The Buffalo Sabres can’t seem to escape the injury bug.
It’s not hitting with any rhyme or reason, but ailments keep popping up, and the latest is to Konsta Helenius.
When head coach Lindy Ruff spoke to reporters on Monday, he delivered an update on Helenius, and it was bad news in the immediate term.
The head coach added that Zach Benson is dinged up, too, but he’s hoping it’s not that serious.
Benson’s absence will be something to monitor, but there’s not any further information on that yet, so we’ll break down Helenius here.
Konsta Helenius Injury Update
Ruff told reporters that Helenius is going to be out week-to-week with an injury.
Lindy Ruff said Konsta Helenius is going to be out week to week. The Sabres hope Zach Benson was just a maintenance day today but they’ll see.
— Matthew Fairburn (@MatthewFairburn) November 2, 2026
Helenius was injured when the Sabres were playing in San Jose against the Sharks.
It’s an upper-body injury for Helenius, but no further details have been provided — as is usually the case with NHL injuries.
Helenius, 20, has played in 11 games so far this season. He has one goal and two assists.
He was a breakout player for the Sabres during their return to the playoffs in the spring, having been brought up from AHL Rochester just for a few postseason games, and the hope was that Helenius would carry that over into this season.
It hasn’t fully come together yet, but he’s still got plenty of time to reach his potential. That’ll just be delayed for a bit now due to this injury.
Sabres Get Good Injury News, Too
The Sabres did have three previously injured players back on the ice on Monday: Alex Lyon, Conor Timmins and Jiri Kulich.
Conor Timmins, Alex Lyon and Jiri Kulich all practicing for the Sabres. Konsta Helenius and Zach Benson aren’t on the ice.
— Matthew Fairburn (@MatthewFairburn) November 2, 2026
Timmins and Lyon have yet to play this season. Kulich is trying to get back after an absence.
All three could contribute once they’re healthy, but it’s not clear exactly how close they are to being ready to be plugged into a game.
Still, it’s positive for the Sabres to have some players on the way back to make things seem less doom-and-gloom with the absences from the ice on Monday of Helenius and Benson.
Sabres Get Bad News on Konsta Helenius Injury, Zach Benson Absence