In the odd mid-game announcement, the Buffalo Sabres have returned forward C.J. Smith to the Rochester Amerks of the AHL. Jason Botterill has spent the last few days shuffling his roster ahead of the NHL Trade Deadline on Monday.
Smith has two goals in 11 games this season with the Sabres. He’s spent a lot of his time in the NHL playing with Vladimir Sobotka, which isn’t the ideal situation on most nights.
We’ll see if this is just a paper transaction or if he indeed does report to the Amerks. Players need to be assigned to the AHL prior to the deadline in order for them to eligible for the AHL playoffs. They can then be recalled right after, thus making it a paper transaction.
Also, with Jeff Skinner going down with what looked like a bad lower-body injury, Smith may stick around for the upcoming road trip against the Toronto Maple Leafs and Philadelphia Flyers.