The Sabres are waiting on a better answer from Matt Grzelcyk, and right now they don’t have one.
Buffalo brought in the veteran defenseman on a one-year deal to help patch things up on the back end after injuries hit early in the season. But Grzelcyk has barely been available. He played once, then landed on the shelf with a lower-body injury nearly five weeks ago, and the recovery has stalled.
Head coach Lindy Ruff told reporters including Bill Hoppe of the Olean Times Herald that the Sabres are “in a bit of a holding pattern” with Grzelcyk. The injury has not really improved, and the club is now hoping the current treatment plan works.
If it doesn’t, Buffalo may need to take another route. That could include surgery, which would keep Grzelcyk out even longer after all the time he has already missed.
Around the Atlantic Division, the Panthers had their own injury issues on Tuesday. Center Anton Lundell sat out against Washington with an undisclosed injury, though the absence does not sound like a long-term one. Team broadcaster Doug Plagens said Lundell is day-to-day.
Lundell has had a quieter start offensively this season than he did a year ago, when he posted 44 points in 64 games. Through 16 games this season, he has four goals and two assists. Even so, he remains an important part of Florida’s penalty kill, which entered the day performing well above the league average.
Florida also lost winger Sandis Vilmanis during the game and announced he would not return after taking a boarding hit from Washington’s Tom Wilson. Wilson was assessed a major and a game misconduct on the play.
Vilmanis had been rolling before the injury, piling up five points over his previous two games. He now has seven points in 16 games this season.
Montreal, meanwhile, will be without Josh Anderson tonight against Toronto for personal reasons. The 32-year-old winger is second on the Canadiens with seven goals, and he has done real damage against the Leafs over the years, scoring 17 times in 41 career games against them. Owen Beck is set to slide into Anderson’s spot in the lineup.
In Other News...
Panthers Fans Can Dream On Kucherov But One Obstacle Looms
Nikita Kucherovs future in Tampa Bay has suddenly become one of the biggest talking points in the NHL, and naturally it has stirred up speculation closer to home for Florida fans. With contract extension talks with Lightning general manager Julian Brisebois having gone nowhere, the star wingers situation has shifted from routine offseason chatter to a genuine trade watch, with the Panthers quickly surfacing as a team worth monitoring.
For Florida, the appeal is obvious. A player of Kucherovs caliber would change the conversation around the roster in an instant, but the path to any deal is anything but simple. The in-state rivalry between the Panthers and Lightning looms over everything here, and it is the kind of obstacle that can make even the most intriguing idea feel far more complicated than it looks on paper. [Read more 🡒]
Panthers Suddenly Have A Tom Wilson Problem To Worry About
Sandis Vilmanis night ended early against Washington after he was injured on a hit from Tom Wilson, a sequence that immediately shifted attention from the scoreboard to the Panthers health. Wilson was assessed a five-minute penalty and a game misconduct for boarding, and Florida was left to sort through the fallout from a play that once again put one of the leagues most scrutinized hitters at the center of the conversation.
Paul Maurice said Vilmanis will be evaluated further, and the early expectation is that he will not be available for the next game. For Florida, the concern is not just one injured player, but the broader reality of facing a Capitals team with Wilson on the ice, given his long history of discipline issues with the Department of Player Safety. [Read more 🡒]
Panthers Have A Bigger Worry Than The Loss After Vilmanis Exit
Sandis Vilmanis night ended early after a hard hit from Tom Wilson in the game against Washington, leaving the Panthers to deal with more than just the result on the scoreboard. Wilson was assessed a five-minute major for boarding and a game misconduct before being ejected, while Vilmanis left with an undisclosed injury and did not return.
For Florida, the immediate concern now is less about the loss itself and more about how long it might be without Vilmanis. Head coach Paul Maurice said the forward will be further evaluated before the team has a clear read on his status, and that kind of uncertainty is never welcome this time of year when every lineup spot matters. [Read more 🡒]