Sabres' Gaustad out minimum of 3-4 weeks after surgery
Myers returned to juniors
Sabres forward Paul Gaustad had a torn ligament in his right thumb surgically repaired today. He is expected to be out a minimum of 3-4 weeks, Buffalo General Manager Darcy Regier said in a statement.
"Injuries, you're going to have to deal with them throughout the year," coach Lindy Ruff said. "It's a tough one to get right off the bat, but we've got to move ahead without him."
Gaustad's last on-ice appearance came Sunday when he fought Minnesota's Marc-Andre Bergeron, but it appears the forward may have been injured the shift before the fight.
"He didn't even feel like he hurt it in the fight the other night," Ruff said. "He felt like he hurt it before that. When we had the MRI done yesterday, we found that he needed to have it operated on."
Regier also announced today that the Sabres have assigned 11 players to the Portland Pirates of the American League. In addition, forward Philip Gogulla has been loaned to Kolner Haie of the German Elite League and defenseman Tyler Myers has been returned to Kelowna of the junior Western Hockey League. The moves leave the Sabres with 32 players remaining in camp.
Heading to Portland are: forwards Tyler Bouck (pending waivers), Jimmy Bonneau (pending waivers), Colton Fretter, Marc-Andre Gragnani, Derek Whitmore, Felix Schutz and Colin Murphy; defensemen Mike Card and Mike Kostka; and goaltenders Jhonas Enroth and Adam Dennis. Forward Josh Vatri and defenseman Paul Baier will attend Portland's camp on a tryout basis.
Buffalo took Myers 12th overall in the 2008 Entry Draft. In his only preseason game, he logged 15:59 of ice time in Saturday’s 3-2 OT win over Toronto at HSBC Arena. Dennis played the third period of last Tuesday’s game in Roberval, Que., stopping all four Montreal shots he faced.
