Sabres To Reassign Nicolas Aubé-Kubel
Jan. 28: Aubé-Kubel cleared waivers, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports. The Sabres announced they’ve recalled forward Tyson Kozak from Rochester in a corresponding move.
Jan. 27: The Buffalo Sabres placed winger Nicolas Aubé-Kubel on waivers Monday, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports. He’ll head to AHL Rochester tomorrow if he clears.
This roster move marks the fourth time in his seven-year NHL career that Aubé-Kubel has been placed on the waiver wire. He was claimed by the Colorado Avalanche from the Philadelphia Flyers in 2021, claimed by the Washington Capitals from the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2022, and went through unscathed at the beginning of last season. Granted, all those waiver claims came when Aubé-Kubel was making significantly less.
He signed the richest contract of his career this past summer with the Sabres. Buffalo gave Aubé-Kubel a one-year, $1.5MM contract in the hopes he would help reimagine the bottom six of their forward group. Unfortunately, Aubé-Kubel is amidst the least productive season of his career registering a measly one goal and one assist in 19 games with the Sabres.
Still, Aubé-Kubel lost a few games at the beginning of the season due to a lower-body injury which could help explain his decrease in productivity. He’s continued to be a very physical forward in Buffalo and is managing the third-highest CorsiFor% of his career at even strength with a 52.0% mark albeit in limited action.
Some less physical teams such as the Edmonton Oilers, Dallas Stars, Tampa Bay Lightning, Carolina Hurricanes, and Capitals could use a player with Aubé-Kubel’s expertise. However, given his relatively high salary for a player destined for a lower-tier role, it would be unsurprising to see Aubé-Kubel go unclaimed over the next 24 hours.
Sabres Activate Ryan McLeod Off IR, Assign Tyson Kozak To AHL
As expected, the Sabres announced today that they have activated center Ryan McLeod off injured reserve. To make room for him on the active roster, center Tyson Kozak has been assigned back to AHL Rochester.
McLeod’s activation should come as little surprise as he was a full participant in practice on Friday with the team indicating at that time that he was expected to play against his former team today and line up on the second line. He winds up missing just three games with a nagging upper-body injury.
The 25-year-old was acquired from Edmonton in the summer along with prospect Tyler Tullio in exchange for prospect Matthew Savoie. He has fit in well with the Sabres and enters play today tied for sixth in team scoring with blueliner Owen Power. McLeod has 10 goals and 15 assists in 45 games this season while winning over 52% of his draws, the best rate of Buffalo’s full-time middlemen. He carries a $2.1MM cap charge this season and will be a restricted free agent with salary arbitration rights this summer.
As for Kozak, the 22-year-old has gotten into nine games with the Sabres this season during his three recalls, his first taste of NHL action. He has just one point – a goal – in those outings while blocking 14 shots in 10:36 of playing time.
Kozak is in his third professional season and generally hasn’t been particularly productive with the Amerks. He had 10 points in his rookie year and 12 last season. However, he has already matched that mark this season with six goals and six assists in 24 games in Rochester which should help his case as he’s set to become a restricted free agent with his entry-level deal expiring at the end of June.
Sabres Recall Tyson Kozak, Reassign Devon Levi
The Buffalo Sabres have swapped two frequent-movers between their NHL and AHL lineups, recalling winger Tyson Kozak to the majors and assigning goaltender Devon Levi back to the minors. This move comes in response to Sabres’ starting goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen returning to full health after missing the team’s Monday game with an undisclosed injury. Luukkonen will start in net when Buffalo faces Vancouver on Tuesday, head coach Lindy Ruff told Mike Harrington of The Buffalo News.
Levi started in Buffalo’s Monday loss to the Seattle Kraken. He allowed five goals on 33 shots, bringing his season statline to a 2-7-0 record, .872 save percentage, and 4.12 goals-against-average in nine appearances. He’s been much more effective with the AHL’s Rochester Americans, where he’s served as the team’s starter. Levi has posted a defiant 12-3-2 record and .913 save percentage in 17 games with Rochester, making him the team’s only goaltender with more than 10 wins and a save percentage north of .900. He briefly matched that success in the first seven games of his NHL career, back in 2022-23, when Levi managed a 5-2-0 record and .905 save percentage through matchups that included four playoff teams. This move will return Levi to his post looking over Rochester, and give him another chance to prove his consistency to the Sabres brass.
Meanwhile, Kozak will return to Buffalo’s roster after being assigned to the minors before Monday’s game. The Sabres activated forward Jiri Kulich from injured reserve in a corresponding move. Kulich returned from a four-game absence on Monday, and even earned a top-line role with fellow center Ryan McLeod inactive due to an upper-body injury. Buffalo winger Jordan Greenway is also out with injury, though the team hasn’t yet disclosed any specifics. Even with those absences, Kozak is likely to serve as the 13th forward in Tuesday’s matchup. He will however be a quick fill-in if the Sabres experience any further injuries or cold streaks, giving Kozak a chance to break his own cold spell after recording no scoring and just two shots through his last four NHL appearances. He has one goal in seven NHL games – the first of his career – this season.
Buffalo Sabres Activate Jiri Kulich, Reassign Tyson Kozak
The Buffalo Sabres are taking one small step toward a completely healthy roster. The Sabres announced they’ve activated forward Jiri Kulich from the injured reserve and have reassigned forward Tyson Kozak to their AHL affiliate, the Rochester Americans, in a corresponding roster move.
Kulich has missed Buffalo’s last four games with a lower-body injury but he’s back in the lineup today as the Sabres take on the Seattle Kraken. He finally cracked Buffalo’s roster out of training camp this season after a few dominant years with AHL Rochester. Unfortunately, Kulich hasn’t been as effective as the Sabres may have hoped.
Similarly to his peers on offence, head coach Lindy Ruff has tried Kulich with multiple combinations throughout the season. He’s had the most success next to Zach Benson and Peyton Krebs but has also been made a healthy scratch numerous times. Overall, Kulich has scored seven goals and nine points in 31 games in Buffalo this year averaging 13:53 of ice time per game.
Kozak returns to the AHL after going scoreless in his last four games with the Sabres. The high-motor forward will look to build upon his quality junior season in the AHL having scored six goals and 12 points in 24 games which ties his career-high from a year ago.
Sabres Recall Tyson Kozak
The Sabres recalled center Tyson Kozak from AHL Rochester on Wednesday, per a team announcement. He’s primed to replace forward Jiri Kulich, who left Monday’s shootout win over the Capitals with a lower-body injury, in tomorrow’s lineup against the Senators. Buffalo doesn’t have an open spot on the active roster, so Kulich is presumably headed to injured reserve to make Kozak’s recall happen.
Kozak has been recalled once this season, making his NHL debut in relief of the injured Sam Lafferty early last month. The 22-year-old pivot skated in three games, scoring his first NHL goal while averaging 9:55 per game and winning 53.3% of his faceoffs.
The Sabres were out-chanced 26-19 while Kozak was on the ice at 5-on-5, but he primarily played a defensive bottom-six role. A seventh-round pick in 2021, he’s producing at a career-best pace in Rochester this season with 12 points (six goals, six assists) in 24 games with a plus-seven rating.
Kozak is in his third professional season after a junior tenure with the Portland Winterhawks of the Western Hockey League, whom he captained in the 2021-22 campaign. The pending restricted free agent is expected to center Lafferty and Nicolas Aubé-Kubel in Thursday’s tilt with Beck Malenstyn also expected to miss the contest with an illness.
That makes three forwards unavailable for Buffalo, at least for now. Jordan Greenway remains on injured reserve after undergoing mid-body surgery in December and doesn’t have a timeline for a return.
If Kulich was placed on IR to make room for Kozak, he’s been ruled out of their next two games. Head coach Lindy Ruff told Heather Engel of NHL.com that Kulich is week-to-week with his injury, so he likely won’t be back upon becoming eligible for a return next Wednesday against the Hurricanes, either. The 2022 first-rounder has nine points in 31 games this season, his first as a full-time NHLer.
East Notes: Chinakhov, Duclair, Pelech, Kozak
Columbus Blue Jackets winger Yegor Chinakhov has missed the team’s last six games with an upper-body injury, and doesn’t seem close to a return. Head coach Dean Evason told NHL.com’s Jeff Svoboda that Chinakhov is “progressing, for sure” but that he hasn’t yet returned to skating, making a return to the lineup hard to predict.
Chinakhov has 14 points, split evenly, through 21 games this season. He’s playing the best hockey of his career – scoring at a career-high pace, recording a positive +/- for the first time, and working his way into 17 minutes of average ice time each game. They’re all very positive signs of life for the 23-year-old winger, who’s bettering the 16 goals and 29 points in 53 games last season: an 82-game pace of 45 points. Improving on those numbers is helping Chinakhov justify his 21st-overall selection in the 2020 NHL Draft – a shocking pick at the time, despite Chinakhov was one of Russia’s top junior scorers entering the draft. He made the jump to the NHL less than two years later and has since recorded 70 points and 34 penalty minutes in 166 career games. He’ll look to continue producing when he’s finally able to return to the lineup, though Evason suggests he’ll have to hit multiple checkpoints before that occurs.
Other notes from out East:
- Both Anthony Duclair (lower-body) and Adam Pelech (upper-body) returned to the New York Islanders practices today, each wearing a no-contact jersey, shares Newsday’s Andrew Gross. It’s a timely step for both players, who were designated to miss one-to-two months in late October and early November respectively. Duclair landed on long-term injured reserve on October 26th, while Pelech was placed on standard IR on November 2nd. Duclair scored two goals and three points in five games before falling to injury, looking like a stout addition to New York’s top-six. Meanwhile, Pelech’s spot on the top pair likely remains unrivaled. He’s averaged north of 20 minutes of ice time through 11 games this season, recording four assists along the way. The duo are pacing to return to the lineup before the holiday break, though it’s yet to be seen if that timeline will actually come to fruition.
- The Buffalo Sabres have sent young winger Tyson Kozak back to the minor leagues. It’s unclear if this is a means of accruing daily cap space before Wednesday’s matchup against the Rangers, or if Kozak’s assignment is expected to stick. Kozak received the first three NHL games of his career on this recall. He scored his first NHL goal in his first NHL game – but it got called back after a coach’s challenge from Jets head coach Scott Arniel. Not to be denied, Kozak managed to score again in his second game – this time cementing his first goal at the top flight. He served in a fourth-line role throughout his recall, and could be at risk of formally losing an NHL spot with the return of Jordan Greenway and Sam Lafferty from injury.
Sabres Recall Tyson Kozak With Sam Lafferty Out
Buffalo Sabres Sam Lafferty left the team’s Friday loss to the Vancouver Canucks with a lower-body injury. Head coach Lindy Ruff shared that Lafferty isn’t expected to play against the Islanders on Saturday, prompting the team to recall forward Tyson Kozak, per Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News. Lysowski adds that Kozak could make his debut right away, leapfrogging Nicolas Aube-Kubel as the team’s extra forward.
Lafferty has just one goal in 21 games this season from Buffalo’s fourth line. He’s added onto that 14 penalty minutes, a -2, and 26 hits – the slimmest stat line of any routine Sabres lineup piece. That should pave a strong path to minutes for Kozak, who seems to have finally found his groove at the pro level. He has five goals and six points in 14 game this season, already matching his goal-totals from 55 games in 2022-23, and 41 games in 2023-24. He’ll become the first seventh round pick from the 2021 NHL Draft to make his debut, should he step in – with the closest NHL company being fifth-round pick Joshua Roy, who’s played 25 games with Montreal.
Kozak was a diligent playmaker in junior hockey, recording 109 points across 152 games with the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks, though that tenure was interrupted by COVID-19 cancellations. He served as Portland’s captain in his final season of 2021-22, posting 69 points in 66 games with a letter on his chest. He’s not been as diligent at the pro level, but could still hit a strong groove should this hot start to the season continue.