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Buffalo Sabres News: Josh Gorges Injury Might Be Season Ending

By Tim Redinger

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The Buffalo Sabres have a roster that is going to be in a great state of flux over the next week to ten days.  With the NHL trade deadline looming, and General Manager Tim Murray looking at trading away expiring contracts and getting his team ready to strike next season, who knows what the roster will look like the afternoon of March 2nd.

Friday night however, head coach Ted Nolan updated the media on Josh Gorges, and the prognosis isn’t very good.  Gorges has been out since mid-February, and according to Ted Nolan, it doesn’t look like he will make it back to the ice at all.

According to the Buffalo News:

It’s leaning that way, but we’ll see in the next little bit here,” said Sabres head coach Ted Nolan.

The Buffalo Sabres now have three players whose seasons are over.  Evander Kane elected for season ending shoulder surgery before being traded to the Buffalo Sabres.  Just recently Patrick Kaleta left the lineup due to another injury, and now Josh Gorges could be down for the season.

Josh Gorges was supposed to do great things for the Buffalo Sabres blue line.  He refused to waive a no trade clause to go to the Toronto Maple Leafs, citing the Montreal-Toronto connection, but did waive his NTC to play a few more years of hockey with fellow Montreal Canadien turned Buffalo Sabres player Brian Gionta.

It shouldn’t be a hard decision to shut Gorges season down.  The Buffalo Sabres are the equivalent of a lame duck in the standings, and will likely drop even lower in the eyes of many (can’t drop any lower in the standings) as they sell pieces off to get something in return.

Gorges is having what will amount to be the worst season statistically in the history of his career.  The only thing not working for Gorges is his age and his contract.  Gorges is thirty years old, and still have three years remaining on his current deal with the Buffalo Sabres.  He will likely be playing for what could amount to his last contract in the NHL, and he will want his numbers in the remaining three years to inflate a little bit.

Shutting down Gorges is also good for, as we had someone one this site coin the term “draft dreamers”, as the Buffalo Sabres fans who are thinking in terms of tankology, the fewer good players on the ice the better.  Personally I like the theory of, well we know what Gorges brings to the Buffalo Sabres, lets open up the roster spot for one of the kids that we don’t know too much about at the NHL level.

Rushing Gorges back this year might hurt down the road.  Best be safe and just pull the plug on his season now, he might thank you later.

Next: A February Prospect Update

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