Luukkonen, Norris available for Sabres’ road trip

The Sabres’ first week back from the break will see them play a three-game road trip, taking on the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday, the Florida Panthers on Friday and the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday. It’s unclear which games Norris and Luukkonen will return for, but it appears that it will be at some point during this three-game stretch.

Norris had missed the final 12 games before the Olympic break due to a rib injury after he was cross-checked in the ribs during the Sabres’ 5-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on January 14th. He was initially believed to be day-to-day, but it was later announced to have a week-to-week recovery timeline, and Norris was placed on injured reserve as a result.

Norris has already missed a good chunk of the 2025-26, as he also was out for 24 games at the beginning of the season with an upper-body injury, and missed an additional two games in December due to an illness. When he has been healthy, he’s been very productive with six goals and 11 assists for 17 points in 19 games.

Luukkonen missed the final five games before the Olympic break after sustaining a lower-body injury while attempting to make a save during the Sabres’ 7-4 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on January 27th. The injury was also initially believed to be day-to-day, but later upgraded to week-to-week, with Luukkonen placed on IR as a result. This also caused Luukkonen to miss out on the 2026 Olympics in Milan, as he was set to play for Finland.

Luukkonen also missed the first seven games of the season due to an injury sustained during training camp. He’s been solid as a part of the Sabres’ three-man goalie tandem with Alex Lyon and Colten Ellis, as he has an 11-7-2 record, a .903 save percentage and 0.03 5v5 goals saved above expected in 21 games.

The Sabres will not need to make any roster moves should either player be ready for game action and activated off of IR, as they only have 21 players on the roster.

Ruff also announced that winger Zach Benson is not expected to return on the road trip. Benson had missed the final two games before the Olympic break with an upper-body injury after crashing into the end boards during the Sabres’ 5-3 win over the Panthers. He’s in the midst of a breakout season, as he’s produced seven goals and 19 assists for 26 points in 42 games.

The Sabres exit the break in fourth in the Atlantic Division with a 32-19-6 record, good enough for the first wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. They’ll look to kick off their road trip with a win when they visit the Devils on Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET.