Projecting the Buffalo Sabres lineup without Tage Thompson

The Buffalo Sabres were dealt another blow to the lineup when Tage Thompson went down with a wrist injury that will take time to heal.

The Buffalo Sabres can’t catch a break this year, and it started this past June when Jack Quinn went down with an Achilles injury. Fortunately, it wasn’t season-ending, and Quinn should return at some point, perhaps around the same time when Tage returns, both of which sound as though they will come around the new year.

We already knew Quinn, barring a setback, would likely return around January, given the four-to-six month window that it takes to return from an Achilles injury. With the Twitter/X post above, you can also see that January would also make for a sound return date for Tage. So what might this lineup look like in the interim?

Projecting the Buffalo Sabres lineup without Tage, Quinn

This Friday, we got the Sabres playing the Winnipeg Jets, before they head to Chicago and play the Blackhawks on Sunday. The lineup below could be something to watch out for perhaps as early as tomorrow, or maybe not until Monday, depending on what Don Granato, Kevyn Adams, and Company decide. Anyway, here goes nothing:

• Skinner – Mittelstadt – Peterka
• Greenway – Cozens – Benson (or Kulich)
• Girgensons – Krebs – Tuch
• Rousek – Jost – Okposo
• Olofsson

I’m not putting much stock into Victor Olofsson’s two-goal game. It was the same exact thing we saw last March when the Buffalo Sabres lost 5-2 to the Philadelphia Flyers, so he’s the extra. And if you noticed anything, this lineup is similar to what we had with the projected lines if the Sabres sign Patrick Kane with just a few major differences: No Kane, obviously, and Peterka is on the first line while Tuch drops to the bottom-six while Benson takes Peterka’s spot.

So why wouldn’t you put Tuch onto the first or second line here? You want Benson to roll with bigger, more aggressive forwards, something Greenway and Cozens bring. If Benson is reassigned, however, then I’m projecting Jiri Kulich will get his chance, and he will fill the same role, except you’re likely getting a better shooter with the latter.

Tuch gives the third line an incredible scoring option alongside another pair of physical forwards in Zemgus Girgensons and Peyton Krebs – and he will see more ice time than the typical third-liner, just thought I’d point that out. In this situation, Tuch serves the team well in that role, while Peterka, one of the team’s best shooters this year, bumps to the first line with Mittelstadt, one of their best passers.