Sabres Announce Multiple IR Moves
The Buffalo Sabres have sorted out their injuries ahead of their return to action on Wednesday night. Forwards Joshua Norris and Joshua Dunne, as well as goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, have been activated from injured reserve and will be available for Wednesday’s game against the New Jersey Devils. In a corresponding move, Buffalo has also placed wingers Zach Benson and Jordan Greenway on IR per NHL.com’s Heather Engel. Greenway has not played since January 22nd, while Benson missed Buffalo’s final game before break on February 5th.
Buffalo will exchange roster forwards with these moves. Norris has served a middle-six center role when healthy but has only appeared in 19 games this season as he battled through multiple injuries. His most recent was sustained on January 14th, in a matchup against the Philadelphia Flyers. The 26 year old has racked up 17 points in his appearances this season, the third-highest scoring pace on the team behind Tage Thompson and Rasmus Dahlin. He should return to an impact role on the second-line and should help the Sabres bridge the divide until Benson is able to return.
The 20-year-old Benson dealt with a couple of different ailments over the three-week Olympic break. His current injury has not been disclosed, though head coach Lindy Ruff did clarify that it is separate from the upper-body injury he sustained on February 2nd. Benson returned to skating earlier this week but hasn’t yet been folded into Buffalo’s practices, suggesting he could still have a bit before returning to NHL action. He will be eligible for activation as soon as he’s back to full health.
Buffalo will want their dynamo winger back as soon as possible. Benson has earned 26 points in 42 games this season – a 51-point scoring pace. On top of that, his best impacts have seemed to come away from the puck, where his mix of tenacity and skill allow Benson to fill any role on the forecheck. He has often been deployed on the second-line but has received upwards of 20 minutes of ice time a night when Buffalo needs a punch.
The biggest impact from these moves could be in net. Luukkonen went down with a lower-body injury on January 27th. The injury not only held him out of Buffalo’s subsequent five games, it also costed Luukkonen his spot on Team Finland’s Olympic roster.
Buffalo survived Luukkonen’s absence by leaning on Alex Lyon as their starter. He performed well, setting a .922 save percentage and two wins in four games in injury-relief, while rookie backup Colten Ellis recorded one overtime-loss. Luukkonen has split starts with Lyon for much of the year and recorded 11 wins and a .902 save percentage in 21 games. Those marks both fall just shy of the 14 wins and .912 save percentage that Lyon has reached in 27 games. The pair of goaltenders will continue to compete for starts, while Ellis likely remains with the NHL roster as an extra hand.
Buffalo’s series of moves is wrapped up by swapping two bruising depth-forwards off of IR. Greenway ranks seventh on the Sabres in hits-per-game, with an average of 7.18. Just above him, at sixth, is Dunne who has averaged 7.66 hits in what is his first chance at an extended NHL look. Greenway has beat out the first-year pro on the scorecard, netting five points and a minus-nine in 33 games, while Dunne has four points and a minus-four in 28 games. The two will exchange spots near the bottom of Buffalo’s lineup. The veteran Greenway would seem to have the edge on minutes when he’s back to full health.
Sabres To Activate Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, Josh Norris From IR
The Sabres are expected to have goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and center Joshua Norris back in the lineup when their schedule resumes against the Devils on Wednesday, according to the team’s daily injury report. They’ll need to come off injured reserve, but with two open roster spots, there won’t be any corresponding moves required.
Buffalo will get their highest-paid goaltender back for their playoff push after a lower-body injury ultimately prevented him from repping Finland at the Winter Olympics as planned. He departed a Jan. 27 start against the Maple Leafs in the first period with a lower-body injury and subsequently missed five games leading into the break. He returned to practice late last week, though, and has been a full participant since.
Luukkonen was deployed more as a starter for the final few weeks before his injury, but on the whole, he’s dropped down from the clear-cut No. 1 into more of a tandem rotation with journeyman Alex Lyon. The latter has arguably been one of the best free agent signings of 2025, delivering immense value on his $1.5MM cap hit with a 14-8-3 record, .912 SV%, and 2.72 GAA in 27 appearances.
Various injuries and increased competition from Colten Ellis as a result of Buffalo’s three-goalie rotation have limited Luukkonen to 21 appearances this year. However, he’s largely rebounded from a tough start and has put up above-average play on the whole. He’s logged an 11-7-2 record with a .902 SV%, 2.73 GAA, and 1.2 goals saved above expected, per MoneyPuck. While he may not be starting Game 1 of a potential playoff series for the Sabres thanks to Lyon’s play, he’s still delivering dependable play at a $4.75MM cap hit that’s now more representative of a strong 1B option in today’s market anyway.
As for Norris, he’s been Buffalo’s best-producing forward not named Tage Thompson this season – when healthy, of course. Various upper-body concerns, the latest being a rib fracture, have continued to hamper his availability. He’s played just 22 games for the Sabres since being acquired from the Senators last season, but has been playing some of the best hockey of his career when dressed, notching six goals and 17 points in 19 outings this year.
He hasn’t played since Jan. 14, missing 12 games leading into the break. The absence would have been worse if not for the break in the schedule. He has, however, been skating since the end of last month and has been a full participant in practice since teams reconvened last week.
Evening Notes: Anderson, Luukkonen, Ratzlaff
Los Angeles Kings defenseman Mikey Anderson told reporters, including Zach Dooley, Manager of Editorial Content for the team, that he is optimistic to return next game post-break, against Vegas on February 25.
The 26-year-old was able to skate over the break and is on the right track. Anderson left early against Carolina on February 1 with an apparent finger injury, unable to go in the Kings’ last two games before the Olympics. Clearly missing their trusty shutdown sidekick of Drew Doughty, the Kings lost both, and were outscored 8-3. Anderson was placed on injured reserve February 8.
Set to host Vegas in six days, the game will be full of excitement as Artemi Panarin is expected to make his long awaited Kings debut, although with the damper of missing Kevin Fiala after his devastating injury in Milan. Hopefully with Anderson back in the mix, Los Angeles will work on catching Anaheim for the second Wild Card spot and push for the playoffs.
Elsewhere across the league:
- Buffalo Sabres goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen returned to practice today, noted by Paul Hamilton of WGR Sports Radio 550, and seems to be on track to return in his club’s next game as well. The soon to be 27-year-old left mid game against Toronto on January 27 due to an apparent lower-body injury, concerning as he had to miss the start of the campaign due to the same ailment. Unfortunately, the injury cost him a spot on Team Finland at the Olympics, opening the door for Bruins netminder Joonas Korpisalo. Luukkonen has posted a .902 save percentage and 2.73 goals against average, to go with an 11-7-2 record. Buffalo is back in action next Wednesday at New Jersey.
- Not surprising given Luukkonen’s positive news, Buffalo reassigned fellow netminder Scott Ratzlaff back to ECHL Jacksonville earlier today. Like many others across the league, Ratzlaff got to fill in and practice with the big club during the Olympic break. A fifth round selection by the team in 2023, the 20-year-old is in his first professional season hailing from the Seattle Thunderbirds of the WHL. Ratzlaff has spent most time in the ECHL, posting a strong .916 save percentage in 12 contests, also playing in six games for AHL Rochester, winning three.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen To Miss Olympics
According to a team announcement, Buffalo Sabres netminder Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen will miss the Olympic Games due to his lower-body injury. In the same announcement, the Sabres shared that Joonas Korpisalo of the Boston Bruins will play for Team Finland and Luukkonen’s stead.
Obviously, even though it’s never a good time to sustain an injury, it really couldn’t come at a worse time for Luukkonen. He’s been fairly healthy since missing the first month of the 2025-26 season. Still, an injury report from a few days ago indicated that Luukkonen would miss the next week of action. It’s unclear if he’ll actually be injured through the Olympic break, or if he and the Sabres agreed it would be best for him to sit it out as a precaution.
Furthermore, it was likely the expectation that Luukkonen would be Finland’s starter for the upcoming international contest. He’s managed an 11-7-2 record across 20 starts with Buffalo this season, earning a .902 SV%, 2.73 GAA, and 3.3 Goals Saved Above Average. His fellow countrymen, Juuse Saros of the Nashville Predators and Kevin Lankinen of the Vancouver Canucks, haven’t come close to matching that production.
It would have also been his first international appearance as a professional netminder. Luukkonen was technically included on Team Finland’s roster for last year’s 4 Nations Face-Off, though he didn’t participate in any action. His last time representing Team Finland in a game came back during the 2018-19 IIHF World Junior Championship. He managed a 3-2-0 record in six games with a .932 SV%.
Meanwhile, Korpisalo was the best available of the remaining options. Despite being a backup netminder with the Bruins, he was the obvious choice over Ville Husso, Justus Annunen, or Leevi Merilainen. He’s managed a 10-8-1 record in 21 games with Boston this season with a .895 SV% and 3.12 GAA.
Like Luukkonen, Korpisalo hasn’t played for Team Finland in some time. His last showing was in the 2017 IIHF World Championships, where he collected two wins in six appearances with an .858 SV%. Finland lost the Bronze medal game to Russia.
Atlantic Notes: Luukkonen, Panarin, Lindholm
The red-hot Buffalo Sabres are going to be down a netminder for the next little while. According to Paul Hamilton of WGR Sports Radio, the Sabres expect Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen to miss the next week with a lower-body injury.
Since the calendar turned to December, Buffalo has a 20-6-1 record in their last 27 games, carrying a team SV% of .906. Luukkonen has played an integral role in stabilizing the crease, earning a 9-4-1 record in 14 games with a .908 SV%. The team will now have to rely on the combination of Alex Lyon and Colten Ellis, likely up until the upcoming Olympic break.
Fortunately, the Sabres are likely comfortable with that. Since the hot streak began in December, not only has Lyon been a boon to the team, but he’s been one of the league’s best over that stretch. The 33-year-old netminder has won nine out of 10 games with a .928 SV% since December 1st.
Other notes from the Atlantic Division:
- The jury is still out on which team will ultimately acquire Artemi Panarin from the New York Rangers. On today’s episode of Insider Trading, TSN’s Pierre LeBrun indicated that Panarin’s camp has contacted the Florida Panthers (among others) about potentially facilitating a trade. Still, LeBrun poured some cold water on that idea, indicating that it would be nearly impossible for the Panthers to afford an extension, and Panarin has reportedly made that a requirement.
- The Boston Bruins will be without their first-line center tonight. According to Steve Conroy of The Boston Herald, forward Elias Lindholm is considered day-to-day with an undisclosed injury. However, Conroy hinted that Lindholm’s recovery timeline could extend beyond that, given that he’s meeting with team doctors today.
Injury Notes: Luukkonen, Lindholm, Svechkov
The Buffalo Sabres announced mid-game that Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen would not return against Toronto due to a lower-body injury. The goaltender’s night ended after 12:14, surrendering two goals in five shots. He looked to be bothered after Auston Matthews found the back of the net, subsequently pulling himself, leaving Colten Ellis to take over. Buffalo ended up coming away with a 7-4 win.
Luukkonen missed the start of the season with a lower-body issue, but has been healthy since then. He has been catching up with Alex Lyon, now having backstopped the Sabres in 20 games, with a respectable .905 save percentage and 2.66 goals-against-average. The 26-year-old has formed an impressive duo with Lyon, not to mention Ellis, who has led Buffalo to keep three goaltenders on their active roster.
Naturally, the club is well stocked between the pipes for now, but given their strong play of late, the hope is that Luukkonen won’t need to miss an extended period.
Elsewhere across the league:
- The Boston Bruins shared that Elias Lindholm would not return against Nashville due to an upper-body injury. The top line center appeared bothered after a face-off. Lindholm had a stint on IR in November, but no issues since. Prior to tonight, the 31-year-old had six points in his last five games, on pace to exceed his 47-point output in 2024-25 by a wide margin. Sitting third in team scoring, it has been a needed return to form this year. An update should come by Thursday, as the team hosts Philadelphia.
- Boston’s opponents also lost a center tonight, as the Nashville Predators announced Fedor Svechkov would not return due to an upper-body injury which came from a hard hit in the first period. One Nashville’s more noteworthy prospects, the 22-year-old has just nine points in 49 games, a noticeable drop off from his rookie campaign where he notched 17. Despite the lack of production, he’s been a consistent presence besides a scratch over the weekend. The Predators are back in action Thursday in New Jersey, and if Svechkov will miss any time, Tyson Jost figures to slot back into the lineup.
Morning Notes: Luukkonen, Morozov, Kindel
The Buffalo Sabres are currently carrying three goalies on their roster, and while that has worked for the club in the short term as it’s dealt with numerous injuries, keeping three netminders in the NHL over the course of a full season is generally seen as an unconventional, cumbersome roster decision. Yesterday, The Athletic’s Matthew Fairburn identified the Sabres’ NHL goaltending trio as a potential issue as it could very well “prevent the Sabres from being able to carry an offensive player who can help them.” As a result, Fairburn wrote that netminder Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen “seems like the logical odd-man out” if the Sabres do elect to continue on with just two goalies on their NHL team.
That doesn’t mean they’d simply try to send Luukkonen down, of course, and Fairburn notes that they’d need to find a trade partner for Luukkonen, which could be difficult due to the player’s inconsistent form and $4.75MM cap hit. But according to Fairburn, Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff appears to have “lost some faith” in Luukkonen, especially as he has struggled to make timely saves and stay healthy. With veteran Alex Lyon and 25-year-old waiver claim Colten Ellis both under contract through next season, as well as top goalie prospect Devon Levi, it seems the Sabres will have to make a call on which goalies they want to keep and which they would need to move on from at some point in the medium-term future. According to Fairburn, the goalie that they try to move on from could very well be Luukkonen.
Other notes from around the NHL:
- One prospect who has significantly raised his 2026 draft stock that is University of Miami (Ohio) forward Ilia Morozov, who earlier this week was raised to an “A” grade on NHL Central Scouting’s preliminary watchlist, according to NHL.com’s Mike Morreale. An “A” grade signifies a candidate to be a first-round pick at the draft next year, and when the watchlist was first released, Morozov was assigned a “B” grade by Central Scouting. What appears to have raised Morozov’s stock has been his electric start to the season in the NCAA. Morozov has 11 points through 11 games, a point-per-game rate that is just a shade lower than projected top pick Gavin McKenna. What has helped Morozov garner so much hype has been the fact that he’s not only generating offense in the NCAA (an NCAA that has been flooded with high-level CHL talent thanks to recent rule changes) as a 17-year-old with an August birthdate, but that he’s also doing so as a player listed at 6’3″ 205 pounds on Elite Prospects. If there’s something NHL scouts often can’t resist, it’s a draft prospect who pairs dynamic offensive ability with pro-projectable size and strength. In the early part of the season, that’s exactly what Morozov has been, and his stock is soaring as a result.
- Looking at last season’s draft, one of the standout players so far has been Pittsburgh Penguins forward Benjamin Kindel, who the team selected No. 11. At the time, most public-facing outlets had Kindel ranked later than the No. 11 slot Pittsburgh selected him at. The Athletic’s Corey Pronman gave the Penguins’ pick of Kindel a “C” grade on draft night, which was tied for his lowest grade for any selection in the 2025 first round. Kindel was ranked No. 22 on Bob McKenzie’s list, No. 21 among North American Skaters by NHL Central Scouting, and No. 33 by Pronman. But the Penguins were far higher on Kindel. Per The Athletic’s Josh Yohe, the Penguins “entered the draft with Kindel ranked as the fourth-best prospect available.” While it remains to be seen if Kindel’s career falls more in line with Pittsburgh’s No. 4 ranking or the public sphere’s evaluation of Kindel as a mid-to-late first-rounder, early returns have favored the Penguins staff. Kindel has looked like an NHL player at just 18 years old this season, scoring seven points in 18 games. He’s just one of three players projected to play all of 2025-26 in the NHL, the other two being Matthew Schaefer and Michael Misa, the top two picks of the draft.
Sabres Activate Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen From Conditioning Stint
Oct. 23: The Sabres announced they’ve recalled Luukkonen from his conditioning stint, putting him back on the active roster. He suited up for Rochester in a 4-2 win over Syracuse on Wednesday, making 21 saves on 23 shots for a .913 SV%.
Oct. 21: Sabres starting netminder Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen will head to AHL Rochester on a conditioning stint, the club announced. The team also reassigned defenseman Zachary Jones to Rochester after recalling him on Sunday. Luukkonen remains on IR while on his conditioning stint, so Buffalo is operating with an open roster spot with the Jones reassignment.
Luukkonen, 26, has yet to suit up in the regular season. He showed up to camp with a lower-body issue that sidelined him for a few days. He was eventually able to make a preseason start but sustained a second injury in the first period of that game that landed him on the shelf on a week-to-week basis before opening night. He’s now eligible to suit up for or practice with Rochester for up to two weeks before the Sabres have to leave him on IR or reinstate him.
In the meantime, veteran backup Alex Lyon has more than picked up the slack. He signed a two-year, $3MM deal in the offseason, and he’s started and finished all six of the Sabres’ games thus far. He’s carrying a 2-4-0 record after last night’s loss to Montreal, but has an eye-popping .924 SV% and 2.55 GAA in the process, even recording a 32-save shutout against the Panthers last weekend. His 4.5 goals saved above expected rank ninth in the NHL, per MoneyPuck.
It begs the question whether Luukkonen will even see the lion’s share of starts when he’s ready to return. Lyon is untested in this type of usage – the 32-year-old has only ever topped 30 starts in a season once – but it’s nearly impossible to justify taking the reins away from him given his early-season showing.
Giving Luukkonen a conditioning stint, aside from getting up to speed, also provides the Sabres more time to decide what to do with Colten Ellis. They claimed the 25-year-old off waivers from the Blues a few weeks ago for him to supplement Lyon with Luukkonen out. They sang his praises after the claim and would prefer to retain him, but must expose him to waivers again if they want him to go to Rochester. Doing so could result in a reclaim by the Blues, who could send him directly to their AHL affiliate if they’re the only team to submit a claim.
Luukkonen now looks to shake off the rust following a tough start to the year. After finishing 12th in All-Star Team voting in 2023-24 with a career year, the 2017 second-round pick regressed mightily in 2024-25. While he made a career-high 55 starts, it didn’t come with great numbers – a 24-24-5 record, .887 SV%, and 3.20 GAA with a pair of shutouts. That was “good” for -8.6 GSAx after posting a 9.4 the year before.
As for Jones, he was a healthy scratch for last night’s loss. Buffalo recalled him to ensure they had seven healthy defensemen on the active roster while Jacob Bryson sat in concussion protocol. He hasn’t been cleared yet, but if Buffalo needs another defenseman for tomorrow’s home game against the Red Wings, they can easily recall someone else from Rochester.
Sabres Reassign Joshua Dunne
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 Notes: Luukkonen, Kesselring, Mrtka
The Sabres issued multiple injury updates today, none of them particularly positive. Goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen is dealing with a new injury unrelated to the one that’s kept him out of commission thus far, head coach Lindy Ruff told WGR Sports Radio 550’s Paul Hamilton. According to Ruff, Luukkonen’s injury will keep him sidelined on a week-to-week timeline, ruling him out for the Sabres’ season-opening contest and perhaps several more after that.
Luukkonen, 26, has emerged as the Sabres’ undisputed number-one netminder over the last two years. He was brilliant in 2023-24 posting a .910 save percentage in 54 games, but took a step back in 2024-25. (.887 save percentage across 55 games) With Luukkonen sidelined moving forward, the Sabres will turn to one of Alex Lyon or Alexandar Georgiev as the team’s season-opening starting netminder. Georgiev was signed to a league-minimum deal just before the preseason, while Lyon signed a two-year $1.5MM AAV deal earlier in the offseason.
Some other notes from Western New York:
- Luukkonen was not the only Sabre Ruff said would be out week-to-week: he also noted that defenseman Michael Kesselring would be out of commission on a similar timeline. That’s a tough blow for the Sabres, who acquired Kesselring in the JJ Peterka trade and had hoped his addition would go a long way to shoring up their defense. He still could, of course, but it now appears he’ll miss at least the start of the season. In his place, the Sabres could elevate Conor Timmins from the third pair to play next to Owen Power on the team’s second pairing, or Jacob Bryson could draw into the lineup to fill that role.
- Ruff also said today that 2025 first-round pick Radim Mrtka is dealing with an illness and will be unable to play in the short-term as a result. Because of this, Rochester Americans defenseman Zach Metsa will be recalled to play in his place in the team’s final preseason game. Metsa, 26, is an NCAA National Championship-winning defenseman who scored an impressive 46 points in 69 games last year for the Americans. He’s expected to begin the season in Rochester, but if his stellar play continues he could be a name to watch for an NHL call-up down the line.