News and Community

The Buffalo Sabres have dealt with numerous injuries to their blueline, and currently have veterans Mattias Samuelsson and Michael Kesselring unavailable. In their 8-4 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday, head coach Lindy Ruff leaned heavily on his top four blueliners, as Rasmus Dahlin, Bowen Byram, Owen Power, and Connor Timmins played in excess of 23 minutes. 

Jacob Bryson and Ryan Johnson were both used sparingly, with Bryson playing just under 13 minutes and Johnson only 5:12. On Thursday, the club announced that they have sent down Johnson to the AHL and recalled defenseman Zach Metsa from the Rochester Americans. The 26-year-old played five seasons at Quinnipiac and won an NCAA Championship before signing a two-year AHL deal with Rochester. 

Other Sabres Stories

Six Former Sabres Who Signed Elsewhere

Norris Out Eight Weeks At Least

Metsa played a significant role for current Sabres assistant coach Seth Appert as Amerks hea coach in their run to a Calder Cup Final Four appearance, and earned an NHL contract leading Rochester in defensive scoring with 46 points (7 goals, 39 assists) last season. Ruff said that both Samuelsson and Kesselring were getting better, but Samuelsson has not practice all week and Kesselring is stil on injured reserve, so the chances are likely that Metsa will make his NHL debut on Saturday afternoon against the Florida Panthers. 

Over the summer, one player that Buffalo potentially might be interested in pursuing was Columbus winger Yegor Chinakhov, a former first round pick of Sabres senior advisor Jarmo Kekalainen who requested a trade from the Blue Jackets. On Wednesday, Chinakhov played his first game of the season and 20 NHL clubs (including Buffalo) had scouts at the game. 

Follow Michael on X, Instagram  @MikeInBuffalo