BUFFALO – Injured Sabres defenseman Mattias Samuelsson could play in Thursday’s season opener against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Samuelsson, who suffered a lower-body injury blocking a shot in the second preseason game, skated on his own Tuesday and could practice with the Sabres on Wednesday, coach Lindy Ruff said.
If the Sabres’ top shutdown defender can’t play in Columbus, Ruff expects him to return in the near future.
“Very close,” Ruff said of Samuelsson’s status following Tuesday’s practice in KeyBank Center. “I mean, that’s the good news for us, for sure.”
When he went down in last Tuesday’s 5-1 preseason win over Columbus, the Sabres said Samuelsson was week to week. On Monday, they placed him on injured reserve.
Right now, the Sabres, who were ravaged by injuries during the preseason, have just six defensemen on their 23-man roster.
One of them, Olen Zellweger, suffered a concussion shortly after Samuelsson was injured against Columbus. The newcomer did not practice Tuesday and has been skating on his own. Ruff said he’s day to day.
Ruff said he plans to have seven defensemen by Thursday, so if Samuelsson or Zellweger can’t play, perhaps the Sabres will recall someone from the Rochester Americans.
Incredibly, the Sabres lost three of their top-six defensemen to injury during their four-game exhibition slate.
When they released their 23-man roster Monday, Conor Timmins, who finished Saturday afternoon’s preseason finale after crashing awkwardly into the end boards, had an asterisk next to his name, meaning he had been placed on injured reserve.
Ruff said tests Sunday morning revealed Timmins’ injury. He said the Sabres don’t have a timetable for the defenseman’s return.
In other injury news, goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen practiced Tuesday after leaving Saturday’s game when he tweaked something on his lower body.
“We’ll see what tomorrow brings, but he had a good day today,” Ruff said.
Luukkonen said he exited the game as a precaution.
“Just didn’t want to make anything worse kind of thing,” he said. “Just a little tweak there one play there. Just felt it, and just wanted to give myself a chance to be ready when the season starts.”
Meanwhile, Ruff said goalie Alex Lyon, who appeared to injure his left shoulder in Thursday’s 3-2 overtime loss to the Detroit Red Wings, is “doing good.”
“I would anticipate within days that’ll he’ll be back out there,” he said.
Two forwards – Jiri Kulich (lower body) and Conor Sheary (upper body) – returned to practice Tuesday.
“(Kulich) struggled with a little lower-body issue this last four, five days but felt good today, so he’s in a better place,” he said.
Following the session, the Sabres announced they had placed winger Sheary, 34, on waivers and will assign him to Rochester if he clears.
The Sabres brought back Sheary, who spent 2018-19 and most of 2019-20 in Buffalo, during the offseason, signing him to a one-year, one-way contract worth $850,000.
Sheary, who won the Stanley Cup twice with the Penguins, offers the Sabres depth and the Amerks experience and a high-end scoring threat.
He spent most of 2024-25 in the AHL, scoring 20 goals and 61 points in 59 games with the Syracuse Crunch, the Tampa Bay Lightning’s affiliate.
After having his contract with the Lightning terminated, Sheary spent last season with the New York Rangers, registering seven goals and 18 points in 62 contests.
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Ten – count ‘em, 10 – of the Sabres’ 14 forwards are natural centers.
“This is the deepest center group ever,” Ruff said earlier this month. “Like, ever. It’s hard to take a winger and make him a center. But a lot of times, you can take a center and put them over in the wing and you can be pretty effective.”
Ruff said he considers “it a pretty big privilege to have that many options of people at different places.”
Having an extra center on perhaps three or four lines creates options.
To wit: Kulich, a natural pivot, spent some of training camp skating at left wing alongside center Sam Carrick, a spot he practiced in again Tuesday.
Ruff said in one preseason game with the right-handed Carrick, the left-handed Kulich moved over and won every defensive-zone faceoff.
“That’s a big deal when you’re not chasing the puck around, when you’re not giving the opposition the puck,” Ruff said.
For part of Tuesday’s session, two centers – left-handed Josh Norris and right-handed Tage Thompson – took reps alongside each other.
“If I can play (Norris) where I had him today, you’ve got a guy that can take draws on the left-hand side, play center, and Tommer can be on the wing,” Ruff said. “So we don’t have to really pull somebody off to take the draw on that side or put a different line out there. Kind of a universal line.”