Sabres Notes: Girgensons, Thompson, Greenway, Captaincy
While the Sabres had some trade discussions involving forward Zemgus Girgensons, GM Kevyn Adams told reporters including Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News that their preference is to re-sign the pending unrestricted free agent. The 30-year-old has spent his entire ten-year NHL career in Buffalo after they made him a first-round pick (14th overall) back in 2012. While Girgensons hasn’t become the two-way threat they envisioned (he hasn’t surpassed the 20-point mark since his sophomore year), he has been an important checker while Adams lauded his dressing room presence. Girgensons has a $2.5MM salary this season and it’s hard to see him commanding much more than that as he has just seven goals and two assists through 46 games so far this season.
More from Buffalo:
- The team welcomed back center Tage Thompson back in the lineup today against Edmonton, per a team announcement. The 26-year-old had missed Thursday’s game with an upper-body injury. It has been a tough year for Thompson who has been limited to 35 points in 53 games after putting up 47 goals and 47 assists last season. Meanwhile, winger Jordan Greenway was out for today’s contest with an injury after taking a high stick against Nashville on Thursday. After struggling last season, the 27-year-old has fared a bit better in his first full season with Buffalo, collecting 21 points and 101 hits in 52 games so far.
- With the Sabres moving captain Kyle Okposo on Friday, they have a decision to make on the captaincy front. Mike Harrington of The Buffalo News relays (Twitter link) that the team will decide on naming a new alternate in the coming days. However, naming a permanent replacement for Okposo will likely wait until next season.
Injury Updates: Blackhawks, Girgensons, Johnson, McMann
Returning to practice after the All-Star break, Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times issued updates on several injured members of the Chicago Blackhawks. Pope reports that Connor Bedard and Anthony Beauvillier were both present in non-contact jerseys, while Connor Murphy only skated for the first half of practice.
Heavily impacted by injuries this season, the Blackhawks have lost a total of 228 man games to injury this year, placing them second in the league in the category behind the Vegas Golden Knights. Although Chicago had no plans on contending this season, the slate of injuries has completely prohibited the team from taking any noticeable step forward in their rebuilding process.
Nevertheless, the organization must get Bedard back into action as quickly and safely as possible. While missing the last four weeks with a broken jaw, Bedard continues to lead the Blackhawks in scoring, setting the team lead with 15 goals and 33 points in 39 games.
Other notes:
- The Buffalo Sabres are ready to get Zemgus Girgensons and Erik Johnson back into the lineup, as both players have been medically cleared by the team according to Joe Yerdon of Bleacher Report. Johnson had previously missed the team’s last four games, while Girgensons only missed the team’s last game before the All-Star break. Likely a seller at this year’s deadline, both players are obvious trade candidates leading up to the March 8th trade deadline.
- David Alter of The Hockey News reported today that the Toronto Maple Leafs have activated forward Bobby McMann from the team’s injured reserve. McMann was originally placed on the team’s injured reserve on January 26th with an undisclosed injury. Missing the team’s last game before the All-Star break, McMann has played in a total of 23 games for the Maple Leafs this season, scoring a total of seven points overall.
Atlantic Notes: Samuelsson, Girgensons, Lockwood, Cousins, Jarnkrok
Buffalo Sabres forward Zemgus Girgensons is day-to-day, while the extent of defenseman Mattias Samuelsson’s injury is still being assessed, per team reporter Mike Harrington. Both players are out with upper-body injuries. Girgensons spent a month on injured reserve earlier in the season, while Samuelsson has dealt with a menagerie of small injuries, leading the pair to appear in just 31 and 41 of Buffalo’s 48 games respectively.
Samuelsson has managed seven points and 26 penalty minutes in his outings while playing over 20 minutes a night on average. He’s Buffalo’s third-most frequent defenseman this season, behind Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power. The season has continued Samuelsson’s substantial role with Buffalo, with the defenseman averaging 20 or more minutes every year since his rookie season in 2021-22. His only exception to this pattern came in the 12 games he received during the 2020-21 season when he averaged 18 minutes. The Sabres are big fans of the 23-year-old defender, signing him to a seven-year, $30MM contract extension at the beginning of the 2022-23 season. They’ll hope he can return to his frequent role in the lineup soon, alongside depth forward Girgensons, who has four goals and 12 penalty minutes this season.
Other notes from the Atlantic Division:
- William Lockwood entered concussion protocol after his fight with Minnesota Wild forward Brandon Duhaime and is set to miss time beyond the three-game suspension he received for his hit on Marc-Andre Fleury, which preceded the fight. That suspension is set to end on Saturday, though when Lockwood may be ready to return is not yet clear, with head coach Paul Maurice sharing that he will undergo testing on Saturday. Lockwood has just one point and 14 penalty minutes through 23 appearances with the Panthers this season. He’s also recorded seven points and eight penalty minutes through 14 games with the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers.
- Florida is also getting back forward Nick Cousins, who joined the team for their upcoming two-game road trip and has returned to a full-contact jersey at practice. When he will officially return is not yet clear, but his progress at practice suggests fans won’t have to wait long. Cousins has five points and 20 penalty minutes through 37 games this season.
- Calle Jarnkrok left the Toronto Maple Leafs Friday practice early after blocking a shot in a drill. The extent of his injury is currently unknown, per head coach Sheldon Keefe. Jarnkrok has appeared in 46 games this season, scoring 10 goals and 19 points. He ranks fifth on the high-scoring Leafs lineup in scoring that’s led by Auston Matthews’ 39 goals in 45 games.
Eric Comrie Clears Waivers
01/01/24: Comrie has cleared waivers, according to The Athletic’s Chris Johnston. He is now eligible for assignment to the Rochester Americans.
12/31/23: The Buffalo Sabres have placed goaltender Eric Comrie on waivers, opening up room for them to activate forward Zemgus Girgensons off of injured reserve. Girgensons has been out of the lineup since November 24th, battling with a lower-body injury.
Comrie’s waiving comes after Devon Levi‘s resurgence to the starter’s net. Top rookie Levi was briefly assigned to the AHL, playing in two games with the Rochester Americans where he saved 70 of a possible 76 shots, good for a .921 save percentage and 1-1 record. Levi has played in seven games since returning from the minor leagues, setting a 4-1-1 record and .906 save percentage. His new momentum has reestablished him as the Sabres’ starting goaltender, making Comrie’s roster spot expendable. Comrie has appeared in seven games with the Sabres this year, setting a dismal 1-5-0 record and .863 save percentage.
Comrie’s spot will now be used on Zemgus Girgensons, who is progressing in his return from an injury suffered midway through the team’s November 24th win over the Pittsburgh Penguins. The 29-year-old winger has appeared in 20 games with the Sabres this year, scoring two goals and recording seven penalty minutes. He’s in his 10th season with the Sabres, originally joining the team in the 2012 NHL Draft, when he was taken 14th-overall. Girgensons was apart of an interesting 10-15 range that year, which saw him drafted alongside players like Slater Koekkoek and Mikhail Grigorenko. Star players Tomas Hertl and Andrei Vasilevskiy were drafted only a few picks later, going 17 and 19 respectively.
Atlantic Notes: Giordano, Girgensons, Gadjovich
Maple Leafs defenseman Mark Giordano will not return to action in Wednesday’s game against the Senators, per The Athletic’s Jonas Siegel. Giordano, who has been out with a finger fracture for nearly a month, practiced with the team this morning and is close to a return but is not cleared to suit up tonight.
The NHL’s oldest active skater remains on long-term injured reserve and will miss his 12th straight game. He is eligible to return at any time, satisfying the ten games and 28 days missed requirement for an LTIR placement. The Maple Leafs will not need to make a corresponding transaction to activate him with enough LTIR relief from John Klingberg‘s, Matt Murray‘s and Jake Muzzin‘s contracts to accommodate his $800K cap hit.
Even when he’s cleared to play, the 40-year-old’s role in the lineup is cloudier than when he left it. No one is budging out of the Maple Leafs’ top four, which consists of T.J. Brodie, Timothy Liljegren, Jake McCabe, and Morgan Rielly, and their third pairing of AHL call-ups Simon Benoit and William Lagesson has been one of the best shutdown pairings in the league in limited minutes. Among pairings with at least 70 minutes together, only the Kraken’s Brian Dumoulin and Ryker Evans have allowed fewer expected goals against per 60 minutes, per MoneyPuck.
In 20 games this season, Giordano has one goal, four assists, five points, and a -1 rating while averaging 17:52 per game. His even-strength Corsi share of 50.5% is his worst since the 2015-16 season.
Other items of interest from the Atlantic Division today:
- Sabres forward Zemgus Girgensons is close to a return but won’t suit up Wednesday against the Bruins, head coach Don Granato said (via WGR Sports Radio 550’s Paul Hamilton). The 6-foot-2 Latvian will miss his 16th game with a lower-body injury sustained November 24 against the Penguins. His pending IR activation is creating some uncertainty for the Sabres, who will need to demote or trade a player to create space on the roster. Before getting injured, the longest-tenured Sabre had two goals in 20 games while playing a fourth-line role.
- Also remaining out of the lineup tonight is Panthers enforcer Jonah Gadjovich, via Florida Hockey Now’s Colby Guy. It’s unclear whether he’s a healthy scratch or if he’s still battling the illness that kept him out of the lineup for four games before the holiday break. The 25-year-old has one assist and 43 penalty minutes in nine contests this season, averaging only 6:42 per game.
Atlantic Notes: Sergachev, Girgensons, Skinner, Greenway
Lightning defenseman Mikhail Sergachev is listed as day-to-day with a lower-body injury and will miss the next “one, maybe two games,” head coach Jon Cooper said Thursday morning (via NHL.com Lightning beat writer Chris Krenn). Sergachev blocked a shot with his left foot early in Tuesday’s win over the Blues and was seen in a boot and scooter yesterday at team facilities, per Diandra Loux of The Hockey News.
With Sergachev confirmed out for tonight’s clash against the Golden Knights and questionable for Saturday against the Capitals, veteran Calvin de Haan is projected to slide into a second-pairing role alongside Darren Raddysh. While they’ll be tasked with more arduous minutes over the next two outings, they’ve been the Lightning’s best defensive pairing by a wide margin this season. Playing over 200 minutes together, de Haan and Raddysh have allowed 1.74 expected goals against per 60 minutes, the best among any pairing in the league with over 100 minutes together, per MoneyPuck.
Through 33 games, Sergachev is off to a rocky start. His two goals and 19 points are second among Lightning defenders behind Victor Hedman, but he’s pacing far below the ten goals and 64 points he scored in 79 games last season. His -15 rating is also the worst of his career.
Other notes out of the Atlantic Division today:
- Sabres head coach Don Granato issued multiple injury updates today ahead of their clash against the Maple Leafs, saying that veteran forward Zemgus Girgensons practiced for the first time today since sustaining a lower-body injury nearly a month ago but that he won’t return to the lineup until after Christmas (via Paul Hamilton of WGR Sports Radio 550). Girgensons, 29, has missed the team’s last 13 games. The team has gone 4-8-1 in that span. Before the injury, Girgensons was off to a tough start, scoring two goals in 20 games after notching double-digit totals the last three seasons. The longest-tenured Sabres forward signed a one-year, $2.5MM extension to remain in Buffalo last June.
- Granato also said wingers Jeff Skinner and Jordan Greenway are a “possibility” to return to the lineup tonight, meaning they’ll likely be game-time decisions. Both are currently on injured reserve, but since the Sabres have the cap space to activate them, no corresponding transaction will be needed until after the holiday roster freeze lifts on December 28 to get back under the 23-player limit. Both players returning would give the Sabres a fully healthy top-nine forward group for the first time all season, allowing players like Casey Mittelstadt and Zach Benson to see easier matchups in a third-line role.
Snapshots: Sabres, Kulich, Hagg
Still without forwards Jeff Skinner, Zemgus Girgensons, and Jordan Greenway, the Buffalo Sabres have dealt with numerous injuries to their forward core this season, but should be welcoming an up-and-coming player back to the lineup tonight. In an article from Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News, there is every expectation that Jack Quinn will draw back into the active roster, and make his season debut against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Dealing with an Achilles injury suffered in late June, Quinn has been prohibited from building upon his rookie season last year, in which he scored 14 goals and 37 points in 75 games, finishing 12th in Calder Trophy voting. Seeing their offensive output drop from third in the league last year, to only 26th in the league this season, the Sabres will only benefit from reintroducing Quinn back into the lineup.
After just failing to reach the playoffs last season, Buffalo currently holds a 13-6-3 record through 32 games this year, sitting 5th in the Atlantic Division and five points behind the last Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference. With Quinn undoubtedly needing a few games to get back to full speed, the Sabres are hoping increased health in the organization will help change the trajectory of their season.
Other snapshots:
- Staying in Buffalo, Lysowski mentions in the same article that the team has loaned top prospect, Jiri Kulich, to Team Czechia for the 2023 World Junior Championships. Kulich was originally drafted 28th overall by the Sabres in the 2022 NHL Draft and has transitioned rather well to North American hockey. Playing for the Rochester Americans this season, Kulich has 16 goals and 22 points in 22 games, leading the team in scoring.
- According to Derek Lee of The Sporting Tribune, the Anaheim Ducks have sent defenseman Robert Hagg down to their AHL affiliate, the San Diego Gulls. Originally recalled on December 10th, Hagg served as a healthy scratch for all five of the team’s games in the meantime, failing to suit up once for Anaheim this season.
Sabres Appear Unlikely To Send Benson To World Juniors
Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News is reporting that it seems likely that the Buffalo Sabres will hold on to 18-year-old Zach Benson rather than sending him overseas to play for Team Canada at the IIHF World Junior Championship. Nothing concrete has been decided yet, but as Lysowski writes, the Sabres will likely need the 2023 13th overall pick to fill in for the injured Jeff Skinner.
Hockey Canada is hoping to finalize their roster by the end of this week and purposely left a roster spot vacant because they were hoping to see if an NHL player could be made eligible at some point this week. With Skinner out, the Sabres have lost a top-line left winger and will have to try to fill that void by committee, and Benson could be a big part of that.
Benson has dressed in 20 games thus far this season posting three goals and five assists. While his offensive numbers don’t jump off the page at first glance, his analytics are quite good and he’s done a very good job of driving play at 5 on 5.
The Sabres are dealing with a bunch of injury issues at the moment and likely won’t be able to spare a forward when they are already missing Skinner, Jordan Greenway, Jack Quinn, and Zemgus Girgensons.
TSN’s Darren Dreger also weighed in on the situation and echoed what Lysowski had said. Dreger believes that Benson is not expected to be loaned to Team Canada.
Atlantic Notes: Sabres, Monahan, Zacha, Giordano
There is some good news and some bad news on the injury front for the Sabres. Bill Hoppe of the Olean Times Herald notes that wingers Alex Tuch (hamstring) and Jordan Greenway (upper body) could suit up later on in Buffalo’s road trip next week. Both players landed on injured reserve last weekend. Tuch has started to get going offensively in recent weeks, collecting 12 points in 13 games since the start of November while Greenway remains quiet at the offensive end with just seven points in 21 games so far in his first full season with Buffalo.
Meanwhile, the news isn’t as good for Zemgus Girgensons. Hoppe relays that the forward has not progressed in his recovery from his lower-body injury. Head coach Don Granato indicated the initial expectation was that he’d be out for about another week but it appears the Sabres will be without the long-time checker for at least a little longer than that.
Elsewhere in the Atlantic:
- Canadiens center Sean Monahan reached his $15K bonus by playing in his 26th game of the year against Los Angeles on Thursday, relays Stu Cowan of the Montreal Gazette. That brings his total compensation for the season to an even $2MM. Monahan opted for this one-year deal last spring, electing to stay in Montreal where he had early success before multiple injuries ended his year. So far, he has stayed healthy and indicated to Cowan that he’d love to sign a long-term deal to stick with the Canadiens. If that doesn’t happen, he’ll likely be one of the more prominent rentals to keep an eye closer to the trade deadline, as long as he isn’t injured at the time.
- The Bruins announced (Twitter link) that center Pavel Zacha suffered an upper-body injury in today’s game against Arizona and did not return. The injury occurred at some point during the first period. The 26-year-old had 57 points in 82 games last year, his first campaign with the Bruins. Zacha has produced at a similar clip this season, posting 19 points in 25 contests heading into today’s action.
- Maple Leafs defenseman Mark Giordano skated before practice today, notes David Alter of The Hockey News (Twitter link). It’s the first time he has skated since suffering a thumb injury late last month. The 40-year-old is averaging nearly 18 minutes a night so far this season and with Toronto missing some other blueliners, they’ll certainly be looking forward to getting him back.
Atlantic Notes: Klingberg, Sabres Injuries, Komarov
Last weekend, it was suggested that the Maple Leafs would have further clarity on John Klingberg’s undisclosed injury. Namely, they need to know if he will need potential season-ending surgery. Speaking with reporters today including Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun (Twitter link), head coach Sheldon Keefe indicated that they have not received an update on the veteran’s status just yet. Klingberg’s $4.15MM cap hit is currently on LTIR, giving Toronto short-term cap flexibility. However, they can’t realistically use that money to go out and acquire a replacement for him if they know he’s going to be back before the end of the season; they’d have to be cap-compliant in order to activate him. Accordingly, until they know more about Klingberg, GM Brad Treliving will be quite limited in what he can try to do to add to an injury-riddled back end.
Elsewhere in the Atlantic:
- Earlier this week, Sabres GM Kevyn Adams provided injury updates to Bill Hoppe of the Olean Times Herald on several injured Buffalo forwards. Tage Thompson is progressing well from his hand injury and the team hopes that he’ll be on the shorter end of the timeline for a recovery period that’s supposed to be less than two months; he has been out since November 14th. Jack Quinn, meanwhile, is on track to return sometime around January 1st as he works his way back from a torn Achilles tendon from the offseason. As for Zemgus Girgensons, who has missed the last week with a lower-body injury, is listed as week-to-week.
- Still with Buffalo, Sabres prospect Vsevolod Komarov is expected to be traded in the QMJHL to Drummondville in the coming days, reports Journal Express’ Jonathan Habashi. The 19-year-old was a fifth-round pick back in 2022 and earned his entry-level contract back in May following a good showing with Quebec in their Memorial Cup run. Now with the Remparts rebuilding, it appears that Komarov will get a chance to catch on with another contender. Through 21 games this season, he has two goals and 14 assists.