One day after Buffalo Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff delivered some concerning injury updates, he provided a little reason for optimism on that front in regards to Jason Zucker.
The Sabres revealed at the start of training camp Zucker would miss the start of the 2026-27 season while recovering from offseason sports hernia surgery. It sounds like the eight-time 20-goal scorer is nearing his return, though.
"Yeah, he's getting a lot closer. We've got a detailed plan for, you know, when he'll get back," Ruff told Rachel Lenzi of the Buffalo News ahead of Thursday's game against the Toronto Maple Leafs, but he remained coy about an exact date: "Probably don't want to share [that]."
That's a promising development for Buffalo's struggling power play.
The Sabres rank 30th in the NHL with the man advantage through seven games with an abysmal 11.1% conversation rate. It's not a new problem, of course. They finished 20th in that category last season (19.5%) and 24th the year before (18.8%).
It's led to a lot of criticism directed toward assistant coach Seth Appert, who's been in charge of the power play since 2024-25, but Ruff deserves a fair share of the blame, too.
Zucker has been one of the bright spots for the special teams unit in recent years.
The 34-year-old California native has scored 37 points (21 goals and 16 assists) on the power play in 135 appearances over the past two seasons. That accounts for 38% of his point total since signing with Buffalo as a free agent in July 2024.
His willingness to do the net-front dirty work, and his apt scoring touch around the crease, is something that's been sorely lacking for the Sabres early in the new campaign.
Zucker isn't a one-man solution to Buffalo's PP problems, or else they would have been solved via his strong production the last two years, but getting him back is certainly an upgrade.
Ruff also noted defenseman Rasmus Dahlin, the team's captain and top power-play quarterback, could return from an upper-body injury as soon as Saturday's rematch with the Montreal Canadiens. That'd be another welcome sight for the top PP unit.
Reinforcements also on the way for the Sabres' penalty kill
Buffalo's penalty kill, which ranked fourth in the NHL last season (81.9%), was one of the main reasons the franchise finally ended its 14-year playoff drought in the spring.
It's been another one of the team's glaring weakness so far in 2026-27, though. The Sabres sit 30th (60.9%) while playing a man (or two) down amid their 3-3-1 start.
There are a few reasons for those issues, including the offseason departures of Alex Tuch and Bowen Byram, but an injury to Conor Timmins is a major part of the equation. Timmins led the club in average shorthanded ice time per game (3:02) last season.
It doesn't sound like the 28-year-old blueliner is as close to returning as Zucker, but Ruff did confirm he's making progress and is "getting close to skating."
Timmins' absence has thrust depth players like Zach Metsa and Louis Crevier into key penalty-killing roles, and the results have been underwhelming.
In fact, the Sabres' three most notable problems through seven contests have been related to an injury absence: power play (Zucker), penalty kill (Timmins) and goaltending (Alex Lyon). At minimum, it's something to keep in mind as the team continues to search for top form.
Buffalo has done a good job of building an organization with plenty of depth but, at some point, it's tough to overcome a run of key injuries. That's especially true when the coaching staff is also trying to elevate several young players into more prominent spots on the depth chart.
So, it'll be a growth process for the Sabres, who'll attempt to make incremental progress in the coming weeks, starting Thursday night against the rival Leafs.
Add us as a preferred source on Google