Last season, the Buffalo Sabres defensive rotation got hit hard with injuries and it was one reason the team fell apart early.
The Buffalo Sabres square off against the Arizona Coyotes tonight and they may still be without three of their top six defensemen if Rasmus Dahlin cannot go because of an upper body injury. Despite missing Dahlin, Henri Jokiharju, and Mattias Samuelsson on Saturday, the Sabres still played the Tampa Bay Lightning well enough to remain competitive well into the third period.
And you can continue to expect competitive play until this latest rash of injuries have subsided. So what makes the 2022-23 version of the Buffalo Sabres better equipped to face injuries than the 2021-22 squad, who never quite recovered when the injury bug started to bite last November?
Sound depth has held the Buffalo Sabres afloat amidst injuries
During the 2022 offseason, general manager Kevyn Adams went out and made several obscure signings. He landed a decent puzzle piece in Ilya Lyubushkin, who missed some time with an injury himself and probably still wouldn’t be on the ice had Dahlin not gone down. Either way, Lyubushkin has become a sledgehammer and an energizing puzzle piece.
Adams also signed former second-round pick Kale Clague, who, when on the ice, the Sabres have found themselves taking shots 68% of the time. Lawrence Pilut also returned and he has sound NHL experience after he spent the last two seasons in the KHL.
Pilut, who has 10 blocked shots in seven games, has picked up where he left off following his departure after the 2019-20 season. Both Pilut and Clague had sound NHL experience coming into the season, which has minimized the would-be negative impact when the likes of Dahlin, Jokiharju, Samuelsson, and Lyubushkin have gone down during the season’s early stages.
While the Sabres are clearly better off with their regulars in the rotation, to have key depth pieces over in Rochester that can perform well in spot duty in Buffalo when needed is the main reason they have not sunk back into the doldrums as has been the case in the past. We will see if the likes of Pilut and Clague can continue to keep the team afloat with the defensive rotation still on the mend.
(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference)
Article Source: Sabres’ ‘underdogs’ on defense pressed into big roles with Rasmus Dahlin day to day by Lance Lysowski
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