The optimism surrounding Buffalo’s upcoming campaign took a hit on Monday, as head coach Dan Bylsma announced that veteran defensemen Josh Gorges and Zach Bogosian are “week-to-week” with their respective injures.
Gorges’ ailment is of the lower-body variety, while the club didn’t disclose which half of Bogosian’s body is hurt. Regardless, losing both is a pretty significant blow.
Gorges, one of the club’s alternate captains, averaged 22:22 TOI per night last year while Bogosian led all defensemen at 26:39.
Without those two in the lineup, Buffalo would be left to fill out the blueline with the likes of Rasmus Ristolainen, Cody Franson, Mike Weber, Mark Pysyk, Jake McCabe, Matt Donovan and Carlo Colaiacovo.
Thankfully for the Sabres, there’s still time until their regular season gets underway against Ottawa on Oct. 8 -- 10 days, to be specific. That could be enough time for both Gorges and Bogosian to get healthy.