Four key upcoming Sabres roster decisions after Buffalo waives Mason Geertsen
By waiving Geertsen, the Sabres made the first of what should be a series of necessary roster moves.
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The Sabres waived forward Mason Geertseen on Thursday. Bill Wippert / NHLI via Getty Images
As the Buffalo Sabres get healthier, they made the first of what should be a series of necessary roster moves.
On Thursday, the Sabres put Mason Geertsen on waivers, according to Elliotte Friedman. The 6-foot-5, 230-pound winger was signed to be an enforcer for the Sabres. But he hasn’t played since Nov. 4 and has only played five games for the Sabres all season. He’s also averaging just 4:07 of ice time in the games that he plays.
The Sabres weren’t able to trust him with much more, which made for a disjointed lineup whenever he was in uniform. Geertsen is a favorite of Sabres coach Lindy Ruff, who was serious about making sure this team wouldn’t be pushed around the way it was at times last season. But Geertsen can’t stick up for teammates from the press box, and even when he was in the game, opposing players didn’t seem eager to fight him.
At this point, the Sabres no longer had room for Geertsen, who has a two-year contract that carries a $425,000 minor-league salary this year and next year. If he clears waivers, Geertsen can play the protector role in Rochester and be at the ready if the Sabres need him at some point later in the year.
But the way the forward lineup looks right now, Geertsen was going to block the opportunity of a more deserving player. Jason Zucker, who hasn’t played since Nov. 1 because of an illness, is expected to return on Friday. This move opens up a roster spot to activate Zucker from injured reserve. Zach Benson is getting closer to a return, too, so the Sabres will need to open another spot on the roster in the coming days. And when Josh Norris and Justin Danforth can return, the Sabres will need more room on the roster.
Here are a few of the questions that will determine what comes next.
Will the Sabres keep three goalies?
Buffalo’s three-goalie rotation hasn’t been too much of a roster problem to this point because of all the injuries. But that’s going to change now that the Sabres are getting healthier. If rostering three goalies prevents the Sabres from being able to carry an offensive player who can help them, that’s an issue. So far, Ruff’s actions have shown that he trusts Alex Lyon and Colten Ellis the most. Ellis has now started four of the last five games, which has been a bit of a fact-finding mission for the Sabres. If they are going to move on from Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, they need to know what they have in Ellis. He hasn’t been perfect. He was 3-1 with a .914 save percentage and 2.76 goals-against average in his first four starts, but then allowed six goals in a loss to the Flames on Wednesday. Ruff has mentioned the importance of goalies making timely saves. Lyon and Ellis have both done that more often than Luukkonen this season. Add in Luukkonen’s injury troubles early in the year, and it seems Ruff has lost some faith in him.That said, Luukkonen’s contract, which carries a $4.75 million cap hit for three seasons after this one, might make a trade partner more difficult to find. The Sabres would have to retain money if they want to maximize the return, and that’s not something this team has done too often. But the Sabres should gauge the market, because they have enough organizational depth in net to ride with Lyon and Ellis. In the event of an injury, Devon Levi could come up and handle spot starts. All four of Lyon, Ellis, Luukkonen and Levi are under contract for next season, so the team has to decide at some point about who sticks around. Luukkonen seems like the logical odd-man out if the Sabres can find a trade partner.
Will Noah Östlund and Isak Rosen stick around?
The Sabres’ call-ups have stepped up in a big way. Noah Östlund had a two-goal game in a 5-1 win over the Oilers. His skating, vision and hands are starting to show up at the NHL level now that he’s gotten more comfortable. He’s an asset offensively and doesn’t make too many mistakes away from the puck. But when Norris returns, Östlund’s ice time high in the lineup and on the power play will likely go down. And if Östlund is playing on the fourth line, as he was the last two games, does that make the most sense for his continued development? The Sabres could also consider playing him on the wing as a way of keeping him in the top nine. He has struggled with faceoffs, so that might make life a bit easier on him. He’s earned the right to stick around, but the Sabres have to figure out what his role looks like. Against the Flames, Östlund had just 12:36 of ice time, which might be an indication of which direction the Sabres are leaning.Isak Rosen’s ice time was down to 14:07 against the Flames, so he could be on notice, too. But this has been Rosen’s most effective call-up to date. He’s used his speed to be effective at both ends of the rink, and he has six points in nine games. The fact that Zucker and Benson are both left-handed wingers could crowd him out of the lineup. But Rosen has been steady and can play on the right side, too. Looking back at what Amerks assistant coach Vinny Prospal said about Rosen at the end of last season, it’s clear to me that Rosen has flipped a switch confidence-wise.
“With Rosie, it’s all about mindset in my mind,” Prospal said. “It’s all about a willingness to do the little things on the wall, to engage in these battles a lot more because the offense is there. The skating ability is there. The offense is good. Now be a driver. Bring the f— you attitude every game. Say, ‘I just don’t want to be a point guy, be the all-around player so when the Sabres call up to me I’m not a liability in the D-zone or on the wall.’”
Rosen hasn’t been a liability at all. His defensive game has arguably been better than his offensive game. He had a few bad moments against the Flames, but so did the whole team. Ultimately, though, Östlund and Rosen don’t need waivers. So the easy thing for the team to do is send them back to Rochester. They can stay hungry and ready for the next call-up in that case.
What about Josh Dunne and Tyson Kozak?
Josh Dunne and Tyson Kozak are theoretically in the same situation as Östlund and Rosen. The difference is that they have defined roles in the Sabres’ bottom six. Having Kozak between Dunne and Beck Malenstyn on the fourth line is a natural fit. But he’s also shown that he can handle a third-line role, and Ruff trusts him defensively. With Geertsen waived, Dunne’s role as a willing fighter and physical player could keep him around. He’s also played well enough to earn a longer runway.What does a fully healthy lineup look like?
Whether Östlund and Rosen stay in Buffalo or not, the way they have played should create some competition for players like Jack Quinn, Jordan Greenway, Peyton Krebs and even Justin Danforth when he’s healthy. The Sabres now have capable young players to call on if they need an offensive spark. If the Sabres stick with Tage Thompson at center, that position looks too crowded for Östlund to get meaningful minutes when Norris gets healthy. Östlund getting a top-nine spot would require one of Thompson or Ryan McLeod to move to the wing. The likely outcome is that Östlund and Rosen end up back in Rochester. There isn’t a timeline on Jiri Kulich’s return from a blood clot issue, so we haven’t included him in this lineup projection. But here’s a rough sketch of what the lineup could look like when Zucker, Benson, Norris and Danforth are all back. This assumes the team carries seven defensemen and two goalies.Zach Benson – Tage Thompson – Alex Tuch
Josh Doan – Josh Norris – Jack Quinn
Jason Zucker – Ryan McLeod – Jordan Greenway
Beck Malenstyn – Tyson Kozak – Justin Danforth
Extras: Peyton Krebs, Josh Dunne
AHL: Östlund, Rosen