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.
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.
Fiddler-Schultz is an undrafted 23-year-old forward and has earned himself a two-year, entry-level contract with Buffalo on Tuesday after a successful rookie campaign in Rochester (AHL) in 2024-25. The Edmonton native joined Buffalo's minor league system from Calgary (WHL) in 2023-24. In 51 games with Rochester in 2024-25, he had 13 goals and 26 points.
After putting up 70 points in 123 games played across the last two seasons with Rochester (AHL), Zach Metsa has earned himself a two-year, two-way contract to remain in Buffalo's organization. The 26-year-old defenseman is entering his third AHL season after joining Rochester as an undrafted free agent from Quinnipac University (NCAA) in 2022-23.
One season after putting up 21 points in 29 games played with San Diego (AHL), Carson Meyer has earned himself a two-year, $1.55 million contract ($775,000 AAV) with Buffalo. The 27-year-old last appeared in the NHL in 2023-24 but has two goals and six points in 41 career games played.
In his first season with the Buffalo Sabres in 2024-25, McLeod scored a career-high 53 points (20G / 33A) in 80 games. He returns to the Sabres on a four-year contract extension worth $5 million AAV. The 25-year-old McLeod will likely be relied upon for even more offensive production after the loss of JJ Peterka in the offseason.
Kozak made his NHL debut with the Sabres last season, scoring five points (3G / 2A) in 21 games. The 22-year-old Kozak was drafted in the seventh round in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft by the Sabres. He remains with the team on a three-year deal worth $775K AAV.
Danforth is an undrafted 32-year-old forward who did not make his NHL debut until the 2021-22 season, playing most of the three seasons since at the NHL level with the Columbus Blue Jackets. He scored 21 points (9G / 12A) in 61 games last season with the Blue Jackets.
Buffalo made its first move of Free Agency on Tuesday by bringing in backup goaltender Alex Lyon on a two-year, $3 million contract ($1.5 million AAV). The 32-year-old undrafted netminder had spent the last two seasons in Detroit, appearing in 70 games combined and had a 14-9-1 record, 2.81 GAA and .896 SV% last season.
Geersten was a fourth-round pick of the Colorado Avalanche in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft but has been limited to only 25 NHL games, all with the New Jersey Devils in the 2021-22 season. The 30-year-old defenseman has spent the majority of his career in the AHL, including scoring five points (0G / 5A) in 31 games with the Henderson Silver Knights last season.
