Buffalo Sabres Would Be Idiots To Play Tyler Ennis Again This Season

With eight games remaining, the Sabres need to shut down the former 20 goal-scorer and prepare for next season.

The Buffalo Sabres made some news this week when they signed prospects Hudson Fasching and Casey Nelson to entry-level contracts.  For a young team that is successfully building toward becoming a playoff contender, the addition of these two players is an exciting development for fans in the 716 – heck, it’s good news for Buffalo Sabres fans anywhere!

With only eight games left on the Sabres’ 2015-16 schedule, it makes sense for the Sabres to roll out some young players in order to preview what next year’s roster could look like, so expect Fasching and Nelson to see time in all eight games.

A player you should NOT expect to see play as the regular season winds down?  Tyler Ennis, who . . . wait a minute:

I cannot be the only person who thinks Ennis should be shut down for the rest of the 2015-16 season.  Hell, I argued that the Buffalo Sabres should shut down Ryan O’Reilly just last week, and he only missed 11 games due to a lower-body injury.  Ennis was injured on December 30 and has not played since, so what, exactly, is the point of trying to squeeze in a few meaningless games as the season closes?

Buffalo has two options when it comes to Ennis’ future, and neither one of them would benefit from bringing him back and taking the risk on having him get injured again.  First, the Sabres can look at the fact that they have only been outscored by 20 goals this season, do some quick math, come to the conclusion that a healthy Ennis would have made that number closer to ten goals or less, and commit to keeping him on the roster next season in an attempt to battle for a playoff spot.

The other option, of course, is that the Buffalo Sabres include Ennis in a trade that either brings a left-handed defenseman into the 716, or brings in a legitimate right winger.   Either way, rolling Ennis out there and hoping he doesn’t suffer another injury would be absolutely idiotic, since the Sabres would either be pushing Ennis one step closer toward hanging his skates up early, or further cementing his reputation as an injury-prone liability, which would make him useless as a trading chip.

Next: Sabres Practicing Fasching and Nelson

Could Dan Bylsma just be saying what the Buffalo Sabres believe is the right thing to say?  I suppose – maybe the team is wary about being accused of tanking.   Still, shutting down Ennis at this point would hardly be considered tanking, especially when you consider that the Toronto Maple Leafs shut down both Joffrey Lupul and James van Riemsdyk back on February 25.  It honestly sounds like the Buffalo Sabres are considering having Tyler Ennis play in games, which would be the most idiotic decision this team could make right now.