Samuelsson has been sidelined since September 26th, but is ahead of schedule in his recovery. Head coach Lindy Ruff expects Samuelsson to be ready for the Sabres' season opener on October 9th.
Power has been sidelined after he "strained something" during Monday's practice, but head coach expects him to be ready for their season opener on October 9th. Power's availability will be key because the Sabres are already without Michael Kesselring and possibly Mattias Samuelsson on the blueline.
Benson has been skating with other injured players, but has yet to resume practice. Head coach Lindy Ruff expects Benson to return to practice soon, making him questionable to play in their season opener on October 9th.
Grzelcyk joined Chicago in training camp on a PTO and has earned himself a one-year, $1 million contract with the Blackhawks just before the start of the regular season. Grzelcyk is entering his 10th NHL season after putting up a goal and 40 points in 82 games with Pittsburgh in 2024-25.
Luukkonen had already missed the majority of pre-season due to a lower-body injury, which will likely keep him sidelined into the beginning of the regular season. If the 26-year-old is forced to miss any time, a combination of Alexandar Georgiev and Devon Levi will be expected to handle the crease in Buffalo.
Carrick was back at practice on on Thursday after missing the past couple outings due to a lower-body injury. The 33-year-old Carrick played 80 games and scored 20 points (6G / 14A) last year in his first season with the Rangers.
Luukkonen had already missed the majority of pre-season due to a lower-body injury and appears to have re-aggravated the injury in the first period of Monday's preseason game before leaving. If the 26-year-old is forced to miss any time, a combination of Alexandar Georgiev and Devon Levi will be expected to handle the crease.
Carrick skated on his own before practice but did not skate with the team. The 33-year-old Carrick played 80 games and scored 20 points (6G / 14A) last year in his first season with the Rangers.
Power was not at practice on Tuesday, but is unlikely to miss significant time. The 22-year-old Power is coming off a career-best season in 2024-25, scoring 40 points (7G / 33A) in 79 games. With Rasmus Dahlin locked into Buffalo's top powerplay unit, Power will likely spend most of the season quarterbacking the second unit.
Buffalo will be without one of their top shutdown defenders a little longer than expected after it was announced that Mattias Samuelsson would be out week-to-week with an upper-body injury after reaggravating his original injury. The 24-year-old is entering his sixth season with Buffalo after putting up career highs in goals (4), points (14) and games played (62) in 2024-25. He is not expected to be ready for opening night after the recent update.
Luukkonen was announced day-to-day with a lower-body injury last week, but has yet to return to Buffalo's practice to start training camp. Thankfully, the 26-year-old netminder stated in an interview on Thursday that he would be ready for the start of the season. Buffalo had signed Alexandar Georgiev to replace Luukkonen if he was unable to go for the beginning of the 2025-26 season. Luukkonen is expected to start the majority of Sabre games yet again this season after posting a 24-24-5 record, .887 SV% and 3.20 GAA across 55 starts last season.
Luukkonen missed the start of training camp on Thursday after the injury flared up while ramping up his preseason training. Sabres GM Kevyn Adams said “the imaging is clean,” and that they expect more clarity in the coming days, but added there are “no alarms right now saying that it’s a significant injury.” Buffalo recently signed Alexandar Georgiev, giving them added goaltending depth while Luukkonen recovers.
Conor Timmins and Buffalo avoided arbitration on Sunday after agreeing to a two-year contract worth $2.2 million AAV ($4.4M total). The 26-year-old defenseman was acquired in late June in a trade that saw Connor Clifton go the other way to Pittsburgh. He appeared in 68 games with Pittsburgh and Toronto in 2024-25, picking up three goals, 15 points and a +11 plus/minus.
Chicago has retained one of their key defensive pieces for the upcoming 2025-26 season after they announced they had signed Louis Crevier to a two-year contract extension worth $900,000 AAV ($1.8M total). The 23-year-old was Chicago's 2020 7th-round pick (188th overall) and appeared in 32 games with the Blackhawks last season, picking up three goals, four points and 10 PIMs. He is expected to compete for one of Chicago's final six defensive spots come training camp this upcoming season.
