The Buffalo Sabres haven't iced their preferred 20-man roster for a single game during the 2025-26 NHL season because of never-ending injury problems over the past four months.
Buffalo will play its final game before the Olympic break on Thursday night against the Pittsburgh Penguins with seven players currently sidelined by injuries: Josh Norris, Zach Benson, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, Jiri Kulich, Conor Timmins, Josh Dunne and Justin Danforth.
That list doesn't even include Jordan Greenway or Michael Kesselring, who have been placed on NBA-style load management plans in an attempt to overcome nagging ailments.
Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff provided updates on a handful of those injured players after Thursday's morning skate. Despite the injury woes, the Blue and Gold can move up to second place in the Atlantic Division with a victory over the Pens.
Josh Norris (upper body)
Buffalo knew it was taking a risk when it acquired Norris from the Ottawa Senators last year. He's never played more than 66 games in a season, and he's already missed 37 contests during his first full campaign with the Sabres.
Norris recently rejoined the Blue and Gold at practice, but the team decided to hold him out for an extra three weeks of rest and recovery through the Olympic break.
"Just not quite ready," Ruff said. "Would fully anticipate, after the Olympic break, he'll be good."
Norris has been highly effective when healthy, tallying 17 points (six points and 11 assists) in 19 appearances this season. He's also provided a sizable boost to the power play when he's on the ice.
Unfortunately for the Sabres, it's unclear how much they'll be able to depend on the 26-year-old forward during the stretch run of the regular season and potentially a playoff run. He simply hasn't been able to stay healthy for extended stretches.
Zach Benson (upper body)
Benson got hauled down on a partial breakaway in Monday night's win over the Florida Panthers and crashed hard into the boards. He returned to the ice in an effort to play through what looked like a shoulder or arm injury but lasted just a single shift.
"I got a good report on [Benson]," Ruff said. "He should be back after the break, too."
The energetic 20-year-old winger has established himself as one of the Sabres' most important players, in large part because of his relentless compete level. He's also started to make substantial strides offensively, posting 26 points (seven goals and 19 assists) in 42 games.
Jordan Greenway (middle body)
Greenway recently expressed frustration his efforts to solve a core injury have been unsuccessful, and admitted it's even caused him to take a big-picture look at the situation.
"I still got a life to live afterwards, and ideally I can use all of my limbs and my core afterwards, right?" Greenway told reporters in late January. "So, you definitely have to think about it, for sure. But at the end of the day, my goal is to be able to go out there, help the team as much as I can and do it with the least amount of pain as possible."
Ruff said Thursday the veteran winger, who's under contract through next season, is meeting with doctors and another surgery remains a possibility.
Greenway has struggled to make an impact, aside from some solid penalty-killing shifts, on the occasions he's been able to play through pain.
Conor Timmins (lower body)
Timmins suffered a broken leg in a Dec. 18 win over the Philadelphia Flyers. Ruff said the defenseman is unlikely to play immediately after the Olympic break because he's still using crutches, but Buffalo's coach is hopeful the blueliner will have resumed skating by that point.
The 27-year-old Canadian was acquired from the Penguins over the offseason. He immediately took on a critical role on the Sabres penalty kill, and that unit has dipped to ninth in the NHL (82.1%) while he's been sidelined.
Buffalo has leaned extremely heavily on its top four defensemen — Rasmus Dahlin, Owen Power, Mattias Samuelsson and Bowen Byram — because of injuries to Kesselring and Timmins along with underwhelming play by their replacements, Zach Metsa and Jacob Bryson.