BUFFALO – The Sabres and Josh Norris want to be smart about his mid-body injury, so while the newcomer marked tonight’s game against the Ottawa Senators on the calendar after they recently traded him, he won’t rush back for it.
If everything goes well, then perhaps Norris, 25, will be ready for next Tuesday’s game in Ottawa.
That, of course, is a big if.
Tonight’s game will be the sixth straight contest the center has missed. He has played just three games since the Sabres acquired him March 7 in the deadline deal that sent Dylan Cozens to Ottawa.
“You can’t rush certain things like this, and it is what it is,” a disappointed Norris told a throng of reporters this morning in KeyBank Center. “It’s obviously a game that I’d like to play in, for sure, but … I’ve gotta be smart about it, too.”
Norris accompanied the Sabres’ on their recent four-game road trip but did not practice. He said the injury, which he began battling before his arrival in Buffalo, happened over an “accumulation of games.” He hasn’t played since March 12.
He doesn’t have a timeline for his recovery.
“I’m not sure,” he said. “Slow progress. … (I’m) feeling better.”
He added: “It’s not ideal. It’s always frustrating to be hurt. Wanted to come in here and just join the team and be here for the rest of the year.”
Norris said right now, there’s no chance the Sabres will shut him down for the final weeks of the season.
“No, it’s one day at a time,” he said.
Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said “it’s only an injury only a player knows how it feels.”
“It’s been diagnosed,” he said. “He’s trying to work his way through it.”
In other injury news, Sabres center Jiri Kulich, who has missed the last four games with a concussion, skated this morning and could play tonight.
“I’m not going to disclose, but he could go,” Ruff said.
Meanwhile, wingers Jordan Greenway and Sam Lafferty are both out tonight.
Greenway suffered a lower-body injury in Sunday afternoon’s 5-3 road win against the Winnipeg Jets. Ruff said the injury did not occur when he blocked a shot in the game.
Ruff said Lafferty, who suffered a groin injury in Saturday afternoon’s 4-1 road loss to the Minnesota Wild, skated on his own this morning.
“So he’s better than expected,” he said. “That was a little bit of a groin he suffered there. The fact he skated already puts it day to day for me.”
The Sabres also made a roster move this morning, sending winger Brett Murray back to the Rochester Americans and summoning wing prospect Isak Rosen. Murray played three games during his recall, recording zero points.
In lineup news, following a splendid 33-save effort Sunday, goalie James Reimer is expected to start again.
While Ruff refused to confirm the veteran would play, he practiced this morning in the net traditionally reserved for the starting netminder.
“We got a schedule laid out where both guys need to play,” Ruff said. “Schedule’s heavy.”
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The Sabres today signed forward Tyler Kopff, a college free agent, to a two-year, entry-level contract.
Kopff, 21, spent the last two seasons at Brown University, compiling 15 goals, 46 points and 28 penalty minutes in 62 games.
The 6-foot-4, 215-pound Kopff will spend the remainder of this season playing on a tryout with Rochester. His deal kicks in next year.
He registered nine goals, 28 points and 12 penalty minutes in 32 games this season.
Update: The Sabres this afternoon recalled center Josh Dunne, who has played one NHL game this season, from Rochester.