Sabres activate pair of veterans from IR ahead of resumption in play

The Buffalo Sabres have a pair of veterans back for their game against the New York Rangers. Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News passed along a note from the NHL’s media site saying the Sabres had activated forward Jordan Greenway and defenseman Mattias Samuelsson from the injured reserve.

It’s been a long road back for Greenway. The pending unrestricted free agent hasn’t suited up in a game since Dec. 15 due to an undisclosed injury. Considering the three weeks missed from mid-November to early December, Greenway has only participated in 20 games this season.

He hasn’t improved his free-agency market when healthy either. Greenway scored three goals and seven points leading up to the injury averaging 15:55 of ice time per game. He’s still a physical forward averaging approximately three hits a game but he shouldn’t expect a payday close to his current $3.5M salary. Furthermore, it’s difficult to argue that Greenway should still be considered an effective middle-six winger unless he can string together a few healthy seasons.

Meanwhile, Samuelsson returns to the lineup after missing two games leading up to the 4 Nations Face-Off break due to a small fracture in his foot. Unfortunately, those two absences followed 17 others throughout the year. Samuelsson can only reach 63 games played this season should he remain healthy.

On a positive note, 63 games played would become a new career-high for Samuelsson. The Philadelphia native maxed out at 55 games played during the 2022-23 season — just before signing a seven-year, $30M extension with Buffalo. Still, the Sabres will have a completely healthy lineup for Saturday night’s game against the Rangers.