BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Buffalo Sabres regular-season opener is right around the corner.
Opening up the week of practice, there were noticeable absences from the roster being cut down to the mandated 23 players, the likes of Noah Ostlund and several other AHL talent sent back down to Rochester, including first round draft pick Radim Mrtka.
What You Need To Know
Zach Benson returns to full practice and Mattias Samuelsson is back to skating with team
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Michael Kesselring both look to be out for regular season opener Thursday against the New York Rangers
First round draft choice Mrtka goes to AHL Rochester, not back to WHL Seattle
Present for Monday? Forward Zach Benson was in full-skate, and a yellow-jersey’d Mattias Samuelsson got some ice time ahead of the opener.
“In terms of just being around the group, connecting with the new guys and things like that — it’s important even if you’re not practicing. Time spent with each other is still a big thing,” the defenseman spoke of his time away from the ice, but not the roster during camp.
With Game 1 looming and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen still on the injury report, the tandem of Alex Lyon and Aleks Georgiev will tackle the opening of the season. Head coach Lindy Ruff is confident in what he has seen from Lyon thus far.
“We’ve given him a pretty good look in the preseason, like I said, there’s a lot to like about his game,” he said. “There’s also a couple of goals he’d love to have back as a goaltender.”
Lyon said last week of teammate Georgiev, you don’t get to play 300 NHL games without talent and drive. But the Bulgarian is looking to improve, settling in with the blue and gold.
“It has been a lot of fun just talking about what we can improve as a team, having a good start,” said Georgiev. “I’m just building up as the season goes on. jI just need to be solid and be sharp when the first game arrives here.”
The Sabres also picked up an AHL talent and Colten Ellis from the St. Louis Blues off of waivers.