Krebs’ role is far different with the Buffalo Sabres than it was with the Las Vegas Golden Knights. He’s been a fixture in the Sabres’ top six since arriving from Rochester in late December.
LAS VEGAS – With the Buffalo Sabres now heading into nine days between games thanks to the NHL All-Star break, the team has retooled the roster of the Rochester Amerks for a busy stretch of AHL games.
The Sabres announced Wednesday that they have loaned forward Peyton Krebs, defenseman Mattias Samuelsson and goaltender Aaron Dell to the Amerks as part of a shifting of nine players to Rochester.
The Amerks have four games over the next week, starting with home games Wednesday and Friday against the Charlotte Checkers, before the Sabres return to action on Feb. 10 against Columbus. Krebs, who had his first three NHL goals during an 11-game stint with the Sabres, missed time last month due to Covid-19, and Samuelsson's season got a late start due to an ankle injury suffered in Buffalo's Prospects Challenge, so there's no reason for them to have another 10-day break.
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Meanwhile, Dell's three-game suspension for interference on Ottawa's Drake Batherson has concluded and he has cleared waivers to return to Rochester, where he is 5-0, 2.76/.910 this season. In the NHL, of course, Dell has had a disastrous season (1-8-1, 4.03/.893).
In other key moves Wednesday, the Sabres have placed goaltender Michael Houser on waivers and put defenseman Will Butcher on injured reserve after he suffered a leg injury early in Saturday's win at Arizona.
Houser likely could have started all three games of Buffalo's just-completed road trip, but he landed on the Covid-19 protocol list on Friday and the team is hopeful he clears waivers and can return to the AHL. He is 2-0, 2.00/.948 for Buffalo this year and went 5-4, 2.98/.900 in 11 games for Rochester.
The Sabres used both Craig Anderson and Dustin Tokarski on their road trip; Anderson had been out since Nov. 2 with a neck injury, and Tokarski had been out since Dec. 2 due to Covid-19. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (lower body) could return in the couple of weeks, further making Houser expendable for now.
The Golden Knights overwhelmed the Sabres early, scoring twice in the first and second periods en route to a 5-2 win Tuesday night.
Sent to Rochester from the Buffalo taxi squad were forwards JJ Peterka, Brett Murray, Arttu Ruotsalainen and Brandon Biro, as well as defensemen Oskari Laaksonen and Jimmy Schuldt.
The Amerks lost two games at Charlotte in mid-December, including an 11-1 drubbing in the opening game of the series in which Charlotte scored six goals in a 4 1/2-minute span of the second period. Rochester's other games during the break are Saturday at Toronto and Feb. 9 vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
