The Buffalo Sabres encountered some serious injury question marks late in the preseason, including to the goalies Alex Lyon and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen.
Good news, though — the roster release on Monday bodes well for everyone’s health.
The Sabres will begin their regular season on Thursday in Columbus, but their roster came out on Monday, and there weren’t a whole lot of surprises.
The big suspense was seeing whether UPL and Lyon would be available. Both are on the active roster — neither on injured reserve.
Sabres Roster
The Sabres’ 23-man roster was released on monday.
Forwards (14):
- Zach Benson
- Sam Carrick
- Justin Danforth
- Josh Doan
- Konsta Helenius
- Tyson Kozak
- Peyton Krebs
- Jiri Kulich
- Beck Malenstyn
- Ryan McLeod
- Joshua Norris
- Noah Ostlund
- Jack Quinn
- Tage Thompson
Defensemen (6):
- Louis Crevier
- Rasmus Dahlin
- Matt Grzelcyk
- Zach Metsa
- Owen Power
- Olen Zellweger
Goaltenders (3):
- Colten Ellis
- Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen
- Alex Lyon
The fact that UPL and Lyon are both just on the roster means they should be good to go after injury concerns.
Sabres Surprise Injury
There was one injury that no one really saw coming: Conor Timmins was a surprise placement on IR.
That opened room for Matt Grzelcyk to make the team after signing last week.
It’s also good news that Olen Zellweger, who had been in concussion protocol, is on the roster.
Other notables on IR: Mattias Samuelsson and Jason Zucker, neither of whom is a surprise based on their status late in the preseason.
First Game
The Sabres’ first game of the season is on Thursday, Oct. 1. They’ll be in Columbus to take on the Blue Jackets.
The NHL season opens on Tuesday, but the Sabres don’t play on either of the first two days before getting on the ice.
Interestingly, it’ll be a new-look Blue Jackets team as of Monday night. They pulled off a surprise deal that centered around sending Kirill Marchenko to the Toronto Maple Leafs and getting Matthew Knies back as the centerpiece of the deal.
It’s not certain that Knies would suit up Thursday, but if he does, he’s a big, physical, strong winger.
One thing the Blue Jackets do have is size. They have a huge forward group relative to most of the league — including the Sabres, who have some smaller guys out there like Zach Benson.
The reality at this point is that the Sabres and their fans are ready for games that count. Buffalo made the playoffs for the first time in 15 years last season. They’re trying to ensure that another drought doesn’t begin this year.
Sabres’ Roster Release Answers Injury Questions, Including Goalie