Sabres Undecided On Zach Benson Past Nine Game Trial
Buffalo Sabres head coach Dan Granato recently spoke on the team’s plans with rookie forward Zach Benson, who is nearing a return from injury after dealing with a lower-body injury that earned him a spot on injured reserve a couple of weeks ago. Granato shared that the team has yet to decide whether to keep Benson with the NHL club or not and that his first three games back from injury will be “huge” in informing that decision. Benson currently sits at six NHL games played this season and will burn a year of his entry-level contract if he plays in a 10th game. If he doesn’t stick in the NHL lineup, Benson will be returned to the WHL’s Wenatchee Wild, where Sabres teammate Matthew Savoie was just assigned.
Benson has been a surprise going back to last summer when he fell to the Sabres at 13th overall despite many public scouting outlets touting him as a top 10, or even top five, pick in the draft class. He continued to raise eyebrows with a stellar showcase at the Sabres’ training camp, earning an immediate spot on the NHL roster as a 5’9″ 18-year-old. But he’s only managed two points in the six NHL games he’s appeared in while averaging just over 13 minutes of ice time. It’s been a slow start in terms of production but the Sabres are clearly fans of how Benson is adjusting, with Granato adding that there’s a “clear comfort level there.” They will have a small sample of games, coming off an injury, to get a final assessment of Benson before they’ll need to decide if they want to keep him for the season.
The Sabres are expecting Benson, as well as Alex Tuch and Eric Comrie, to return to the lineup on Friday.
Atlantic Notes: Husso, Klingberg, Timmins, Benson
Red Wings netminder Ville Husso has left the team, currently in Sweden for the 2023 NHL Global Series in Stockholm, to return home after the birth of his and his wife’s first child, per Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press. The 28-year-old, currently in the second season of a three-year, $14.25MM contract, has started 10 of the Red Wings’ 15 games this season but has struggled lately, posting a sub-.900 SV% in each of his last three starts. On the season, he now has a 6-3-1 record with a .885 SV% and 3.61 GAA, conceding 5.7 goals above average. In his place, 30-year-old Alex Lyon is expected to make his Red Wings debut in one of the team’s two overseas contests, either Thursday against the Senators or Friday against the Maple Leafs. Detroit has carried Lyon as a third goalie on the active roster for the entire 2023-24 season, unwilling to expose him to waivers, but he hasn’t seen a minute of action in the crease after a strong showing in 15 games to close out last season with the Panthers.
A few more notes out of the Atlantic Division today:
- Maple Leafs right-shot defenseman John Klingberg is likely to miss that Friday tilt against the Red Wings, head coach Sheldon Keefe told reporters Wednesday (via Lance Hornby of The Toronto Sun). The 6-foot-3 Swede is still dealing with an undisclosed injury that sidelined him for November 10th’s shootout win over the Flames, although he returned to play 19:00 the following night against the Canucks, registering a +1 rating. The much-maligned 31-year-old from Gothenburg is cooling down after a decent start, posting no points in his last eight outings and is down to a -7 rating on the season. Klingberg did travel with the team to Sweden but has not practiced with the squad since arriving in his home country.
- Staying with Toronto, Keefe also told reporters that defenseman Conor Timmins is likely to return from a lower-body sustained in preseason play during the team’s trip to Sweden. He practiced with the team earlier this week and is now expected to enter the lineup for Sunday’s game against the Wild, although he hasn’t been ruled against the Red Wings if he gets closer to playing shape quicker than anticipated over the next two days. Timmins has been strong in limited action since joining the Leafs via trade from the Coyotes last season, posting 14 points in 25 games with the team post-trade despite averaging just 15:37 per contest. His role in the lineup became unclear after Toronto added Jake McCabe and Luke Schenn after last year’s trade deadline, though, making him a healthy scratch for most of the tail end of the season. After a strong showing in the early goings of the 2023 preseason, too, Timmins will look to begin the first season of his two-year, $2.2MM contract on a high note and be of value to the Leafs, especially while Timothy Liljegren remains sidelined with an ankle injury.
- Sabres rookie winger Zach Benson is likely to return from a lower-body injury on the team’s upcoming three-game road trip, head coach Don Granato told Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News on Wednesday. Benson, still just 18, hasn’t looked out of place so far in NHL action, posting two assists in six contests while averaging over 13 minutes per game. He’s missed ten out of the last 12 games with the injury, however, and will need to be activated from IR before he returns to play. The Sabres’ trip includes stops in Winnipeg on Friday, Chicago on Sunday, and Washington next Wednesday.
Sabres Recall Lukáš Rousek, Place Zach Benson On IR
Nov. 3: Buffalo has now moved Benson to IR to accommodate Rousek making his 2023-24 Sabres debut tonight against Philadelphia, Joe Yerdon of Bleacher Report notes.
Nov. 2: The Buffalo Sabres have recalled forward Lukáš Rousek from the AHL’s Rochester Americans, per a team announcement Thursday.
Buffalo currently has a full 23-man roster, so a corresponding transaction needs to be made along with the recall. This will likely be moving rookie winger Zach Benson to IR. The 18-year-old is listed as week-to-week with a lower-body injury and missed the team’s last contest, a Wednesday night win against the Flyers.
The Sabres are slated for a rematch with the Flyers at home on Friday. Rousek, 24, could be an option to slide into the lineup if winger Alex Tuch is unavailable to play. He was absent from practice today due to a maintenance day, Mike Harrington of The Buffalo News reports. The team also has Swedish winger Victor Olofsson available, although he’s been a healthy scratch in four out of ten games this season and remains without a point in 2023-24.
This is the fourth NHL call-up for Rousek, who was brought up three times on emergency and standard recalls near the end of last season. He made two appearances, notching a goal and an assist on three shots and a +2 rating. A sixth-round pick of the Sabres in 2019, Rousek is off to another strong start with AHL Rochester after posting strong totals in his first full minor-league campaign last year. He’s notched two goals and four assists for six points and a -3 rating in eight games this season, including a multi-point effort against Laval last week.
Buffalo Sabres Zach Benson Out Week-To-Week With Injury
The Buffalo Sabres have announced that rookie forward Zach Benson is out week-to-week with a lower-body injury. Benson has played six games so far this season, recording two points and a -1.
Zach Benson has become a name to follow through the early season, wowing at training camp after going 14th overall in the most recent NHL Draft. His early jump to the NHL has surprised many, and Benson’s statistical profile may speak to the need for a little more time in the oven. He’s currently carrying a 43.44 CF% and 50.0 xGF% – modest numbers that certainly aren’t bad for an 18-year-old but are enough to make an NHL team look in another direction. The Sabres have three more free games of Benson before they’re faced with the decision of spending a contract year or not. If they decide he’s better off getting some more development time, he’ll be sent back to the Wenatchee Wild of the WHL, where teammate Matthew Savoie will play after his AHL conditioning stint.
The Sabres recalled undrafted forward Brandon Biro to the NHL in response to Benson’s injury. Biro will likely become the team’s extra forward, as Tyson Jost slots in to fill Benson’s role. Jost has played in six games so far this season, tallying two points, split evenly. Jost is in his first full season with the Sabres, after joining them partway through the 2022-23 campaign. He netted 22 points in 59 games with Buffalo last year.
The news of Benson’s injury is a tough blow for a Sabres lineup looking to elevate their young talent. It could also have negative implications on Benson’s case to stay in the NHL, as he’ll be fighting to both return to form after injury and keep an NHL roster spot when he returns to play.
Buffalo Sabres Zach Benson, Devon Levi Out Day-To-Day
Two crucial young Buffalo Sabres players are out with lower-body injuries: Zach Benson and Devon Levi. According to the team, both Benson and Levi are considered day-to-day at this stage.
While both injuries could very well be minor and cause only brief absences for each player, the immediate implications of the loss of these two players is significant for the Sabres. Head coach Don Granato’s forward lines have undergone major surgery. Dylan Cozens was moved from second-line center to first-line right winger, Jordan Greenway was also elevated to the first line, and among other changes veteran Victor Olofsson re-entered the regular lineup pitcture in Benson’s place.
The loss of Benson is somewhat minimized by the fact that the Sabres had Olofsson (who scored 28 goals last year) as a healthy scratch. Their surplus of quality forwards is not mirrored in net, though, where any loss of Levi would be more significant.
Although the team does have a surplus of goalies in terms of numbers, (they are carrying three netminders on their active roster) they do not appear to have a surplus in terms of quality.
Neither Eric Comrie or Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen have performed exceptionally at the NHL level for the Sabres, and Levi has started all of the Sabres’ games so far this season. This is a season where Buffalo is looking to end the NHL’s longest playoff drought, and their slower-than-expected start has been something of a concern.
With an important rematch against the Islanders coming up tomorrow, the Sabres will have to hope that the lower-body injuries that kept Levi and Benson out of practice today won’t cost them much more than that.
Buffalo Sabres Sign Zach Benson To ELC
The Buffalo Sabres announced today that they’ve signed their 2023 first-round pick Zach Benson to an entry-level three-year contract. Benson was the Sabres’ top selection at 13th overall in last month’s NHL Entry Draft and was seen by some scouts as one of the top playmakers in the entire draft. Benson’s ELC will pay him an NHL salary of $855K to go along with a $95K signing bonus. He will carry an annual cap hit of $950K at the NHL level, and should he play in the minors, he would receive a salary of $82,500.
The 18-year-old forward dressed in 60 games this past season with the Winnipeg ICE of the WHL posting 36 goals and 62 assists while finishing the season +68. The native of Chilliwack, British Columbia, set career highs in every offensive category and finished third in scoring with 98 points. Benson had incredible chemistry with another Sabres prospect, Matt Savoie, who was drafted by Buffalo with the number nine pick just one year ago. Savoie and Benson led the ICE this past season, posting a combined 193 points while leading both the power-play and penalty-kill units.
Benson turned a lot of heads at the Sabres development camp just three weeks ago, and in an article from The Athletic’s Matthew Fairburn, he wondered if Benson was already the Sabres’ top prospect. There were some scouts who were surprised to see him slip to the 13th pick, and Fairburn wondered if he is a star in the making for Buffalo.
While scouts were always impressed with Benson’s puck skills, there was always the underlying concern about his size. Benson stands just 5-foot-10 and weighs around 170 pounds, so it is possible that his puck skills might be impeded when he eventually plays against bigger and stronger players. However, Benson has plenty of time to fill out his frame and should be able to develop more strength on the puck over time.
Benson’s entry-level deal was always something that was going to happen, and now his attention will turn to cracking the Sabres NHL lineup. It’s something that could happen sooner than later if he continues to develop the way he has recently.