Buffalo Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff announced Monday center Jiri Kulich is dealing with a blood clot that will sideline him for an indefinite period of time.
"It's related to a blood clot that was found," Ruff told reporters. "I'm not gonna go any further into detail, but pretty serious."
The Sabres' veteran coach was asked whether Kulich, who's tallied five points in 12 games, will be able to return before the end of the 2025-26 NHL season.
"I'm gonna say yes," Ruff said. "That really depends on how things go here in the next three or four weeks."
Kulich's absence adds to the Sabres' unimaginable injury luck, which has dealt the team's roster numerous setbacks since the start of training camp in September.
Buffalo Sabres' season is trending heavily in the wrong direction as the bad news piles up
On Oct. 2, we published an article titled: "Will injuries destroy the Buffalo Sabres' season before it even begins?"
Five weeks later, the injuries haven't stopped and the Sabres' outlook takes another serious hit with each new issue that further decimates an injury-riddled roster.
Along with Kulich, Buffalo is also without Josh Norris, Zach Benson and Jason Zucker. All of them were projected members of the Blue and Gold's top-six forward group coming into the year. Fourth liner Justin Danforth is also injured.
Those injury issues are compounded by the departure of All-Star defenseman Rasmus Dahlin, who recently took an understandable leave of absence for family reasons. There's no timetable for his return to the active roster.
Any NHL team would struggle to overcome that many important absences, and it's struck the Sabres particularly hard because their margin for error was incredibly small at baseline.
In turn, perhaps it's not a surprise Buffalo has started to fade after a brief hot streak following its 0-3-0 start to the campaign.
The Sabres have lost six of their last seven games, which has dropped their record to 5-6-4, the worst mark in the Eastern Conference. Their playoff odds are already down to 10.9%, the fourth-lowest figure in the league, per MoneyPuck.
It's fair to wonder how the Blue and Gold could have performed if they opened the season healthy. The lineup, at least on paper, looked far more competitive than what they've iced in recent years, and new additions like Josh Doan and Alex Lyon have impressed.
Instead, only eight Sabres played have appeared in all 15 games so far. Buffalo simply doesn't have the organizational depth to overcome so many setbacks.
It raises questions about what's the next step for the franchise, especially as rumors swirl about the future of the front office.