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Joshua Dunne

Sabres Reassign Joshua Dunne

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The Sabres announced Wednesday that they’ve loaned forward Joshua Dunne to AHL Rochester. They now have two open roster spots, one of which will go to goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen as he comes off injured reserve following yesterday’s news that he’s been assigned to Rochester on a conditioning stint. The other will go to winger Beck Malenstyn, who’s returned to the team after taking paternity leave and was on the non-roster list, per Paul Hamilton of WGR Sports Radio 550.

Dunne’s first recall of the season lasted nearly two weeks. He was summoned from Rochester on Oct. 10 after Zach Benson took a puck to the face, resulting in a hospital visit, and after Joshua Norris sustained an oblique injury in the season’s first game. Benson has since returned and has six assists in three games, although Norris is on IR and will remain there until mid-December.

Recalled to serve as a depth piece rather than a lineup fixture, Dunne only appeared in two out of five games on his recall. The soon-to-be 27-year-old saw ice on Oct. 13 against the Avalanche and last Monday against the Canadiens, but only averaged 6:30 of ice time. The 6’4″, 208-lb pivot factored in on the wing and, aside from recording three hits, didn’t have a tangible impact. His ice time was down even further from the already-slim 7:06 per game he saw in a two-game look with Buffalo last year.

The Missouri native has 18 games of NHL experience but is still looking for his first point. Fourteen of them came with the Blue Jackets, where he first signed as an undrafted free agent out of Clarkson in 2021. He’s in the back half of a two-year, $1.55MM deal he signed with Buffalo in the 2024 offseason that carried a two-way structure last year but guarantees him the full NHL league minimum of $775,000 in 2025-26. In 202 career AHL appearances, 68 of which came with Rochester, he has a 46-48–94 scoring line with 194 PIMs and a minus-three rating.

Malenstyn could take Dunne’s place in the lineup when the Sabres host the Red Wings tonight. Since he was on the non-roster list and not on injured reserve, he doesn’t need to miss seven days since his last appearance. Through five games before exiting the lineup, he had no points with a minus-two rating and 13 hits while averaging 9:52 of ice time per game.

Sabres Recall Joshua Dunne

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The Sabres announced this morning that they’ve recalled center Joshua Dunne from AHL Rochester. They don’t have an open roster spot, so a corresponding transaction is coming. That could be an injured reserve placement for Zach Benson, who’s day-to-day after taking a puck to the face in practice that resulted in a hospital visit, or for Joshua Norris, who departed last night’s home opener late with an apparent lower-body injury and didn’t return.

Dunne, 27 in December, was an undrafted free agent signed by the Blue Jackets out of Clarkson in 2021. He made his NHL debut immediately after signing his entry-level contract but has only seen limited NHL minutes since. He made 14 total appearances for Columbus until reaching Group VI unrestricted free agency in 2024, upon which he signed a two-year, $1.55MM deal with Buffalo that pays him a one-way salary of $775K this season.

The Missouri native made a pair of appearances for Buffalo in 2024-25, his first since April 2023. The 6’4″ pivot managed one shot on goal on four attempts but had a -3 rating in just 14:11 of total ice time across the two contests, also going 2-for-7 on faceoffs. Even for a fourth-line fill-in, his NHL track record is concerning. He has no points and a -10 rating in 16 career appearances with Columbus and Buffalo, has won just 37% of his draws, and his teams have been out-attempted 139-98 with him on the ice at even strength for a CF% of 41.4.

In the minors, Dunne has plateaued as a middle-six piece. He served as an alternate captain for Rochester last year and managed a 10-19–29 scoring line with a +7 rating in 68 appearances. He enters his sixth professional season with 46 goals and 94 points in 202 career AHL contests.

If it’s Benson landing on IR, his placement can be backdated to the beginning of the month, as he was dealing with a separate ailment before his facial injury. He’ll be eligible to come off at any time. An IR placement for Norris would rule him out of the next three games and make him eligible for a return on Oct. 18 against the Panthers.

Sabres Reassign Joshua Dunne

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March 28: The Sabres announced they reassigned Dunne to Rochester today. He suited up in last night’s 7-3 drubbing of the Penguins but still managed to record a minus-one rating in 6:55 of ice time. His demotion comes after winger Jason Zucker returned to practice following a personal leave that caused him to miss Thursday’s game, per Heather Engel of NHL.com, so he should be back in the lineup tomorrow afternoon against the Flyers. Buffalo’s active roster now stands at 24.

March 25: The Buffalo Sabres have recalled forward Joshua Dunne from the minor leagues. This marks Dunne’s second recall of the season after spending six days with the NHL club earlier this month. Dunne made his Sabres debut during that stint, recording a fighting major and minus-two in seven minutes of ice time. It was the 15th NHL game of Dunne’s career. The previous 14 came with the Columbus Blue Jackets – split between six games in the 2020-21 season and eight in the 2022-23 season. Dunne has yet to manage his first NHL point but has totaled 15 penalty minutes and a minus-nine.

Despite squaring up for his first regular-season NHL fight on his last recall, Dunne has been far less the bruiser in the minors. He’s recorded just 44 penalty minutes in 58 AHL games this season, sixth-most on the Rochester Americans. Dunne has paired those PIMs with nine goals, 26 points, and a plus-11 on the season. It’s been a strong year, though he’s still well clear of the career-high 20 goals, 37 points, and 71 penalty minutes he recorded in 65 games of the 2022-23 AHL season. He lost all but 25 games and seven points of his 2023-24 campaign to a lengthy injury.

Dunne signed with the Blue Jackets as an unrestricted free agent at the end of the 2020-21 season. He managed an impressive 10 points in 15 games to start his AHL career but hasn’t found a way to mount the same scoring in four seasons since. Still, his go-to status for the Sabres highlights the impacts Dunne has created away from the puck. He will serve as Buffalo’s extra forward on Tuesday night as Joshua Norris, Jordan Greenway, and Sam Lafferty are expected to sit out with injuries.

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