CALGARY — Lindy Ruff said the magic name while talking about Marc-Andre Gragnani, the Buffalo Sabres' rookie defenseman.

"He's going to be an offensive defenseman," the coach said. "He's going to have to work a little bit on his play on the defensive side, but it's no different than a Brian Campbell when he first came up his first few years."

And there it is. If anyone wondered about the potential and pitfalls of Gragnani, Ruff summed it up in one sentence. He can be Brian Campbell. Thing is, it took Brian Campbell six years to become Brian Campbell, so don't expect miracles in Gragnani's first few games as an NHL defenseman.

The 21-year-old played his second game on the blue line Wednesday night when the Sabres lost, 5-2, to the Calgary Flames in Pengrowth Saddledome. He played two games for Buffalo last season as a forward, but he's glad that one-year experiment is over.

"I'm very happy to be back on D," Gragnani said. "I think I'm a better D than I am a forward.

"The D's are the ones that start the play. People don't always recognize that, that a good first pass will lead to a goal. It might be 20 seconds before the goal, the pass, but it's what creates the opening. Back there, it's different from being up front. The play's in front of you. There's very rarely someone behind you, and that's the thing I like the most, having the play in front of you."

Too many people in front of him is how Gragnani got moved back to defense. The Sabres have a plethora of young forwards, so they figured he'd be better off on the blue line. He was a defender in junior hockey, but the Sabres liked his speed and offensive potential.

"We just felt with the depth we had and where he was at, we felt he had NHL skills to play defense," Ruff said. "He's got the skating legs for it. He's got the vision. You see the offensive numbers."

Gragnani was a point-producing machine in Portland, ranking fourth among American Hockey League defensemen with 30 points in 44 games. He had four goals and 26 assists.

"Knock on wood," he said of the good start while tapping on his locker stall. "I think I'm having a pretty solid season to this point, and hopefully I can continue that up here."

Still, despite the numbers and despite the Sabres losing three defensemen, Gragnani didn't think he'd be coming to Buffalo. It's just his nature.

"I'm pretty negative when that comes," the Montreal native said. "I always think they're going to call up someone else or just not call anyone up. I like it that way. I don't want to expect it because if you don't get the call you're disappointed, then you might play bad as a byproduct."

The Sabres, including defense partner Nathan Paetsch, thought he played well in Game One.

"He just jumped in there real well," Paetsch said. "He had his head up and was making good decisions."

The Sabres hope that continues, but history suggests there will be slip-ups. Campbell bounced from the minors to the press box his first six seasons before his skills caught up to the game. If Gragnani can become another Campbell for the Sabres, it'll be worth the wait.

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A Sabres prospect has avoided criminal charges, but he couldn't escape collegiate punishment. Corey Tropp, the Sabres' third-round pick in the 2007 entry draft, has been suspended from the Michigan State hockey team after a slash to the neck area of Michigan player Steve Kampfer on Saturday.

Kampfer was hit by Tropp after being taken down by the Spartans' Andrew Conboy, who also was suspended. University of Michigan campus police determined Wednesday the incident did not warrant charges.

Tropp on Wednesday rejoined the Sioux Falls Stampede of the United States Hockey League, where he was the team's leading scorer before joining Michigan State last season.

"I've seen the incident, obviously an unfortunate incident," Sabres General Manager Darcy Regier said. "Michigan State took the measures that they thought were necessary."

Regier said he has had discussions with Tropp's agent, Steve Bartlett, about the forward's future. Portland is a possibility, but Regier thought the USHL would be a better option first.

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Sabres forward Adam Mair missed Wednesday's game and was replaced by Andrew Peters. Mair suffered a cut to his leg that required stitches Tuesday in Edmonton after blocking a shot.