stop in Vancouver tomorrow night.

Morning Notes: Barzal, Sabres, Yelesin

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After the now-infamous departure of John Tavares from the New York Islanders via free agency, all eyes on Long Island turned to promising young center Mathew Barzal to fill the void and lead the team’s offense to continued success. Needless to say, he’s succeeded, notching 311 points in 362 games so far in his young career. This season is the first time the team won’t win a playoff round since Barzal took over the no. 1 center role, and it’ll also be the first time they won’t make the playoffs at all.

As all eyes turn toward the future, though, fans will notice Barzal has one season left on his three-year, $21MM bridge deal he signed prior to 2020-21. With him once again being a restricted free agent, Barzal left the door open on a long-term extension after exit interviews, via James Nichols of The Fourth Period. While he’s yet to replicate his 85-point rookie season, he’s still chugged along at a 60+ point pace every season since then. Knowing general manager Lou Lamoriello, a long-term extension is likely something he’s interested in as well. But it’s unclear how much Barzal’s cap hit will change, considering the lack of significant offensive development during his bridge deal – does he still project to hit the 80-90 point plateau again, or is he an extremely strong no. 2 center on a Cup winner as his recent point totals suggest?

  • A report out of Sweden via HockeyNews.se today says that Buffalo Sabres forward Rasmus Asplund plans to join the team for the upcoming 2022 IIHF World Championship. Asplund played in 80 out of 82 games this season in Buffalo, setting new career highs with eight goals, 19 assists, and 27 points. He also took leaps and bounds defensively this season, showing signs he can develop into a true shutdown forward for the Sabres. Defenseman Henri Jokiharju also announced he’ll be joining Finland at the same tournament.
  • A former Calgary Flames prospect is staying in Russia for two more seasons. Lokomotiv Yaroslavl of the KHL announced today they’ve reached a two-year extension with defenseman Alexander Yelesin, who appeared in four games with the Flames during 2019-20, recording no points. An undrafted free agent, the defensive defenseman played just two seasons in North America before the Flames opted to leave him unsigned. The team still retains his rights if he ever decides to return to the NHL, but that won’t come until 2024-25 at the soonest when he’ll be 28 years old.

Henri Jokiharju Out Week-To-Week

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The Buffalo Sabres released an updated injury report today, one that still includes Drake Caggiula and Malcolm Subban listed simply as “out” as they deal with long-term issues. Will Butcher, Vinnie Hinostroza, and Jack Quinn are all now day-to-day, suggesting they’ll be back in the near future, while Henri Jokiharju has joined Colin Miller and Zemgus Girgensons in the week-to-week category.

Jokiharju is the big news, as the young defenseman left a game last week but had not yet received an official timeline. The 22-year-old has really taken a step forward this season into the legitimate top-four option that many had projected when he was selected 29th overall in 2017, a role that he will now have to vacate while he works on his recovery.

In 36 games, Jokiharju has 12 points and is averaging more than 21 minutes a game. Most of that–in fact almost all of it–has come beside Rasmus Dahlin, giving the first-overall pick a stable defensive partner to help even out his development after some up-and-down years.

Both Jokiharju and the Sabres don’t have to worry about an injury affecting contract negotiations this time around, as the young defenseman signed a three-year, $7.5MM deal in September.

Injury Updates: White, Sundqvist, Jokiharju, De Haan

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Senators center Colin White will return to the lineup tonight against Montreal, relays Ian Mendes of The Athletic (Twitter link).  The 25-year-old suffered a dislocated shoulder at the end of training camp and has yet to play this season as a result.  Now three seasons removed from his 41-point campaign in 2018-19, White will likely spend time at both center and the wing as Ottawa looks to find what his ideal role for next season and beyond will be.

More injury news from around the NHL:

  • Blues forward Oskar Sundqvist suffered a lower-body injury in last night’s game against Buffalo, Tom Timmermann of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch notes. The good news for St. Louis is that head coach Craig Berube indicated that the injury isn’t related to the hip or knee that he had recent surgery done on.  Sundqvist has 15 points in 35 games this season – the highest point per game average of his career – and is set to be re-evaluated later today.
  • After missing last night’s game against St. Louis, Sabres defenseman Henri Jokiharju is listed as doubtful for Sunday’s contest in Colorado, reports Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News (Twitter link). The 22-year-old suffered a lower-body injury in Wednesday’s loss in Montreal.  The good news for Buffalo is that Jokiharju – who is logging more than 21 minutes a night – should be able to return early next week.
  • Blackhawks defenseman Calvin de Haan missed last night’s game due to a right groin strain, the team announced (Twitter link). The veteran is in the final year of his contract and is a strong candidate to be moved between now and next month’s trade deadline as someone that can provide some shot blocking and physicality.

Atlantic Notes: Senators, Jokiharju, Allen

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Although the Senators will be able to return to the ice on Saturday to practice, they still won’t have their full squad available.  Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch reports that while eight of the players that were in COVID protocol will have cleared (along with associate coach Jack Capuano) winger Drake Batherson and defenseman Nikita Zaitsev (who exited protocol last Saturday only to be re-added later in the day) will remain unavailable for the time being.  If all goes according to plan, Ottawa should be able to get back to action on Monday in Colorado with Batherson and Zaitsev being available to rejoin the team partway during their West Coast road trip.

Elsewhere in the Atlantic:

  • Sabres defenseman Henri Jokiharju should be ready to return next week after missing more than a month due to a lower-body injury sustained in the season-opener, notes Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News (Twitter link). The 22-year-old logged over 18 minutes a game last season with Buffalo, earning himself a three-year, $7.5MM contract as a first-time restricted free agent back in September that solidifies him as part of their longer-term rebuilding plans.  Jokiharju skated at practice today but head coach Don Granato indicated that the blueliner needs more practice time.
  • While the Canadiens were hoping that Jake Allen would be able to return from his concussion on Saturday against Nashville, that isn’t expected to happen, relays TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie (Twitter link). The netminder was injured last Saturday against Detroit and Montreal has lost all three games since then, allowing 14 goals in that stretch.

Casey Mittelstadt And Henri Jokiharju Out A Couple Of Weeks

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Buffalo Sabres head coach Don Granato announced Friday morning that center Casey Mittelstadt and defenseman Henri Jokiharju will both be sidelined for “a couple of weeks” with different injuries.

Mittelstadt left Thursday night’s 5-1 win against the Montreal Canadiens with an upper-body injury. It’s unclear as to when or on what play Mittelstadt sustained the injury. Jokiharju played the entirety of last night’s contest, logging 16:39 of ice time. He’s sidelined with a lower-body ailment.

Granato notes that Arttu Ruotsalainen and Will Butcher will likely draw into the lineup Saturday against Arizona in the place of Mittelstadt and Jokiharju. He also says the team wants “to get everybody in,” making it seem like additional call-ups from the AHL’s Rochester Americans are likely coming to bolster the roster.

It’s an extremely tough break for a Sabres team that got off to an unexpectedly strong start, albeit through just one game. They’ll now have to move forward without their number one center in addition to a top-pairing defenseman for multiple weeks.

If Granato’s “couple of weeks” prognosis holds true, Mittelstadt and Jokiharju could miss six games over the course of the next two weeks. The Sabres have a rather light schedule to begin the season but have a pair of tough matchups against the Boston Bruins on October 22 and the defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning on October 25.

 

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