Sabres reassign top prospect with star forward set to return

The Buffalo Sabres have assigned top prospect Isak Rosen back to the minor leagues, clearing up the room to activate star forward Tage Thompson off of injured reserve, per Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News. Thompson has missed Buffalo’s last five games after suffering a lower-body injury in the team’s November 11th matchup against Montreal. He returned to practice in full earlier today and shared that he’ll be good to go on Wednesday with reporters including Jonathan Acosta of WGRZ.

Thompson will return to the lineup with a four-game goal streak still intact since he scored once in the game he sustained his injury. He has 11 goals and 18 points in 16 games this season, still standing as the only Sabre to cross 10 goals despite five fewer appearances. Thompson has continued to serve as the heart of Buffalo’s lineup this season, averaging over 19 minutes of ice time and a key role on the power-play. He’ll jump right back into a top role when Buffalo hosts Minnesota on Wednesday, likely between his usual wing pair of JJ Peterka and Alex Tuch.

Buffalo has persevered through Thompson’s absence, setting a 4-1-0 record in their last five games. But the offense has taken a notable hit, with Buffalo averaging just 2.8 goals-per-game without Thompson — down from the 3.44 goals it averaged in its first 16 games. It’s been defender Bowen Byram and goaltenders Devon Levi and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen to step up in response, with Byram averaging nearly 24 minutes of ice time and the netminders averaging 2.40 goals-against without Thompson.

Meanwhile, Rosen will return to the minors after receiving 6:30 of ice time in Buffalo’s Saturday win over San Jose. He didn’t record any points in the outing, pulling Rosen through his eighth career NHL game with still no scoring. That’s despite the young Swede serving as the Rochester Americans’ leading scorer, with 13 points through 14 games this year. He ranked second on the team in scoring last year, with 50 points in 67 games as an AHL rookie. Rosen still stands as one of Buffalo’s top-shelf prospects, and will rejoin company like Konsta Helenius, Viktor Neuchev and Anton Wahlberg in Rochester. All four prospects will fight to climb Buffalo’s call-up list before the winter break by righting a sinking Rochester lineup currently on a seven-game losing streak.