The Buffalo Sabres are already one of the NHL’s most snakebitten franchises, and that trend is continuing in the 2023-24 season.
There isn’t a team in the NHL this season that has suffered through worse luck with the injury bug than the Buffalo Sabres. Recent events have driven this point home regarding what should be one of the best first lines in hockey, or at least a trio of sound top-six skaters.
First, Tage Thompson went down with a wrist injury during a miserable loss vs. the Boston Bruins on November 14th. And although he returned on December 5th in a loss to the Detroit Red Wings, his usual linemate, Alex Tuch, sustained a hamstring injury just two days prior.
The third man on that first line (though that wasn’t the case in Wednesday’s loss to the Colorado Avalanche as Zach Benson played on the first), Jeff Skinner, took a hit from Nathan MacKinnon, and has also landed on injured reserve. And in case you missed it, Skinner went down on Alex Tuch’s first night back in the lineup since December 3rd.
Buffalo Sabres have been hit with awful luck on the injury front this season
Jack Quinn has yet to play in a game this season thanks to an Achilles injury, but he’s made sound progress since November and is close to returning. Jordan Greenway is another one who has been banged up multiple times, and he has yet to play this week. However, there was also good news on the Greenway front given the following post from X on December 13th:
Jordan Greenway just joined the Sabres on the ice.
— Lance Lysowski (@LLysowski) December 13, 2023
Doing some individual drills with Quinn on one end of the ice while special teams works on the other.
While the Buffalo Sabres are struggling and it’s easy to point to head coach Don Granato and general manager Kevyn Adams, it’s not easy for a team to build chemistry when one prominent player goes down with an injury the second another returns, or is about to return. Or when a player has made strides or is expected to make strides, only to fail to see much or any ice time thanks to a nagging injury.
Such has been the story of the Blue and Gold in 2023, but luckily for them, there is still a lot of hockey to play, and a lot of time to get healthy. This team is having a tough time staying afloat, but if they can at least keep things manageable just a little longer until everyone’s healthy, this season is not yet lost.
Source: Sabres place Skinner on IR, recall Murray from Amerks by Jourdon LaBarber, Sabres.com
(Information provided by Hockey-Reference)