- Buffalo Sabres defenseman Owen Power sustained a lower-body injury during last night’s loss to the Panthers, and he is not expected to play in tonight’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning, reports Lance Lysowski of the Buffalo News. He ended last night’s game with just 15 shifts and 13:27 of total ice time. On the season, Power has put up a career-high 40 points. At just 22, Power has put 111 points in 242 career NHL games. He still has six years remaining on his eight-year, 8.35MM contract he signed in October 2023.
Sabres Rumors
Norris And Greenway Progressing, Could Return By End Of The Season
The Sabres are hoping to have a pair of veterans return to the lineup before the end of the regular season. Bill Hoppe of the Olean Times Herald notes that center Josh Norris (mid-body) and winger Jordan Greenway (lower body) are both progressing in their recovery from their respective injuries and that the plan is for them to play before the season ends in a couple of weeks. Norris has missed the last ten games and has only suited up three times for Buffalo after they acquired him from Ottawa at the trade deadline. He has 21 goals and 14 assists in 56 games this season. Greenway, meanwhile, has battled injury trouble throughout the year, limiting him to just 34 appearances where he has only eight points. While that’s not the ideal platform year heading into free agency, the two sides agreed on a two-year, $8MM extension before last month’s trade deadline.
Sabres’ Tyson Kozak Out Week-To-Week With Hip Strain
Sabres forward Tyson Kozak’s rookie season is all but over after he sustained a hip strain in Tuesday’s game against the Senators, head coach Lindy Ruff told reporters today (including Mike Harrington of The Buffalo News). He’s listed as week-to-week, and the organization is hopeful he’ll be able to join AHL Rochester for their postseason run after Buffalo’s regular season schedule concludes.
It ends a promising campaign for the 22-year-old, who made his NHL debut sooner than anyone expected. A seventh-round pick in 2021, the center is the first player from that round to see big-league action. He’s made 21 appearances since his first call-up in December, scoring 3-2–5 while posting a minus-two rating and averaging 10:29 per game. He won 46.2% of his draws – a solid number for a rookie – and put up passable possession metrics considering his defensively-oriented deployment at even strength.
Rochester certainly hopes they’ll get a healthy Kozak back for their postseason run. The Manitoba native was an important defensive presence in their top nine when on loan to them this year, posting 8-6–14 in 31 games with a plus-five rating. He’s likely shown enough at both levels this season to earn a job on Buffalo’s opening night roster next year as a cheap fourth-line option, although they may also prefer to give him another year of development in Rochester to see if he can boost his offensive ceiling.
Kozak will need a new deal this summer as a restricted free agent. He’s not eligible for arbitration. His qualifying offer will cost $813,750 on a two-way deal.
Sabres Recall Noah Östlund
The Sabres announced they’ve recalled 2022 first-round pick Noah Östlund from AHL Rochester. The 21-year-old forward could be in line to make his NHL debut tomorrow against the Lightning. Center Tyson Kozak sustained a lower-body injury in Tuesday’s win over the Senators and is day-to-day, so assuming Jordan Greenway and Joshua Norris remain sidelined tomorrow as well, Buffalo needed to make a recall from Rochester to give them 12 healthy forwards.
The promotion comes amid a vital season developmentally for Östlund. It’s his first in North America after logging his previous professional experience in his home country of Sweden, and the adjustment across the Atlantic has been smooth. The 5’11” pivot has missed a chunk of the year with an injury but still ranks fifth on Rochester in scoring with 19-17–36 in 44 games, leading their forwards with a +20 rating.
His game’s hallmarks – speed, playmaking, and defensive acumen – have been on display. His lack of size means he topped out at No. 5 in Buffalo’s prospect rankings by Scott Wheeler of The Athletic in January, but he still tabbed him as a top-100 prospect (No. 90) league-wide. He’s done what he’s needed to do so far to reaffirm his ceiling as a second or third-line center for the Sabres in a couple of years, a position they’re looking to fill out after trading away Dylan Cozens and Casey Mittelstadt in back to back seasons.
Östlund was one of three first-round picks Buffalo held in 2022 – their own, the Golden Knights’ (acquired in the Jack Eichel trade), and the Panthers’ (acquired in the Sam Reinhart trade). They selected Östlund with the Vegas pick at No. 16, using their own selection to select Matthew Savoie and Florida’s pick to select Jiri Kulich. Savoie has since been flipped to the Oilers for Ryan McLeod, while Kulich has 14-7–21 in 54 games with the Sabres in his rookie outing in 2024-25. Early returns are strong on all three of those selections yielding players with lengthy NHL careers.
Where he slots in the lineup to begin his NHL career remains unclear, but he could replace Kozak in an insulated fourth-line role between Sam Lafferty and Beck Malenstyn. He still has two seasons left on his entry-level contract, so he won’t be a restricted free agent until 2027.
Image courtesy of Marc DesRosiers-Imagn Images.
Brannstrom Could Sign In Switzerland This Summer
- Sabres defenseman Erik Brannstrom has had a bit of a whirlwind season with Buffalo being his fourth organization. Colorado signed him in free agency but moved him before the season to Vancouver and he was then flipped to the Rangers in the J.T. Miller trade. Along the way, he has only gotten into 28 NHL games this season. As a result, it appears he could be eyeing a change of scenery as SportExpressen’s Johan Svensson reports (subscription link) that the 25-year-old could be off to Switzerland next season with a long-term contract expected. Brannstrom has 294 career NHL appearances under his belt but with a quickly diminishing role so a change of scenery could help his chances of getting back to the top level down the road. Buffalo can retain his rights via restricted free agency for the next two years.
Sabres Reassign Isak Rosen
April 2: Rosen was loaned back to Rochester today, the Sabres announced. He appeared in Buffalo’s first three games following last week’s recall but was scratched for their wins in Washington and Ottawa on Sunday and Tuesday, respectively. He managed to get on the scoresheet for the first time in his NHL career, recording an assist in last Thursday’s 7-3 drubbing of the Penguins.
March 25: The Sabres announced they’ve recalled right-winger Isak Rosen from AHL Rochester today. Rosen will replace Brett Murray, who the team announced was returned to the AHL ahead of tonight’s game against the Senators.
It’s been less than three weeks since Rosen’s last NHL game, as the Sabres continue to give the winger only limited looks in their lineup. The 2021 No. 14 overall pick is still looking for his first NHL point, failing to get on the scoresheet in 10 career appearances, including three this year. His possession numbers have provided little reason for optimism, as Rosen only controlled 41.9% of shot attempts at even strength in his limited minutes.
In the AHL, though, he’s hit his stride. Rosen has scored 27-27–54 with a +11 rating in 55 games with the Americans, leading the team in scoring and clicking at nearly a point per game. His offensive totals have steadily improved throughout the 22-year-old’s three seasons in Rochester, from 0.56 points per game in 2022-23 to 0.75 in 2023-24 and now 0.98 this year.
Playoffs are all but officially out of reach for the 28-35-6 Sabres, so with a race to finish outside of last place in the Eastern now their only objective, Buffalo will use the stretch run to continue evaluating its young talent amid a rash of injuries to their forward group. There were many updates on that front f today. While Joshua Norris will miss today’s clash against his former team with what’s now being labeled a mid-body injury, he told Paul Hamilton of WGR Sports Radio 550 that he’s day-to-day and plans to return before the end of the regular season. Meanwhile, Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News confirms that Jordan Greenway (lower body) and Sam Lafferty (groin) remain day-to-day and won’t play against Ottawa. Rookie center Jiri Kulich, though, skated this morning and could return after missing four games while in concussion protocol.
Rosen will likely get a look on the third line alongside Kulich and veteran winger Jason Zucker if the team’s line rushes this morning are accurate. They only have 12 healthy forwards, including Kulich, so they’ll need to dress seven defensemen if he can’t go.
The 26-year-old Murray heads back to Rochester after receiving a brief look in fourth-line minutes over the last week. The 6’5″ left-winger went without a point in three games but secured his fourth NHL season of playing time. The 2016 fourth-rounder now has 26 career games with Buffalo and 96-101–197 in 314 career games with Rochester, where he serves as an alternate captain.
Joshua Norris, Jordan Greenway Remain Out
The Buffalo Sabres are working on winning their second consecutive game without a pair of forwards. Earlier today, TSN reported that Sabres’ Joshua Norris wouldn’t make his return to Ottawa this evening as he remains away from the team due to a mid-body injury, and Jordan Greenway has missed his fifth straight game with a lower-body injury (Tweet Link).
Despite being acquired by Buffalo at the trade deadline, Norris has only appeared in three games for the Sabres. He’s been productive in those contests, scoring one goal and one assist, averaging 18:36 of ice time a night, and maintaining a 54.0% playoff race. There’s no word on whether or not Norris’s season has ended, but he may be better served by fully healing from his current injury to start the 2025-26 season fresh for Buffalo.
Meanwhile, Greenway is similarly prone to injuries, especially this season. The gritty middle-six forward has only appeared in 34 of the Sabres’ 74 games this season, scoring three goals and eight points. Still, although he’s missed over half of the team’s regular season contests, the Sabres to a two-year, $8MM extension with mild trade protection.
Rasmus Dahlin Out With Illness
- The Buffalo Sabres suffered a glaring loss to the Philadelphia Flyers earlier today. One of the main reasons for their defensive issues may have been captain Rasmus Dahlin’s absence. According to Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News, Dahlin missed today’s game due to illness, and he’s doubtful to play for the team on Sunday against the Washington Capitals. Without Dahlin, Buffalo’s only defensive pairing with a positive rating in today’s matchup was the duo of Bowen Byram and Connor Clifton.
[SOURCE LINK]
Sabres Sign Topias Leinonen To Entry-Level Contract
The Sabres announced they’ve signed goaltending prospect Topias Leinonen to his entry-level contract. It’s a three-year deal beginning in the 2025-26 season, but he’ll report to AHL Rochester for the remainder of this year on a tryout. Per PuckPedia, his contract carries a cap hit of $886,667 and breaks down as follows:
2025-26: $775K base salary, $95K signing bonuses, $80K performance bonuses, $82.5K minors salary
2026-27: $775K base salary, $95K signing bonuses, $80K performance bonuses, $82.5K minors salary
2027-28: $825K base salary, $95K signing bonuses, $30K performance bonuses, $82.5K minors salary
Leinonen jumps across the pond three years after Buffalo made him the 41st overall selection of the 2022 draft. The 6’5″ Finn has had an extremely tumultuous run in European professional leagues since being drafted but had a much-needed rebound season in 2024-25. The 21-year-old left the ranks of his home country to play for Mora IK in HockeyAllsvenskan, Sweden’s second-tier pro league. He responded with a .910 SV%, 2.31 GAA, four shutouts, and a 13-10-0 record in 25 regular-season appearances. Those were his best numbers at any level by a significant margin since his draft year, which he spent primarily in the Finnish U20 circuit. Leinonen also ended the year with a .929 SV% in six postseason games for Mora, but the club failed to gain promotion to the Swedish Hockey League for the first time since 2019.
Leinonen spent the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons across three different leagues in Finland, suiting up for JYP in the top-level Liiga as well as seeing time for their U20 club and second-tier affiliate, KeuPa HT. He failed to record a .900 SV% at any level in both campaigns.
Despite that adversity, his development is back on track – earning him an ELC and likely a regular role with Rochester next season. He still ranks as the No. 12 prospect in Buffalo’s system, per Scott Wheeler of The Athletic, second among goalies behind No. 3 Devon Levi. Levi, a pending restricted free agent, seems poised to re-join Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen on the NHL roster next season after excelling with a .916 SV%, 2.27 GAA, and five shutouts in 34 games for Rochester. Leinonen becomes the fourth goalie signed or under team control for next year, joining Luukkonen, Levi, and 20-year-old Scott Ratzlaff, who’ll be turning pro after four junior seasons with the Seattle Thunderbirds of the Western Hockey League.
Sabres Reassign Joshua Dunne
March 28: The Sabres announced they reassigned Dunne to Rochester today. He suited up in last night’s 7-3 drubbing of the Penguins but still managed to record a minus-one rating in 6:55 of ice time. His demotion comes after winger Jason Zucker returned to practice following a personal leave that caused him to miss Thursday’s game, per Heather Engel of NHL.com, so he should be back in the lineup tomorrow afternoon against the Flyers. Buffalo’s active roster now stands at 24.
March 25: The Buffalo Sabres have recalled forward Joshua Dunne from the minor leagues. This marks Dunne’s second recall of the season after spending six days with the NHL club earlier this month. Dunne made his Sabres debut during that stint, recording a fighting major and minus-two in seven minutes of ice time. It was the 15th NHL game of Dunne’s career. The previous 14 came with the Columbus Blue Jackets – split between six games in the 2020-21 season and eight in the 2022-23 season. Dunne has yet to manage his first NHL point but has totaled 15 penalty minutes and a minus-nine.
Despite squaring up for his first regular-season NHL fight on his last recall, Dunne has been far less the bruiser in the minors. He’s recorded just 44 penalty minutes in 58 AHL games this season, sixth-most on the Rochester Americans. Dunne has paired those PIMs with nine goals, 26 points, and a plus-11 on the season. It’s been a strong year, though he’s still well clear of the career-high 20 goals, 37 points, and 71 penalty minutes he recorded in 65 games of the 2022-23 AHL season. He lost all but 25 games and seven points of his 2023-24 campaign to a lengthy injury.
Dunne signed with the Blue Jackets as an unrestricted free agent at the end of the 2020-21 season. He managed an impressive 10 points in 15 games to start his AHL career but hasn’t found a way to mount the same scoring in four seasons since. Still, his go-to status for the Sabres highlights the impacts Dunne has created away from the puck. He will serve as Buffalo’s extra forward on Tuesday night as Joshua Norris, Jordan Greenway, and Sam Lafferty are expected to sit out with injuries.