Kesselring's regular-season debut with the Buffalo Sabres will be delayed after exiting Thursday's preseason game with an undisclosed injury and announcing he was out week-to-week on Friday. The 25-year-old is coming off a solid season with Utah, scoring 29 points (7G / 22A) and averaging 17:41 in 82 games.
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.
Byram missed Monday's practice with an undisclosed injury and is considered day-to-day. The 24-year-old will hope to be ready for opening night after completing all 82 games played in 2024-25 for the first time in his five-year career. The former 4th overall pick (2019) is expected to play a huge part in Buffalo's defence again in 2025-26, after putting up seven goals and a career-high 38 points last season.
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.
Tuch suffered a minor injury last week that kept him sidelined for several days, but he will draw into Buffalo's lineup on Saturday. The 29-year-old Tuch had 67 points (36G / 31A) in 82 games last season.
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.
Tuch had a "minor little thing" sneak up on him right before the start of training camp, so he was held off of the ice on Thursday. Despite missing practice, Tuch said that he is "feeling great" and anticipates skating with the team in the "next couple of days."
Greenway underwent surgery in July after a setback in his recovery from the injury that limited him to just 34 games in 2024-25. Sabres GM Kevyn Adams said he anticipates Greenway will be cleared to resume practicing around the beginning of the 2025-26 campaign. Expect Greenway to miss the season opener on October 9th.
Greenway had an apparent setback from his 2nd mid-body surgery in July and is not expected to be ready for Buffalo's training camp that begins on Thursday. The 28-year-old only appeared in 34 games in 2024-25 due to the same mid-body injury and is hopeful to be ready for the start of the regular season. Greenway has only surpassed 67 games in one of his eight NHL seasons.
Levi was once viewed as one of the top goaltending prospects in hockey, but has struggled to find a foothold in the NHL. The Sabres made it clear there was no guaranteed spot for Levi in Buffalo to start 2025-26 when they signed Alex Lyon in free agency. Levi, who was 25-13-4 with a 2.20 GAA and .919 SV% in 42 AHL games last season, will have to continue to earn his spot in the NHL. Over the span of three seasons, he's got 17-17-2 with a 3.29 GAA and .894 SV% in 39 NHL games.
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.
After three years in New York's organization, Jake Leschyshyn has jumped ship and signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Buffalo Sabres. The 26-year-old forward has appeared in 77 NHL career games but last appeared in the big leagues with New York in 2023-24. He spent the entirety of last season with Hartford (AHL), where he had 13 goals and 24 points in 69 games played.
Mrtka was Buffalo's 2025 1st round pick (9th overall) and has signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Sabres on Tuesday. The 18-year-old Czech defenseman spent 2024-25 as an import player with Seattle (WHL), where he excelled with three goals and 35 points in 43 games played. He is expected to return to the Thunderbirds for the 2025-26 season but will get a chance to make an impression in training camp.
