It’s fair to say that the Sabres have underachieved relative to expectations this season, leading some to wonder if a big shakeup could be on the way. That might not be the case just yet but it certainly feels like a small one could be coming simply out of necessity.
Buffalo currently has 24 players on its active roster, one over the maximum of 23. They’re allowed to be in that situation during the roster freeze but once that lifts on Thursday, their hand is going to be forced and someone will have to come off the roster. On top of that, Zemgus Girgensons is nearing a return; he skated in practice for a few days leading up to the holiday break. He’s currently on injured reserve so when he’s ready to be activated, that’s another roster spot that will need to be opened up.
While the Sabres have several waiver-exempt players, it seems unlikely that most of them will be sent down. Up front, Zach Benson can’t go to the minors, only to junior and at this point, he’s expected to stay up with Buffalo. John-Jason Peterka is tied for third in team scoring so he’s not going anywhere. Jack Quinn, meanwhile, just returned and was a full-time regular last season so it’s unlikely he’d be sent down for any sort of extended stint.
On the back end, Owen Power clearly isn’t going anywhere either while Ryan Johnson has been a regular most nights lately; on merit, he shouldn’t lose his spot. Dropping him off the roster would also leave them with just six available blueliners which isn’t an ideal situation to be in.
In goal, Devon Levi is waiver-exempt and has been sent down once already this season. However, since returning from his brief stint with AHL Rochester, he has a .916 SV% in six games, a mark that should see him being deployed once again as their starting netminder. That makes him a non-desirable candidate to go down as well.
Faced with a variety of less-than-ideal demotion candidates from their waiver-exempt pieces, the next option might be the waiver wire. They’ve already gone that route recently with Jacob Bryson while Riley Stillman is also receiving a seven-figure salary to play for the Americans as well.
In terms of who could be options on that front, Victor Olofsson’s future with Buffalo has long been in question; had it not been for Quinn’s injury, some had wondered if he’d even be with the team at this point. He’s playing fourth-line minutes at even strength right now and with a $4.75MM price…
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