Sabres’ Michael Kesselring out for ‘extended period of time’

The Buffalo Sabres and their fans had to wait to see one of their key offseason acquisitions take the ice this year, and now the team is set to be without him for a lengthy stretch of their schedule again.

On Tuesday afternoon, head coach Lindy Ruff told the media that defenseman Michael Kesselring will be out for “an extended period of time.”

“On the longer side — weeks,” Ruff clarified.

The Sabres acquired Kesselring, along with forward Josh Doan, in a blockbuster summer trade that scoring winger J.J. Peterka to the Utah Mammoth. Kesselring has yet to record a point in his nine games, while Doan has produced 12 in his 19 appearances.

Peterka, who had 68 points in 77 games with Buffalo a season ago, was open to a move, and the Sabres used the opportunity to swap offensive prowess for some defensive stability.

Kesselring didn’t miss a single game with injuries last year in Utah, when he put up 29 points in 82 games while skating to a plus-4 rating on an average of 17:41 of time on ice per game.

He has not had the same luck in Buffalo, as he started this season on injured reserve due to a lower-body injury. He returned to game action in late October, but he left Saturday’s win over Detroit early with another lower-body injury.

With Kesselring back out of the picture, the Sabres will ice a defensive unit that includes Rasmus Dahlin and Mattias Samuelsson on the top pairing with Owen Power, Jacob Bryson, Bowen Byram and Conor Timmins occupying the other four spots.

The Sabres own a record of 7-8-4 and are tied with the Toronto Maple Leafs for last place in the Eastern Conference. The two teams are the only ones in the East with records that sit below NHL .500.

Buffalo is back in action on Wednesday night at home against the Calgary Flames, and the Sabres have two more contests on their homestead this week against Chicago and Carolina before hitting the road next week.