On Tuesday night, the Buffalo Sabres saw two key defensemen leave the game due to injuries. The good news is that head coach Lindy Ruff said Olen Zellweger is already feeling better after suffering a concussion, but unfortunately, Mattias Samuelsson's lower-body injury is considered week-to-week.
With the Sabres' first game of the regular season about one week away, it seems like it is a real possibility that Samuelsson won't be available for the start of the season. If that is the case, then the Sabres are going to have to figure out how to replace a key part of their blueline and who will be paired with Rasmus Dahlin.
While Ruff won't commit to who might replace Samuelsson on that top line, he did give some indications of who he might have in mind. The obvious one is Owen Power, who is the second-best defenseman the Sabres have after Dahlin if Samuelsson is out.
Those two would certainly be an excellent top pair, but it creates some potential issues for the rest of the blueline, as it means two lefties playing together. That would require two righties playing together, and that might not be the best plan.
"I know there is a history of Power and Dahlin having played together but that means two lefties and that's going to put two righties together, which I am not really a huge fan of," Ruff said.
Lindy Ruff liked what he saw from Louis Crevier against the Columbus Blue Jackets
Another option the Sabres have might be playing Louis Crevier with Dahlin that would allow them to get the left-right balance that Ruff wants with his blueline. The Sabres' head coach was very complimentary for how Crevier played against the Blue Jackets.
"I thought when you look at night a guy like Crevier had a good night, very encouraging," Ruff said. With both Samuelsson and Zellweger leaving in the second period, the Sabres were shorthanded, and Crevier finished the game with over 20 minutes of ice time, with a +/- of +2, four shots on net, and one blocked shot.
If Samuelsson misses only the first few games of the season and Zellweger is back in time, then having Crevier play with Dahlin isn't necessarily a bad option. That would then mean Power and Zellweger could be on the second pair, with Connor Timmins and Zach Metsa being the third pair.
There is no question that the Buffalo Sabres are dealing with a tough situation losing two key parts of their blueline in the same game. However, the Sabres have the depth to manage their absence and it gets a little easier if Olen Zellweger is back in time for the start of the regular season.
Add us as a preferred source on Google