BUFFALO – So far, the scoring prowess center Noah Ostlund developed in the AHL – he recorded 18 goals and 34 points over a torrid 32-game stretch before the Sabres summoned him late last season – hasn’t translated to the NHL.
Ostlund began Tuesday’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets in KeyBank Center, his 12th outing with the Sabres, having registered zero points.
Why has the Swede, 21, struggled to produce offense? A couple of reasons stand out.
For starters, as a neophyte adapting to the big leagues, he has made defense his major focus.
“I want to be reliable,” Ostlund told the Times Herald prior to Tuesday’s game. “That’s where it starts to get your ice time, you got to be reliable so the coach can put you in. So that’s something I want to be good at and something I’m handling pretty good.”
The Sabres also cast the 5-foot-11, 180-pound Ostlund in a different role early in his tenure, often giving him short minutes as a checker. As a rookie with the Rochester Americans last season, his first full campaign in North America, he earned loads of ice time as one of their offensive drivers.
Entering Tuesday’s contest, Ostlund, the 16th overall pick in 2022, had registered three shots on goal in three games this season. He recorded just four shots in eight contests last season.
Still, as he becomes more comfortable, Ostlund and Sabres coach Lindy Ruff both expect he will start scoring.
“I saw a little bit of that last year,” Ruff said. “I’m seeing some good stuff. It’s just we haven’t turned that into anything yet for him.”
The Sabres are trying to unlock some of Ostlund’s offensive potential by awarding him a plum assignment pivoting wingers Jason Zucker and Jack Quinn.
“He hasn’t been in on a lot,” Ruff said of Ostlund. “I thought offensively, he had a couple of great opportunities to be in on some real good stuff that. I think just when he starts feeling a little more comfortable.”
Ruff cited a recent play in tight that Ostlund “didn’t quite connect with.”
“A play you’d like to see him turn into a Grade A chance,” he said. “There’s better plays he can make, and I think that’s just a feeling of, ‘I’m getting rooted in with these guys, and I’m playing with a couple really good players, and that I can make those plays.’”
Ostlund said he can generate more offense by “staying more on the inside, winning more puck battles in the defensive zone to create those longer shifts.”
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For the first time all season on Tuesday, the Sabres had the six defensemen they envisioned playing together when they retooled their blue line during the offseason.
Michael Kesselring, who missed the first nine games with an undisclosed injury, played his first game with the Sabres.
Injuries have ravaged the Sabres from the get-go this season. Since the beginning of training camp, 13 players have been sidelined.
Kesselring, who joined the Sabres on June 26 in the deal that sent winger JJ Peterka to the Utah Mammoth, went down late in the preseason.
“I think we’ve lost our share of guys,” Ruff said. “It’s nice to get guys back. On the defensive side, getting him back gets us a look at what we pictured our defense could look like. Big first game for him, but it’ll give us an indication, for sure.”
Kesselring skated alongside Bowen Byram.
Notes: The Sabres scratched defenseman Jacob Bryson, who has recovered from a concussion. … Ruff said forward Tyson Kozak, who suffered a lower-body injury in Friday’s 5-3 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs, is week to week. … As part of “Bills Night” at KeyBank Center, former Buffalo wide receiver Stevie Johnson served as one of the in-arena hosts. … The Sabres also scratched goalie Colten Ellis and winger Mason Geertsen (both healthy).