Ahead of this week’s NHL season opening, the Buffalo Sabres have made additional cuts to their roster, the team announced Monday morning.
Rasmus Asplund, Tage Thompson and Lawrence Pilut have been assigned to the AHL’s Rochester Americans. Thompson is perhaps the only surprise of the three, as he spent most of last season in the NHL. Pilut has been injured.
Remi Elie, Curtis Lazar, Scott Wilson and Casey Nelson were all placed on waivers. If they clear waivers, they’ll head to Rochester as well. Lazar is the only surprise of the bunch; he was considered a bubble player and was fighting for an NHL roster spot, but instead finds himself just outside that realm.
Monday’s moves leave the Sabres with 26 players on their roster, including Zach Bogosian (hip), Brandon Montour (hand), Matt Hunwick (neck) and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (hip), who are all out with injuries.
Still remaining with the team up front are Victor Olofsson, Jack Eichel, Sam Reinhart, Jeff Skinner, Marcus Johansson, Vladimir Sobotka, Conor Sheary, Jimmy Vesey, Casey Mittelstadt, Evan Rodrigues, Kyle Okposo, Zemgus Girgensons and Johan Larsson.
On defense, the Sabres still have one extra body for now, with Rasmus Dahlin, Colin Miller, Jake McCabe, Rasmus Ristolainen, Marco Scandella, Henri Jokiharju and John Gilmour in tow.
Carter Hutton and Linus Ullmark appear poised to be the team’s goaltending tandem for the season.
The Sabres are off Monday, but return to practice on Tuesday. They’ll open the regular season on Thursday night in Pittsburgh before Saturday’s home opener.