Two Young Players Out For The Buffalo Sabres

Buffalo Sabres head coach Don Granato announced that forward Casey Mittelstadt and defenseman Henri Jokiharju will be out week-to-week. Mittelstadt has an upper-body injury, while Jokiharju has a lower-body injury.

The Sabres started off their season in a fantastic fashion. They defeated the Montreal Canadiens 5-1, which certainly was very surprising. However, now the team is likely feeling unhappy that these two will be out for a notable amount of time.

Per head coach Don Granato, both Casey Mittelstadt and Henri Jokiharju will be out for at least a couple of weeks.

Mittelstadt (upper body)
Jokiharju (lower body)
— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) October 15, 2021

With the Sabres trading Sam Reinhart and Jack Eichel eventually going to be, Mittelstadt is coming into this season with high expectations. He is one of their top forwards at this time and was their first-line center in the opener.. In 41 games last season, he scored 10 goals and had 22 points. It will be interesting to see how he follows up that up this year.

Jokiharju also is expected to have a large role with the Sabres this season. In Buffalo's season opener, he played on the team's top-pair with Rasmus Dahlin. Once he returns from his injury, it will not be surprising to see him placed right back there. The 2017 first-round pick scored three goals and had eight points in 46 games last season. During the 2019-20 season, however, he scored four goals and recorded 15 points in 69 games.

Nonetheless, this is a hard way for Buffalo to begin the season.