The Buffalo Sabres are suddenly looking a lot better on the injury front, and that matters a whole lot with the regular season closing in.
After Friday’s practice, head coach Lindy Ruff had a more encouraging read on several players who had been dealing with preseason issues. Defenseman Mattias Samuelsson, who has been tagged week-to-week with a lower-body injury, told Ruff, “This isn't gonna be that long,”
Jiri Kulich and Noah Ostlund were both held out of Friday’s session for maintenance, but neither is expected to miss time. Kulich is still building back toward full speed after missing most of last season because of a blood clot.
There was also some optimism around blueliner Olen Zellweger, who remains in the NHL’s concussion protocol. Ruff said, “In all likelihood, I would anticipate him being ready for next week,” which would put him in position for the season opener against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Oct. 1.
The one spot still without a clear answer is in goal. Alex Lyon left Thursday’s preseason loss to the Detroit Red Wings with an upper-body injury, and Ruff didn’t have another update on Friday. After the game, though, the coach had said he was “optimistic it's not too bad.”
That still leaves Jason Zucker as the main uncertainty heading into the 2026-27 season. Zucker had sports hernia surgery in the offseason, and the Sabres said at the start of training camp that he’ll likely miss at least the first few weeks of the year.
Buffalo finishes the preseason Saturday at home against the Pittsburgh Penguins, and with the recent injury scares, the Sabres could choose to keep the lineup a little lighter than usual.
The timing of the good news matters because Buffalo is staring at a brutal conference race. At least 14 of the Eastern Conference’s 16 teams are expected to enter the season with real playoff hopes, with the Detroit Red Wings and New York Islanders standing as the exceptions, though neither looks like a team in full teardown mode.
HockeyStats.com has the Sabres projected to finish third in the Atlantic Division and sixth in the East, with only a five-point gap separating them from the 14th-place Columbus Blue Jackets. Projections will shift as the season unfolds, but the overall picture is clear: there’s very little breathing room.
Buffalo’s path won’t get any easier trying to hold off a division that looks crowded from top to bottom. The Florida Panthers are back at full strength after injury issues last year, while the Tampa Bay Lightning and Montreal Canadiens are both pushing for the top spot. The Toronto Maple Leafs, Ottawa Senators and Boston Bruins also have enough to make things interesting if the breaks go their way.
That’s why those preseason bumps could have been a real problem if they had turned into something bigger. For now, they don’t appear to have done that.
And if the Sabres are going to make another run at the Stanley Cup Playoffs, they’ll need their depth to show up. A healthy roster gives Buffalo room to work with, especially with the losses of Alex Tuch and Bowen Byram. It also puts the spotlight on the next wave of young players - Ostlund, Kulich, Zellweger, Zach Benson, Josh Doan, Jack Quinn, Konsta Helenius and Owen Power, among others - to keep moving forward.
That leaves the Sabres with a wide range of outcomes as they try to secure a second straight trip to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Staying mostly healthy would go a long way toward making that happen.
In Other News...
Sabres Enter 2026 With Pressure Their Young Core Must Answer
The Sabres are heading into the 2026 regular season with a roster that looks different from the one they envisioned not long ago, but the expectation in Buffalo remains the same: this group should be pushing for the playoffs. With Tage Thompson and Rasmus Dahlin still at the center of the lineup, the organization is counting on its established stars to set the tone while a younger supporting cast tries to grow into larger roles.
Zach Benson and Noah Ostlund are among the players expected to help carry that next layer of responsibility, and the goaltending picture adds another wrinkle as the club leans into a three-man rotation in net. Alex Lyon, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Colten Ellis will all be part of that mix, giving Buffalo a different kind of stability test as it tries to turn expectations into results. [Read more 🡒]
Sabres Leave Preseason With One Opening Night Concern Looming
The Sabres wrapped up preseason at home against the Penguins with a 3-1 loss, but there were still a few notable October details worth sorting through before the games start counting. Buffalo did get a power-play goal, a small sign of progress in an area that has been under the microscope, and Lindy Ruff also won two video challenges to wipe out Pittsburgh goals, which at least showed the bench was sharp even if the final result was not.
Matt Grzelcyk was in the lineup for his Sabres debut after signing a one-year deal, giving Buffalo another look at how its blue line might settle in. The bigger concern came late, when Ukko-Pekka Luukkonens status became the issue to watch after he left for the locker room in the third period, leaving the team with one looming question as it shifts from exhibition mode to the real thing. [Read more 🡒]
Sabres Get An Encouraging Owen Zellweger Injury Update
Owen Zellwegers recovery has given the Sabres a little bit of good news as the preseason winds down. The young defenseman is working back from a concussion, and the early outlook is encouraging for a team still sorting through its blue-line depth before the games start to count.
Zellweger suffered the injury in Tuesday nights preseason game against Columbus, but his recent skate went well enough to keep his timeline moving in the right direction. Buffalo is hoping to have him back in the mix next week, which would be a welcome development as the club tries to get through the final stretch of camp without any more setbacks. [Read more 🡒]