Justin Bailey is one of the Sabres’ top forward prospects. ©2017, Hickling Images, Olean Times Herald

Sabres send Justin Bailey, Nick Deslauriers to Amerks

BUFFALO – The Sabres trimmed their roster by four today, sending wingers Justin Bailey, Nick Deslauriers and defenseman Taylor Fedun to the AHL and releasing defenseman Cody Goloubef from his tryout.

Deslauriers and Fedun must clear waivers before reporting to the Rochester Americans. The Sabres scratched all four players for Friday’s 3-1 home loss to the New York Islanders, the preseason finale.

The Sabres have 27 players – 16 forwards, nine defensemen and two goalies – left on their training camp roster. However, three of those forwards – Sean Malone (undisclosed), Alexander Nylander (lower body) and Evan Rodrigues (hand) – are injured. Two defensemen – Zach Bogosian (undisclosed) and Jake McCabe (upper body) – are also hurt.

The Sabres must reach the 23-man roster limit by Tuesday, so they will essentially have their official regular-season roster when they place some players on injured reserve. They open the season on Thursday against the Montreal Canadiens at KeyBank Center.

With Bailey going down, none of the Sabres’ top AHL forward prospects – that group also includes Nylander, Nick Baptiste and Hudson Fasching – will make the team out of camp.

Those youngsters all have NHL experience and were expected to contend for spots. Nylander was hurt in rookie camp and hasn’t participated in the main camp.

Meanwhile, Deslauriers, the Sabres’ top fighter and a popular teammate, essentially lost his spot when the Sabres claimed Jordan Nolan off waivers Wednesday. Deslauriers, an acquisition by former general manager Tim Murray, became an extra forward last season after two years of regular duty.

Deslauriers, who has zero goals and two assists last season, hasn’t played in the minors since the 2014 playoffs.

Fedun split last season between the Sabres and Rochester, playing 27 NHL games.

Goloubef spent most of last season with the Colorado Avalanche.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *