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Sabres put Stafford on IR, Grigorenko in limbo

Drew Stafford

The Sabres added another name to injured reserve on Thursday, putting forward Drew Stafford on with an upper-body ailment. The move means Buffalo now has five players on IR -- Stafford, Cody Hodgson, Henrik Tallinder, Cody McCormick and Kevin Porter.

But even with that large number of players unavailable for selection, Mikhail Grigorenko won’t draw back into the lineup.

Grigorenko, fresh off leading Russia in scoring at the World Juniors, is back in Buffalo but will skip tonight’s game against Florida as the club continues to mull over its options.

Head coach Ted Nolan alluded to the possibility of returning Grigorenko to junior, but that’s a confusing situation. Grigorenko’s QMJHL team, the Quebec Remparts, failed to deal him at Tuesday’s trade deadline and can’t bring him aboard because they’re already at the two-import player maximum.

“He’s coming back here initially,” Nolan said, per WGR 550 Buffalo. “He’s coming here for Pat and I to discuss and we’ll make that decision when he gets here.

“It’s what Patty and I will be discussing, but we’re leaning that way [returning Grigorenko to junior], yes.”