21-year-old center has five points (3 goals, 2 assists) in 12 games this season.
The Buffalo Sabres have lost six of their last seven games, including a 6-3 loss in Carolina on Saturday to start their first lengthy road swing of the season. The club practiced at LECOM Harborcenter before leaving for Salt Lake City to take on the Utah Mammoth on Wednesday, and head coach Lindy Ruff provided an update on center Jiri Kulich and their other injured players.
"Jiri is gonna miss significant time and it's related to a blood clot that was found.” Ruff said. “I'm not going to go into any further details, but it's pretty serious."
The 21-year-old was thought to have an inner ear imbalance and had been out since November 1, but Ruff indicated that Kulich was undergoing some further testing last last week.
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The Sabres head coach did not provide any timetable for Kulich’s return, but the loss represents another significant bodyblow to the club up the middle. The youngster had stepped into a top line role after center Josh Norris was lost with an upper body injury in the season opener against the New York Rangers on October 9.
With Kulich out indefinitely, Buffalo moved Ryan McLeod – who started the season as the third line center – to the top line between veterans Alex Tuch and Tage Thompson. Rookie Noah Ostlund centered the second line between Isak Rosen and Jack Quinn, while Tyson Kozak played up the middle on the third line with Jordan Greenway and Josh Doan, and Peyton Krebs played in between Beck Malenstyn and Josh Dunne.
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