Injuries Worry Buffalo Sabres Before Camp Begins
The Buffalo Sabres general manager, Kevyn Adams, has announced that goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen will be out for the start of training camp due to a lower-body injury.
Adams communicated that Luukkonen is being evaluated day by day. The player began to feel pain and difficulties to propel himself with his skates while preparing for the camp, which starts this Thursday.
Despite the medical tests that came back clean and without the need for surgery, the situation generates uncertainty within the team.
In other injury news, forward Jordan Greenway will also likely miss all of training camp. Greenway required a second surgery to repair a core injury, which kept him out of action for the last three weeks of last season.
Also, Alex Tuch is listed as day-to-day due to an unspecified injury, which Adams described as minor.
Given Luukkonen’s situation, the team took precautions by signing veteran goaltender Alexandar Georgiev to a one-year contract for $825,000 last week, seeking greater depth and experience.
Georgiev, 29, will compete for the backup position with Alex Lyon, who joined the team in the offseason.
Regarding prospect Devon Levi, Adams indicated that the 23-year-old player will likely continue developing in the minor leagues for a second full year.
Luukkonen remains the team’s projected starting goaltender, although he is coming off an inconsistent season, a year after signing a five-year contract extension. He finished with a 24-24-5 record during a season in which the Sabres finished 14th in the Eastern Conference, extending their playoff drought to 14 seasons.
