The Buffalo Sabres are set to kick off the longest road trip of the season to date on Wednesday night with a road game against the Philadelphia Flyers. It will be the first of six straight games on the road and could define their season as they have struggled on the road for most of the season with a 2-6-2 record so far.
On Monday, the Sabres held a practice before embarking on the road trip and there were plenty of news and notes for the team to recap here.
Michael Kesselring won't join the Buffalo Sabres on the upcoming road trip
The Buffalo Sabres, surprisingly, are probably the healthiest they have been all season with the return of Josh Norris on Monday against the Winnipeg Jets. This leaves Michael Kesselring as the biggest absence currently out with an injury, and unfortunately, it doesn't seem like he will be back anytime soon.
On Monday, head coach Lindy Ruff said he is skating but won't be joining the team on this trip. This means that the earliest he could be back is on December 18th against the Philadelphia Flyers.
In his first season with the Buffalo Sabres, Kesselring has struggled to stay on the ice and entered the season with an injury. He would return and play in nine games before suffering an injury on November 15th against the Detroit Red Wings.
The good news is that the defense has been able to hold their own in his absence and once he returns it can hopefully help this group.
Contract discussions 'ongoing' but Alex Tuch is focused on playing hockey
Entering the season, a new contract for Alex Tuch was top of mind for most Sabres fans. Unfortunately, nothing was completed, and then the Sabres got off to an ugly start that seemed to put an end to contract negotiations or at least put them on the 'back burner'.
On Monday, Alex Tuch was on Sabres Live, and he was asked where contract negotiations stand. "Personally, I have just been focused on hockey," Tuch said. "We're playing every other day. I haven't talked to my agent in days, or when the last time I talked to him, honestly, but I just know there are ongoing conversations."
After some of the contract extensions signed around the league during the season, Alex Tuch is probably the best potential free agent this upcoming summer. He probably has no reason to rush to sign a new deal so it isn't really surprising to see the answer he gave.
It seems like there will be a lot of waiting but the Sabres are going to need to make a decision closer to the NHL Trade Deadline if a new deal isn't agreed upon.
Sabres head coach sees a scenario where the three-goalie rotation comes to an end soon
One of the big topics for the Buffalo Sabres has been this three-goalie rotation that they have tried to manage with the return of Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen from his injury on October 25th. It feels like the only way the Sabres are going to fix this is by moving one of those goalies, and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen seems to be the popular pick.
Before practice on Monday, head coach Lindy Ruff was on WGR550 and asked about the goalie rotation and Ruff said:
""If you look at the road trip and the way we are playing. I could easily see all of a sudden you can start riding the guy with the hot hand and that three goalie rotation narrows pretty fast.""
The biggest question is who might emerge and seize the opportunity ahead of them. It appears that Colten Ellis is going to have the first chance to do that, as Rachel Lenzi with The Buffalo News tweeted that he was in the starter net for Monday's practice.
It will be an interesting stretch of games for the Sabres and the hope is that someone can make it easy for the coaching staff to name their starter and stick with.