BUFFALO – Winger Kyle Okposo, out since suffering a concussion Nov. 16, accompanied the Sabres on their three-game road trip, which begins Thursday against the Calgary Flames.
Okposo, who started practicing Monday, has missed the last nine games. Sabres coach Ralph Krueger said the veteran is day-to-day.
Meanwhile, with forward Evan Rodrigues ready to return from a five-game absence (lower-body), the Sabres sent center Jean-Sebastien Dea back to the Rochester Americans this afternoon.
Dea played one game with the Sabres but mostly sat out as a healthy scratch. Instead of utilizing Dea or someone else up front, Krueger has dressed seven defensemen and 11 forwards six times recently, going 3-1-2 with the lineup.
“That definitely has been working for us,” Krueger said following this morning’s practice inside KeyBank Center. “I think bringing in the 11 forwards … what it does is give players down the lineup more shifts to keep them active, and it looks like they’re feeding off of that in a good way, too.
“So we definitely will be going in and out of that, I would say, throughout the season.”