The Buffalo Sabres lost two key defensemen on Tuesday night against the Columbus Blue Jackets, with Mattias Samuelsson suffering an injury after a blocked shot and Olen Zellweger suffering a concussion in the second period. After the game, Lindy Ruff didn't have much of an update, but they will get a better idea the day after the game.
The hope is that both players are going to be back in time for the regular season and that their injuries are not long-term. However, their first regular-season game is a little over a week away, and the Sabres might need to figure out a plan for how they could replace them.
One option is to keep a player who might have been sent down to Rochester when the Sabres cut the roster down to 23 players. That includes players like Ryan Johnson or Vsevolod Komarov, who could be the seventh defenseman while Metsa moves into the lineup.
Buffalo Sabres might want to explore adding a former player to add to their depth
A plan like that only works if the Sabres are without one player to begin the season, but if they are expected to be without both, they might want to bring in a free agent. Fortunately for them, there are two former Sabres currently available who might make sense for them.
The first is Logan Stanley, who joined Buffalo in a trade with the Winnipeg Jets at the trade deadline last year. The fact that he is still available is rather surprising because he is a big defenseman who can hit and even showed some offensive ability last season with nine goals and 17 assists.
It is unknown why exactly he might still be available, and it could be the fact that his contract expectations were too high. Once he realized he wasn't getting a long-term deal, he is waiting for the right opportunity, which might be returning to Buffalo.
Another potential option is Jacob Bryson, who was waived by the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday. However, he played in 289 games for the Sabres until he was one of the players who went to Winnipeg in the Logan Stanley trade.
Bryson signed a one-year deal with the Red Wings this summer and might be the better option between him and Stanley. At this point, Stanley is probably the better player, but claiming Bryson doesn't create a roster logjam the way signing Stanley would.
During his time with the Sabres, Bryson did a good job in that role as the seventh defenseman who could step in if the need arose. It is a role that Zach Metsa has done well in, dating back to last season after Bryson was traded, but a player of that caliber is better for what Buffalo needs instead of a player like Stanley, who is probably looking for a chance to prove he deserves that big contract next summer.
In the end, it really comes down to how long Mattias Samuelsson or Olen Zellweger is out and that will determine the moves they might need to make. If it is a long-term injury, it wouldn't be surprising to see either Bryson or Stanley back in Western New York sooner rather than later.
Add us as a preferred source on Google