Helenius, Rosen, and Metsa were sent down to the Amerks during the Olympic break.
The Buffalo Sabres have an extremely lengthy and extensive injury list. Head coach Lindy Ruff revealed on Thursday morning prior to the club’s 5-2 loss to Pittsburgh that he expects center Josh Norris and winger Zach Benson to return to the lineup after the Olympic break later this month, but that there are still questions about whether winger Jordan Greenway needs to have surgery to address the same mid-body injury that was repaired last summer.
On defense, Ruff provided an update on defenseman Conor Timmins, who broke his leg and was placed on injured reserve just before Christmas, and Michael Kesselring, who did not play in Tampa, but struggled against the Penguins, going -2 in just under eight minutes of ice time.
"(Timmins is) doing better. He still has crutches with him, but he's getting close to where he'll be walking on his own. I wouldn't anticipate him being back right afterwards, but I think by that time, he may be skating." Ruff said. “(Kesselring has) been struggling with the injury part of it. Coming back, and then another injury, and then again, suffering the same injury. And so I really just felt, just take a breath, take a game off, get back in tonight, but get your head in the right place.”
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After the game, the Sabres demoted three players; forwards Konsta Helenius, Isak Rosen, and defenseman Zach Metsa to the AHL Rochester Americans. Helenius, who played just 8:02 on Thursday, has gone scoreless in the last six games after starting out with four points in his first three NHL games.
Rosen, who leads the Amerks with 20 goals in just 28 games, has been recalled on numerous occasions and has seven points (3 goals, 4 assists) in 16 games with the Sabres. Metsa has been a steady presence on the bottom pairing filling in for Kesselring and Timmins on the right side, and has two points (1 goal, 1 assist) in 26 games.
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