BUFFALO – The 27 players who practiced this morning in KeyBank Center – 15 forwards, nine defensemen and three goalies – will accompany the Sabres on their season-opening European trip, coach Lindy Ruff said.
The Sabres, who fly to Germany tonight, will bring the maximum amount of players allowed. They must trim their roster to 23, the standard regular-season size, before their opener Oct. 4 in Prague, Czechia.
Jiri Kulich, arguably the Sabres’ top forward prospect, is still with the big club. He practiced at left wing today alongside center Peyton Krebs and Lukas Rousek.
Kulich, Rousek, defenseman Kale Clague and goalie James Reimer are the notable extras.
Having so many players might make practices challenging.
“That’s probably the toughest part of planning practice because when you have that many, it’s hard,” Ruff said. “I’m not a fan of that big of a group, but we’re going to have to put some stuff together to make sure their workload is going to equal the guys that are going to play on the weekend.
“It’s something you don’t want to take a chance by not having enough bodies. In an ideal world, you want a lot of these players playing in these next preseason games, but we’re not in an ideal world right now.”
The Sabres play an exhibition game Friday in Munich.