As of writing – Wednesday night – the Sabres have 28 players left in training camp. The preseason is quickly winding down, with just one more game on tap, and very soon, the team will have some difficult decisions to make to get down to 23 players before opening night.
Here’s who’s currently left in camp:
Forwards: Tage Thompson, Zach Benson, Alex Tuch, Jeff Skinner, Dylan Cozens, JJ Peterka, Jordan Greenway, Casey Mittelstadt, Tyson Jost, Kyle Okposo, Peyton Krebs, Zemgus Girgensons, Victor Olofsson, Brandon Biro, Lukas Rousek, Matt Savoie (inj.), Jack Quinn (inj.)
Defense: Rasmus Dahlin, Mattias Samuelsson, Owen Power, Erik Johnson, Connor Clifton, Henri Jokiharju, Jacob Bryson, Riley Stillman, Kale Clague, Ryan Johnson
Goalies: Eric Comrie, Devon Levi, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen
Certainly some decisions to make here. While I’m sure each person reading this will have their own opinions on what the team should do, here’s what I would consider.
- Send Lukas Rousek to Rochester (AHL).
- Send Ryan Johnson & Kale Clague to Rochester (AHL).
- Waive one of Jacob Bryson & Riley Stillman.
- Waive Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen.
As I said, these are not easy decisions. Maybe you take the gamble with Bryson and Stillman, which would let you keep three NHL goaltenders for the time being. It also depends on Savoie’s timeline. Up front, if it comes down to Benson vs. Biro, I’d give Benson his nine-game tryout, see how he does & go from there. If he’s not up to it, you can reassign him to juniors then & recall Biro if needed. If he does well, no need to do anything. The forward group is a bit more straightforward, whereas the clog at defense is a little trickier to clear up. And the goaltending, well, that’s super tough; aside from Levi, there’s no guarantee as to who will be in the NHL this season.
What would you do to trim this roster down to 23?