Zach Benson's imminent return presents the Buffalo Sabres with difficult line decisions

On Friday, the Buffalo Sabres got Jason Zucker back after missing eight games, and he delivered with three points against the Chicago Blackhawks. They could be ending the weekend getting back another key part of their team in Zach Benson, who has missed the last 10 games.

Prior to the Blackhawks game, head coach Lindy Ruff said he was a possibility for that game, but they decided to wait a bit. That means he seems likely to return against the Hurricanes, but nothing has been confirmed yet by the team.

When he is ready to return, the Sabres are going to have to make some changes to their roster. The first being they have to open up a spot on the roster and if the game on Friday was any indication, then Josh Dunne probably is that player sent down to Rochester after being a healthy scratch.

Where can the Buffalo Sabres fit Zach Benson into these lines with minimal changes?

From there, the Sabres will need to figure out how to work him into the lines. The coaching staff can take two approaches with this, depending on the thought process.

The first being that they don't want to change the lines too much after the Sabres had arguably their best game of the season. It was a complete team effort from top to bottom, and every line was very productive against the Blackhawks, including the Sabres' top line of Josh Doan-Tage Thompson-Alex Tuch, who combined for eight points.

In this scenario, the Sabres would keep the lines as is and swap Zach Benson with Tyson Kozak on the line with Noah Ostlund and Isak Rosen. Both Ostlund and Rosen have done a good job over the past few weeks with expanded roles due to the minutes and putting them with Benson, who had eight assists in eight games, has the potential to be really productive.

What if Buffalo Sabres want to get Zach Benson back on the top line?

If the Buffalo Sabres want to get Zach Benson back on the top line with Tage Thompson, it is going to create a ripple effect through all the lines. This might not necessarily be a bad thing, but it would drastically change what they had against the Blackhawks.

In this scenario, Benson would return to the top line with Tage Thompson and Alex Tuch, and the hope is that he can be just as productive as he was before the injury. From there, the Sabres probably move Doan to the second line and back with Ryan McLeod.

These two, with Tuch, were the Sabres' best line for the first 10 games or so to open the season. However, if Tuch remains on the top line, then Jason Zucker would be the other wing for this second line.

That then gives the coaching staff the chance to move Jack Quinn back to a line with Noah Ostlund and Isak Rosen. Again, this was a line that worked really well for a stretch before they had to make changes due to injuries.

It is certainly a risk to make wholesale changes after such an impressive performance, but this might be the best lines the Sabres can put together at this point.