Blueliner will play his first regular-season game for the Sabres after being acquired in a trade from Utah last June.
The Buffalo Sabres return home to take on the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday and will finally get back the player who was the centerpiece of the deal with Utah that sent winger JJ Peterka to the Mammoth in June. Defenseman Michael Kesselring took part in team practice on Monday and head coach Lindy Ruff said on Tuesday after the club’s optional morking skate that the 25-year-old blueliner would make his Sabres debut.
"We were so disappointed (when Kesselring was injured in preseason). He told me it was the first time he's really been hurt," Ruff said on Monday. "I think he's just glad get back in the get back in the mix and get back out there."
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With Kesselring ready to go and Jacob Bryson back healthy, the Sabres returned defenseman Zach Metsa back the AHL Rochester Americans on Monday.
In the preseason, the Sabres played the righty Kesselring with Owen Power and the two seemed to be developing a rapport, but after some early season shuffling and Ruff determining the top pairing of Rasmus Dahlin and Bowen Byram was not working, the club has settled in the last few games with Mattias Samuelsson reuniting with Dahlin, and Conor Timmins taking what was thought to be Kesselring’s spot with Power. That likely means that he will debut playing alongside Byram.
"I had a conversation with (Kesselring) yesterday. We'll start him off, getting him back in," Ruff said. "I didn't really have anything etched in stone when we were going through camp. I really felt we had some guys that had a connection. Timmins and Power have played well together. They've played against top lines. I look at it that we've got a group of six that really can play against anybody."
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