The Buffalo Sabres have placed star winger Alex Tuch on injured reserve. The Sabres have called up winger Vinnie Hinostroza from their AHL affiliate, the Rochester Americans, to fill the vacated roster spot.
Hinostroza cleared waivers on January 19 to be sent to the AHL, and a few days earlier it was reported that the Sabres were making calls around the league to try to find Hinostroza a place to play after he had spent significant time as a healthy scratch.
Hinostroza ultimately didn’t find an NHL landing spot and reported to the AHL, and now finds himself back on the Sabres’ roster after Tuch’s injury.
The 28-year-old forward has built a solid career for himself as a 2012 sixth-round pick.
He was a point-per-game scorer in college with Notre Dame, and scored 51 points in his first full AHL season, earning himself a spot on the Chicago Blackhawks’ NHL roster.
His first 49 games in the NHL were not quite the resounding success he had in the AHL, and he ended up an up-and-down depth piece until he was dealt to the Arizona Coyotes in the Marian Hossa trade.
Hinostroza was quite good in his first season in Arizona, scoring 16 goals and 39 points, but the following year his production declined and the Coyotes let him walk in free agency. He signed with the Florida Panthers in 2020, but was traded to the Blackhawks after playing just nine games in a Panthers uniform. Hinostroza scored 12 points in 17 games with Chicago to close his year on a positive note.
In the Summer of 2021, the Sabres inked Hinostroza to a one-year $1.05M deal, and he scored 13 goals and 25 points in 62 games, leading to a one-year extension and a modest pay raise to $1.7M. As mentioned, though, this season Hinostroza has spent time as a healthy scratch, scoring eight points in 19 NHL games.
Sabres head coach Don Granato could play Hinostroza in Tuch’s vacated role on Buffalo’s top line with Tage Thompson and Jeff Skinner, or he could opt to plug Rasmus Asplund in a spot lower on the Sabres’ lineup and bump up a winger such as Kyle Okposo, Jack Quinn, or Casey Mittelstadt, leaving Hinostroza a likely healthy scratch.
This recall of Hinostroza gives Granato an additional option, as well as possibly giving Hinostroza another chance to showcase his skills for NHL teams, something especially important for his future as he’ll be an unrestricted free agent this summer.
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