- The Sabres demoted forward prospect Olivier Nadeau from AHL Rochester to ECHL Jacksonville on Friday morning, per a team release. Nadeau, 20, has been a frequent healthy scratch in Rochester, playing five out of a possible 26 games in his first pro season. He’s suited up just twice this month and has not played since December 16. While the 2021 fourth-round pick recorded his first professional goal, the lack of playing time is surely not a positive thing for his development. He’ll head to a lower-level club where he could potentially lock down a top-six role after notching over a point per game in the past three QMJHL seasons.
Sabres Rumors
Sabres Activate Tage Thompson, Assign Ryan Johnson To AHL
4:30 PM: The Buffalo Sabres have recalled Ryan Johnson from the AHL, proving that these moves were merely paper transactions.
10:00 AM: The Sabres activated center Tage Thompson on Friday after a very short stint on the non-roster list, according to a team release. With no existing room on the 23-man roster to execute the move, the team assigned rookie defenseman Ryan Johnson to AHL Rochester to accommodate Thompson’s return.
Thompson was a late scratch for Buffalo’s last contest, a 4-1 loss against the Bruins on Wednesday, for personal reasons. After exceeding the 23-player limit on the active roster over the course of the holiday freeze, the Sabres moved Thompson to the non-roster list before 11:59 p.m. that night to be compliant when the freeze lifted Thursday morning.
The transaction suggests Thompson will be available for Saturday’s game against the Blue Jackets. Buffalo GM Kevyn Adams will need to make an additional roster move to activate Sabres mainstay Zemgus Girgensons from injured reserve, as he’s expected to return from a lower-body injury that’s kept him out since late November. That will likely be assigning center Tyson Jost to Rochester this afternoon, assuming he clears waivers.
Thompson, 26, had four points in his last five games, including a three-point effort in the Sabres’ 9-3 drubbing of the Maple Leafs last week. In ten games since returning from a wrist injury that cost him nearly three weeks, Thompson has struggled with three goals and seven points and a -5 rating.
Johnson, the Sabres’ 31st overall pick in 2019, returns to Rochester to continue his development. The University of Minnesota product had a strong training camp and has looked good in 20 games of NHL action this year. He hasn’t provided much in the way of offense with two assists, and he’s received zero usage on special teams, but he’s graded out well possession-wise in his even strength minutes with a 51.7% Corsi share and an expected plus-minus rating of +0.1. Only Rasmus Dahlin has controlled more shot attempts at even strength than Johnson.
In fact, Johnson has graded out so well defensively that there’s some warranted speculation that the Sabres will make an additional roster move in order to bring him back up to the NHL. Given his waiver-exempt status, though, assigning him to the minors is the most convenient way to make room for both Girgensons and Thompson to suit up tomorrow.
The Sabres would need to make an additional waiver placement or trade to create room to recall Johnson again. The team’s other waiver-exempt talents – Zach Benson, Devon Levi, John-Jason Peterka, Owen Power, and Jack Quinn – have solidified full-time roles, and sending any of them down would be extremely detrimental to a team that needs a major winning streak to get back into the playoff conversation.
In his first nine games with Rochester, the 22-year-old had four assists and a +2 rating. He has not played an AHL contest since being recalled to Buffalo in early November.
Sabres Place Tage Thompson On Non-Roster List
The Sabres placed star center Tage Thompson on the non-roster list after he was absent from last night’s 4-1 loss to the Bruins for personal reasons. While the move was announced Thursday, it was likely filed with the league in order to reduce the Sabres’ active roster to 23 players before the holiday roster freeze lifted last night at 11:59 p.m. ET.
Tage Thompson Out Tonight Due To Personal Reasons
- Heading into tonight’s action against the Boston Bruins, the Buffalo Sabres announced they would be without star player, Tage Thompson, as he will be out due to personal reasons. Although his presence is heavily missed in the Sabres lineup, it has ultimately been a disappointing season for Thompson up to this point by his standards, scoring nine goals and 19 points in 26 games.
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Zemgus Girgensons Close To Returning, Remains Out Wednesday
- 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.
Examining Buffalo’s Pending Roster Crunch
It’s fair to say that the Sabres have underachieved relative to expectations this season, leading some to wonder if a big shakeup could be on the way. That might not be the case just yet but it certainly feels like a small one could be coming simply out of necessity.
Buffalo currently has 24 players on its active roster, one over the maximum of 23. They’re allowed to be in that situation during the roster freeze but once that lifts on Thursday, their hand is going to be forced and someone will have to come off the roster. On top of that, Zemgus Girgensons is nearing a return; he skated in practice for a few days leading up to the holiday break. He’s currently on injured reserve so when he’s ready to be activated, that’s another roster spot that will need to be opened up.
While the Sabres have several waiver-exempt players, it seems unlikely that most of them will be sent down. Up front, Zach Benson can’t go to the minors, only to junior and at this point, he’s expected to stay up with Buffalo. John-Jason Peterka is tied for third in team scoring so he’s not going anywhere. Jack Quinn, meanwhile, just returned and was a full-time regular last season so it’s unlikely he’d be sent down for any sort of extended stint.
On the back end, Owen Power clearly isn’t going anywhere either while Ryan Johnson has been a regular most nights lately; on merit, he shouldn’t lose his spot. Dropping him off the roster would also leave them with just six available blueliners which isn’t an ideal situation to be in.
In goal, Devon Levi is waiver-exempt and has been sent down once already this season. However, since returning from his brief stint with AHL Rochester, he has a .916 SV% in six games, a mark that should see him being deployed once again as their starting netminder. That makes him a non-desirable candidate to go down as well.
Faced with a variety of less-than-ideal demotion candidates from their waiver-exempt pieces, the next option might be the waiver wire. They’ve already gone that route recently with Jacob Bryson while Riley Stillman is also receiving a seven-figure salary to play for the Americans as well.
In terms of who could be options on that front, Victor Olofsson’s future with Buffalo has long been in question; had it not been for Quinn’s injury, some had wondered if he’d even be with the team at this point. He’s playing fourth-line minutes at even strength right now and with a $4.75MM price tag, it’s fair to say he won’t be claimed. If they’re looking for a way to keep as much depth as possible around, waiving and demoting him would accomplish that. With his contract, they’d have to take a player back if they traded him which wouldn’t solve the current roster logjam.
Tyson Jost might be on unstable ground as well from a waiver perspective. He now finds himself out of the top 12 with Quinn and Tage Thompson recently returning from their injuries. He has just four points in 28 games so far this season, a far cry from the 22 he had in 59 contests after being claimed from Minnesota in 2022-23. Speculatively, his $2MM cap charge might be enough to dissuade a team from picking him up on waivers although it’s worth noting that the Sabres didn’t balk at that cap hit a year ago. Meanwhile, a trade that didn’t involve taking a contract back as well also seems unlikely so going that route isn’t likely to clear a roster spot.
Eric Robinson, who was just acquired from Columbus, is another option. He has already cleared waivers once this season and considering the trade that brought him over was for about as close to nothing as possible, it’s unlikely he’d be claimed as well. Waiving and demoting him could ultimately wind up clearing the conditional seventh-round pick they gave up for him since it’s contingent on NHL games played for the rest of the season. While he has played well in limited action so far, Robinson is a viable option to land on waivers.
Then there’s Eric Comrie. The netminder has been in the third-string role a lot this season and his numbers when he has played (4.01 GAA, .863 SV%) haven’t been great. On the other hand, he has been a regular backup for the last couple of years. At $1.8MM, he might pass through waivers but if Buffalo was willing to retain on the contract – they have all three retention slots open – they might be able to get at least a late-round pick in a trade for him. While that would weaken their goalie depth, they do still have veteran Dustin Tokarski in the fold who can play in a pinch if need be.
Teams don’t like to be put in a situation where they’re going to be forced to make a move. But the Sabres are about to be in that spot with at least one spot to open on Thursday when the roster freeze ends and another one soon after when Girgensons returns. GM Kevyn Adams has some decisions to make as a result.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Dissecting The Sabres’ Disappointing Start
At the beginning of the 2023-24 season, most expected at least one of three rebuilding Atlantic Division squads – the Red Wings, Sabres and Senators – to end their years-long playoff droughts. Popular opinion stated the Sabres were the most likely team to do so after finishing just one point out of a playoff spot in 2022-23.
Fast-forward to the holiday roster freeze, and those three teams have the worst point percentages in the division. The Canadiens were widely expected to finish last in the division but are now fifth in the Atlantic with a .530 points percentage, posting a 5-2-3 record in their past ten games. While Detroit is ahead of Montreal by one point heading into the holiday break, the Canadiens have played one less game.
The Sabres and Senators have the most ground to make up if they want to get back in the race. Both teams are multiple games below the .500 mark, and the Sabres are the league’s 27th-ranked team with a .457 points percentage. Inconsistent play has led some to question if head coach Don Granato and GM Kevyn Adams should remain in their posts as Buffalo aims to end their 12-season playoff drought, the longest in the NHL.
Forget taking a step forward – what’s changed between seasons to guide this year’s iteration of the Sabres to a significantly worse record than last year? The Sabres may have put up some of their best work near the end of last season, but they were in a much better spot at the holiday break with a 16-14-2 record. That would have them within a few wins of occupying a Wild Card spot this year.
Their already subpar defense and goaltending haven’t changed much. Unfortunately, their offense, which finished third in the league last season, has dried up. While they haven’t been as effective at even-strength as last season, the most significant drop-off has been on the power play. They clicked at a 23.4 success rate last season, ninth in the league. This year, they’re producing at a dismal 14.1% rate, 26th in the league.
All eyes point to first-line center Tage Thompson to help get their special teams back to last year’s form. His 20 power-play goals in 2022-23 were tied with the Lightning’s Brayden Point and the Rangers’ Mika Zibanejad for third in the NHL. Thompson has struggled with injuries this season, but he’s been much less effective even when in the lineup. He has only nine goals through 26 games, only two of them coming on the power play. After producing 1.21 points per game last year, he’s producing at a much more conservative per-game clip of 0.73 in 2023-24.
Some of Thompson’s struggles are luck-based, as he’s shooting 2.4% below his career average. He isn’t shooting the puck as much as last season, though, and his even-strength Corsi share has also stepped back about two percent from last season’s figure. He may still be playing like a first-line center, but not at the elite form he displayed last season. His subtle steps back have rendered the continued development of players like John-Jason Peterka and Casey Mittelstadt, as well as an unexpectedly strong rookie season from 2023 13th-overall pick Zach Benson, ineffective in helping the Sabres return to postseason play.
On the other side of the puck, Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power have remained above average in terms of possession control. They’re far from shutdown stalwarts, but they’re also not enough of a liability to be truly to blame for their 29th-ranked defense. In a poor look for Adams, that brunt falls on the team’s two big free-agent additions – Connor Clifton and Erik Johnson. Among full-time Sabres defenders this season, their 47% and 47.4% Corsi shares at even strength are the two worst figures on the team. While Johnson’s $3.25MM cap hit is an easy out, having only signed for one year, the three-year term on Clifton’s $3MM cap hit suddenly looks quite concerning after putting up some great advanced metrics with the Bruins as part of last season’s record-breaking team.
Neither Devon Levi nor Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen have been spectacular in the crease, but Levi’s had some strong showings recently and has been slightly above average on the season, stopping 0.3 goals above expected per MoneyPuck. Luukkonen has conceded 5 goals more than expected over the course of his 17 appearances this year, but neither netminder has been poor enough to truly affect the course of the team.
How much a newly healthy Jack Quinn can aid their goal-scoring woes and mediocre power play remains to be seen. Since returning from offseason Achilles surgery, the 22-year-old winger has two goals in three games and looks right at home in a top-six role.
There is still plenty of time for the season to turn around, especially given the mediocre performances of some other Eastern Conference teams like the Lightning, Hurricanes and Devils. Buffalo’s playoff odds remain slim at 14.4% per MoneyPuck at the time of writing, and that figure is the highest out of Montreal, Detroit and Ottawa, surely influenced by their 9-3 drubbing of the Maple Leafs last week.
The focus will remain on Thompson’s production as the team returns from its holiday break. If he can rattle off a point-per-game run for the next while, that should help the Sabres squeak out some more wins and get back on pace for at least a winning record. They’ll need to count on continued development from their youngsters and better defending from their second- and third-pair players to take them the rest of the way.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Sabres Activate Jordan Greenway, Jeff Skinner From IR
Rumoured to be on the horizon for several days now, the Buffalo Sabres have officially activated forwards Jeff Skinner and Jordan Greenway from injured reserve tonight, per a team announcement. According to the stipulations provided in the Collective Bargaining Agreement, the Sabres can activate both, and carry a 24-man roster over the roster freeze since they are under the salary cap.
Barring something extreme, Paul Hamilton of WGR Sports Radio expects both players to be in the lineup tonight as the Sabres take on the Toronto Maple Leafs. Skinner, dealing with an upper-body injury, has missed three games for Buffalo, while Greenway, also dealing with an upper-body injury, has missed a total of nine games throughout his injury.
It is positive news for a Sabres organization seemingly unable to stay healthy up to this point in the 2023-24 regular season. With a 3-6-1 record in their last 10 games, Buffalo has failed to gain any sort of traction this season, sitting stagnantly in seventh place in the Atlantic Division.
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.
Jeff Skinner Will Be Game-Time Decision Thursday
While Sabres fans likely have a bad taste in their mouth after last night’s 9-4 defeat at the hands of the Blue Jackets, it’s not all bad in northern New York. Star winger Jeff Skinner was a full participant in practice today for the first time since sustaining an upper-body injury last Wednesday against the Avalanche and could be a game-time decision against the Maple Leafs tomorrow, head coach Don Granato told reporters (via Paul Hamilton of WGR Sports Radio 550).
The injury has kept Skinner out of the last three games, during which the Sabres have gone 1-2-0 with a -4 goal differential. He is one of three Sabres forwards on the injured list, joining Jordan Greenway and Zemgus Girgensons. His absence hasn’t helped a Sabres team that’s slipping further out of the playoff picture every day, now sitting squarely in seventh place in the Atlantic Division with a 13-17-3 record and 29 points.
Skinner is currently on injured reserve, although the Sabres have an open spot on their roster after assigning Brett Murray to AHL Rochester this morning.