A few Sabres players will have one last shot to make an impression as Buffalo takes on the Penguins in Pittsburgh for their final preseason game. Whether that will be enough for any individual player to unseat a veteran on this team is another story but how they grasp what new head coach Ralph Krueger and his staff are trying to do will go a long way in determining their organizational status this season.
The Sabres are loaded with veteran players in lower roles, especially up front, who look to have one more season to prove themselves in the Blue and Gold. Vladimir Sobotka, Zemgus Girgensons, Johan Larsson and Scott Wilson are all bottom-line/reserve players who are all pending unrestricted free agents. They also play the same style game, are interchangeable and, it would seem, ultimately have the spots to lose.
All four will make the trip to Pittsburgh this afternoon along with forwards Rasmus Asplund, Curtis Lazar and Remi Elie. Of those three it would seem as if Lazar has the best shot at making the final roster, which is not to take away anything from Asplund, who's had a splendid camp. The 21 yr. old Asplund continues to grow and has had his strong two-way game on display this camp beginning with the Prospects Challenge. Arguments could be made that he has outplayed any or all of the four veterans mentioned above at times, as well as Lazar, and if he made the team it would be great. However, with the way Buffalo general manager Jason Botterill seems to work, one is inclined to believe that Asplund will be sent to Rochester for one more year of seasoning.
As unfair as that might seem, and as ominous as it might look heading into the season for some, Krueger may have foretold what to expect when he said to the gathered media yesterday, "We've got to take the good things from the past and we're building a new journey here. Everybody's got a blank slate as far ice-time and roles are concerned and it's up to them to prove and learn and continually re-earn and fight for those minutes.
"I think they all feel that opportunity, they feel that chance."
Lazar is fighting for a fourth-line/reserve role and is said to have a very positive demeanor on and off of the ice. He knows where he's come from since being drafted 17th-overall in 2014 (OTT,) where he's been (in the AHL most of last season) and he's looking for a shot to get back into the NHL. If anyone will displace any of the "Golden Four" above, he's the most likely candidate as long as he can do what's being asked of him and contribute offensively. As for Asplund many think, and that includes this writer, that he and the organization will be better served playing top minutes in Rochester for one more season before becoming a fixture in Buffalo's bottom-six beginning next year.
There seems to be a real battle going on with Buffalo's blueliners as injuries have opened up a couple of spots. Veteran Zach Bogosian and second-year d-man Lawrence Pilut are still recovering from off season surgery and they were joined on the injured list this preseason by Brandon Montour and Jake McCabe.
There are three shoe-ins for the roster right now--Rasmus Dahlin, Rasmus Ristolainen, Colin Miller--and by the sound and looks of it Marco Scandella, much to the dismay of many in Sabreland, may be a fourth. That leaves three open spots, including a reserve role, that four players are presently battling for.
Casey Nelson is probably the favorite to make the squad as he played that No. 6/7 defender last season, performed admirably in that role and he's played well enough this preseason to be a part of that group of six if the injured don't return. Twenty-one year old Henri Jokiharju played 38 games for the Chicago Blackhawks last season and has all the tools Botterill and Co. are looking for in a defenseman. That second injury to McCabe may have opened up a slot for him in the lineup come October 3.
Will Borgen isn't a starry-eyed rookie, but at 22 yrs. old and with only on pro season under his belt, he still has a lot to learn. Granted, being a defensive-minded defenseman helps but he'll need to hone his offensive game a bit as Krueger stated that he wants his defensemen to be a part of the offense as well.
One of the revelations at camp this year was 26 yr. old John Gilmour. Although it's not like he's the second coming of Paul Coffey, Gilmour's speed and maneuverability were on display throughout camp and after four full years of college followed by 183 AHL games with 33 NHL games sprinkled in, he may be falling into that "late-bloomer" category.
Of the four defensemen mentioned Jokiharju and Borgen are waivers-exempt but the team, it would seem, won't have any reservations about trying to pass Nelson or Gilmour through waivers.
Game time is 4 p.m. today.
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