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Buffalo Sabres head coaches just delivered some tough news.
One of his top four defenseman Zach Bogosian suffered a medial collateral ligament injury on Tuesday night in Minnesota.
Bogosian recently was paired with Dmitry Kulikov and was working 19 minutes TOI per game.
Bylsma said that Bogosian will be out "weeks" as he recovers from the injury.
First Jack Eichel. Then Evander Kane. Now, Zach Bogosian.
Oy vey with these long term, serious injuries to key contributors.
Dan Bylsma
"There was some (discouragement) at the beginning of the year with an injury before you drop the first puck (Eichel) dealing with an injury to a good player on your team," Bylsma told the team website. "You deal with the injuries. I think the injury in-game to Zach was something we had to deal with a little bit more going down to five (defensemen) on the road. In-game there's an adjustment because of going down to five (defensemen) but I think we're a good enough team and a strong enough team to have the next guy step in there and still do the job."
Youngster Casey Nelson will fill in for Bogosian tonight when the Sabres host Toronto. Nelson is a short term solution to Bogosian's long term injury.
Tim Murray might want to call Kevin Cheveldayoff about righty Jacob
More to come....
Jacob Trouba has until December 1 to sign a new NHL contract.
Otherwise, the young Michigander will be forced to sit out the rest of the NHL season.
Trouba's agent knows how the CBA works. Trouba is the lone wolf unsigned restricted free agent right now. If the Winnipeg Jets can't achieve maximum trade value for the 22 year old righty, who requested a trade in May, then he will sit on the dock of the bay and watch the tide roll away.
Don't expect Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff to give Trouba away.
The Jets reportedly are looking for heavy ka-ching in return from a Trouba trade.
Sportsnet's Nick Kypreos said on Hockey Night In Canada the Jets had reportedly asked the Boston Bruins for a package with a center piece that included forward Ryan Spooner and D prospect Brandon Carlo in exchange for Trouba.
Frankly, Boston would be crazy to trade Spooner and Carlo for Trouba. That is why Boston is not mentioned in Trouba trade talks. Like Trouba, Carlo is a right D and the Jets are not looking for right D compensation. The Jets want a young left shot D to augment their aging lefty depth.
One team with left D depth is the Buffalo Sabres.
Prior to Tuesday night's win in Minnesota, Tim Murray was looking for another for another difference making D-man. Murray's urgency level rose when Zach Bogosian suffered a knee injury in the third period of the 2-1 Buffalo win.
More will be known about the severity of Bogosian's injury after today's game day skate. The Sabres host the Maple Leafs tonight. If the news is bad re: Bogosian, look for Murray to up the ante with Cheveldayoff regarding Trouba.