Monday, September 23, 2024 – 5:00 PM EDT
KeyBank Arena, Buffalo, New York
Opponent’s Site: Die By The Blade
Streaming: BlueJackets.com
Radio: 97.1 FM
After a scrimmage yesterday featuring many of the Columbus Blue Jackets prospects, a young group makes the trip today to Buffalo to face the host Sabres.
Were any of you at the Ice Haus yesterday? Thoughts on the experience, or on what you saw there?
Here is the full video in case you missed any of it:
Note: Most of the top players did not participate in the scrimmage, as they did a special teams scrimmage earlier in the morning. Expect to see those players at the home preseason game on Wednesday night.
Jackets Notes
Following the scrimmage, goalie Nolan Lalonde and defenseman Luca Marrelli were returned to their OHL teams. Goalie Jacob Oster and forward Pano Fimis were released from their amateur tryout contracts. The release of Fimis was surprising, given his strong performance at the Prospects Challenge in Buffalo, and the goal he scored in Sunday’s scrimmage … CBJ legend and previous Director of Player Development Rick Nash got a promotion, as he was named Director of Hockey Operations on Friday. He will continue to be in charge of prospect development, but will continue in an expanded role he has had this summer, assisting Don Waddell in coaching hires, contract negotiations, etc. Could be Nash be on path to succeed Waddell as general manager in the near future?
The Other Bench
Buffalo started their preseason action on Saturday, with a 7-3 thrashing of the Penguins … We’re likely to see a veteran-heavy lineup today, since the main roster will be departing for Europe this week. They have an exhibition against a German team in Munich on Friday, then open their season against the Devils in a two game series in Prague on October 4-5.
Lineups
Of greatest interest here is young centers Adam Fantilli and Cole Sillinger. Can Silly build on his bounceback third season? Is Fantilli fully recovered from this ankle injury?
On the backend, David Jiricek has been given a clearer path to stake a claim to one of the spots on the blue line. Also in the mix is Jordan Harris, acquired from Montreal in the Patrik Laine trade. 2024 second round pick Charlie Elick is in the lineup tonight and what stood out to me when watching the stream of the scrimmage is how big he looked. He’s almost certainly going to return to the WHL, but it’s nice to see him get a chance to make an early impression.
Update: Here is the Sabres roster
It’s going to be a tough test for the defense to face most of the best Sabres forwards, led by Tage Thompson.