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Sabres will be ‘very, very cautious’ with injured Leino

Buffalo Sabres v Nashville Predators

NASHVILLE, TN - MARCH 27: Ville Leino #23 of the Buffalo Sabres skates against the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena on March 27, 2014 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Frederick Breedon/Getty Images)

Frederick Breedon

Ville Leino was only on the ice for one shift on Thursday before being shut down with lightheaded symptoms. He’s still not feeling well and was sent to be evaluated by doctors today.

The question now is if he has a concussion.

“He never got hit though,” interim coach Ted Nolan pointed out, per the Buffalo News. “He just felt it before the game. He had one shift. He went out felt a little woozy. He felt a little dizzy and it wasn’t, don’t quote me 100 percent but I don’t think he got hit. He was just out one shift and came back.

“When you’re talking about the head, it’s not like the elbow or knee or something, but your head so we have to be very, very cautious.”

Leino has played in 52 games this season and hasn’t scored a single goal. He comes with a $4.5 million cap hit through 2016-17, but the Sabres haven’t used either of their compliance buyouts.

The wrinkle is that a player can’t be bought out if he’s injured and this is the last summer that teams can take advantage of the compliance buyouts given to them as part of the new CBA. Those buyouts are different from the ordinary variety because they completely remove a player’s cap hit from the team’s books.

Meanwhile, the Sabres will play against Tampa Bay tonight. Buffalo is on pace to finish the 2013-14 campaign with the worst record in the NHL.

Follow @RyanDadoun