Every season, there seems to be some major development that keeps Sabres fans watching, from heroic runs to eighth place to tanking races, to the most recent season-ending excitement: the NHL debuts of Hudson Fasching and Casey Nelson.
The young kids have been the story of the season, and as we watch Jack Eichel and Sam Reinhart’s goal totals continue to climb, Sabres fans will also get their first looks of two other youngsters, Fasching and Nelson, tomorrow, as per the Sabres Twitter announcement.
Fasching is, of course, the bigger name of the two, being acquired in a trade with the Los Angeles Kings for Brayden McNabb and a pair of second rounders. Fasching has grown and improved in his years at Minnesota, scoring 38 points in 37 games this season while wearing an “A”. The 6’2”, 215 lb, 20-year old has grown into a prototypical power forward that Tim Murray believes can potentially be a top 6 or 9 contributor as early as next season. He’ll start on the fourth line, but will get a handful of games here at the end to prove GMTM correct.
Casey Nelson is an interesting signing. At 23-years old, he’s more mature than your average rookie (except you, Panarin) but has grown considerably, in both stature and game, while playing for Minnesota St. Univeristy, Mankato. Nelson’s forte is in driving the offense, but he’s able to hold his own on the back end too – he won the Western Collegiate Hockey Association’s Defensive Player of the Year Award this year.
Look for Fasching on the fourth line right wing, along with Legwand and Matt Moulson, while the right-handed Nelson should slot on the third pairing, though the team has bee rotating defensemen the past few days so his playing partner isn’t certain at this point. Fasching will wear # 52, and Nelson will wear #34 tomorrow, as the Sabres take on the Winnipeg Jets.