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Buffalo Sabres Send Bailey, Ullmark To AHL

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The Buffalo Sabres announced today that forward Justin Bailey and goaltender Linus Ullmark are headed back to Rochester. The demotions come with rumors of Tyler Ennis’ return on Monday afternoon, and the improving health of Robin Lehner.

Bailey is having a strong season in the AHL, with 13 goals and 22 points in 33 games, but has not found much with the Sabres. The former second-round pick has found the back of the net just once in his nine games, though they’ve come with very little ice time. The big winger provides a solid physical game to go along with a nose for the net. He’ll likely make his way back up at some point this season.

Ullmark is the Sabres top goalie prospect and has found some middling success in the AHL this season. In 28 games, the former sixth-round pick has a .906 save percentage and a 3.06 goals against average. Those marks are actually both improvements over his minor league numbers from a year ago, though he did fare slightly better in the NHL.

Injury Updates: Jets, Lehner, Chara, Toews

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After getting a pair of key players back from injured reserve over the past week in center Bryan Little and right winger Drew Stafford, the Jets appear to be set to receive some more good news on the injury front as center Mathieu Perreault is nearing a return to the lineup, notes Mike Sawatzky of the Winnipeg Free Press.  Perreault believes he’s ready to play as soon as tonight against the Oilers but head coach Paul Maurice isn’t ready to say he’s definitely in the lineup:

“We’ll let him get through another day and into the morning. So he has a good skate today and (has) gone full contact for a few days and if he declares himself ready to play, we’ll meet with the medical staff and make a decision.”

If Perreault does return to the lineup, Sawatzky adds that it will likely be on the wing as the team is happy with their four centers at the moment, Mark Scheifele, Little, Adam Lowry, and Andrew Copp.  Perreault has played in 11 games for the Jets this season, picking up three points (1-2-3).  He has three straight 40+ point campaigns heading into this one so he should give them another offensive boost.

[Related: Jets Depth Chart]

Maurice also stated that Marko Dano, who took a high stick to the face that caused some serious swelling, is likely to play tonight barring any setbacks.  He’ll likely have a full cage on his helmet for a little bit though.

More injury news from around the league:

  • Sabres goalie Robin Lehner estimates that his hip is about 90 percent but he won’t play tonight against the Rangers, he told John Vogl of the Buffalo News. Lehner left Tuesday’s game against Ottawa in the first period after experiencing some discomfort while playing a dump-in.  He’s targeting Saturday against the Bruins as a return date.
  • Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara skated with the team today but will not play tonight, the team announced via their Twitter page. Chara has missed the last four games with a lower body injury and while his offensive numbers are down this season (six points in 19 games), he still leads the team in ice time per game, averaging 22:41 per game.
  • Chicago center Jonathan Toews, who has missed the last week with a back injury, will not play tonight and is doubtful to play Saturday, reports CSN Chicago’s Tracey Myers (Twitter link). Head coach Joel Quenneville is hopeful that the captain will skate over the weekend and his status will be assessed from there.

Buffalo Sabres Send Linus Ullmark To Rochester

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According to Bill Hoppe of the Times Herald, the Buffalo Sabres have sent goaltender Linus Ullmark back to Rochester of the AHL. Anders Nilsson will start tonight in net.

Ullmark was recalled this week because Robin Lehner was ill and unable to play, but will head back down to start in the AHL. The 23-year old was off to a great start with the Americans this season, holding a 3-1 record with a .926 save percentage.

While goaltenders tend to take a while to develop, it seems like Ullmark is close to being ready for an NHL job already. In starting 20 games for the Sabres last year after Lehner went down, he showed that at least on a part-time basis he can handle the rigors of an NHL schedule and perform at a capable level. Though the Sabres have discussed committing long-term to Lehner and believe he’s an above-average NHL starter, the fact that Ullmark isn’t far off should excite Sabres fans.

Snapshots: Lehner, Babcock, Zetterberg

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News and notes from around the NHL this evening:

  • Robin Lehner is coming to Buffalo Sabres’ camp 40lbs lighter than last season, according to Bill Hoppe of the Olean Times Herald. The Swedish goaltender suffered a high ankle in the team’s opening night game last season and picked up bad habits that contributed to him weighing-in at 240lbs when he returned. Lehner was poised to be the Sabres starter last year before the injury. The Sabres paid a stiff price for him and David Legwand, sending the Ottawa Senators the 21st overall pick in the 2015 Entry Draft (Colin White) in return. Lehner underwent season-ending surgery in March last year to fix the lingering ankle injury, but feels 100% going into camp. He seems to be the clear #1 this year after Chad Johnson signed with Calgary. The Sabres acquired RFA Anders Nilsson from the Blues for a 5th round draft this offseason before re-signing him to a one-year, $1MM deal, but he is not expected to compete for the starting job.
  • The Toronto Sun’s Steve Simmons offhandedly revealed that Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg had issues with head coach Mike Babcock while all three were with the Detroit Red Wings. Simmons stated that both players said in their end-of-season exit interviews that they would not re-sign if Mike Babcock remained.  The tidbit’s veracity, however, is in question. Zetterberg signed his last contract in 2009, after the Red Wings lost in the Finals and one year removed from their own Stanley Cup victory, and that contract doesn’t expire until 2021. Datsyuk re-signed his contract at the end of the 2013 season—a contract that expires at the end of this year. It seems improbable that Zetterberg would opine about something far off in the future, or that Datsyuk would complain but re-sign anyways.
  • Speaking of Henrik Zetterberg, the Detroit forward and Swedish veteran spoke to the Windsor Star’s Bob Duff about leaving the Swedish World Cup team this fall. Zetterberg suffered a knee injury and pulled out of the tournament earlier this month. He told Duff that he made the right decision because he could not expect to play through the injury and then arrive at Detroit’s camp in good health. Zetterberg is just one of many players this fall to pull out of the World Cup of Hockey as to not aggravate injuries and risk missing games in the NHL.

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