Preparing for training camp with the Buffalo Sabres was akin to going back to school for Ryan Johnson.
He had just completed his second season of professional hockey and met with his coaches with Rochester of the American Hockey League.
They gave him specific instructions for the offseason and to prepare for training camp with the Sabres: Take care of your body. Rest and recover. Study.
The coaches emphasized educational wellness as much as they did physical wellness. They wanted Johnson, a 6-foot-1 defenseman from Newport Beach, Calif., to watch how some of the NHL’s top defensemen worked and played on a regular basis.
“Study guys like Jaccob Slavin (of the Carolina Hurricanes), and try to emulate the way they play, and to take different things from them,” Johnson said.
Johnson hit the books – or, in this case, watched videos – with two purposes in the forefront as he entered his third season of professional hockey.
Make the Sabres’ roster on a full-time basis. Play a full season.
“That was definitely a goal from the summer, and working towards that,” said Johnson, who has played in 44 NHL games and 93 AHL games over the last two seasons.
The Sabres have to set their 23-player regular-season roster by 5 p.m. Monday, three days before their season opener Oct. 9 against the New York Rangers. Johnson’s chances of making the opening night roster are getting better, a combination of being healthy, being efficient and effective on the ice, and some shuffling within the Sabres’ defense that opens the door for Johnson to state his case.
The Sabres began the week without defensemen Bowen Byram (day-to-day, unspecified injury) and Mattias Samuelsson (week-to-week, upper-body injury). Then, Owen Power didn’t skate Tuesday morning, a day before the Sabres host Pittsburgh in a 7 p.m. preseason game at KeyBank Center.
Buffalo Sabres coach Lindy Ruff gave an update on injuries that defensemen Bowen Byram and Mattias Samuelsson sustained, as well as the state of the defense.
Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said Power did not practice after “he strained something” Monday, and that he is day-to-day.
Johnson skated on the Sabres’ second defensive pair with Conor Timmins in a 5-2 win Saturday against Detroit and in practice Monday and Tuesday, ahead of the preseason game against the Penguins.
Ruff, after Monday’s practice, praised Johnson’s skating ability, his intensity and his physicality in his first two preseason games, including a 2-1 win Sept. 23 against Columbus.
Then, Ruff detailed the possibilities for Johnson on Tuesday.
“He needs to be noticed,” Ruff said of Johnson, who sustained a lower-body injury in training camp last season, and spent the bulk of his time in Rochester. “He needs to be hard to play against. Use the legs. Be physical. He answered the call on all of those. I think he can kill penalties with those legs. He can play against the top players if he stays under control. He understands there’s a way to get there, and to be a regular player.”
Johnson helped the Amerks reach the second round of the AHL playoffs in May after scoring two goals with 13 assists in 66 regular-season games. He spent part of this summer in California, working on strength training, a far difference from his first offseason in 2023-24, when he focused on recovery.
Then, he relocated to Minnesota – he played at the University of Minnesota from 2019-23 – for the second half of the summer, where he focused on skating, on-ice workouts and speed workouts.
“That, for me, was different, because I almost had to focus more on that than the strength, building-up points,” Johnson said. “That led to a little different approach and I wanted to make sure my body was right before I kind of beat it up on the ice.”
He’s felt the difference, particularly in his strength, this preseason. He was plus-one in 12 minutes, 14 seconds over 15 shifts Sept. 23 against the Blue Jackets, with a blocked shot and a hit, and his ice time three days later against the Red Wings jumped to 18:01 over 23 shifts.
“I’ve been able to be more physical and more physically engaged, just winning puck battles,” Johnson said. “That’s something that’s been newer for me. Before, maybe I was still battling but I have the little extra abilities in the corner, just in using my feet and defending. It’s something I’m focusing on right now.”
Johnson is operating with ease and urgency as the preseason comes to a close. With the final roster cut day inching closer, he focuses on the collective goal and the fundamentals, including the ability to shut down plays or finding the puck on defense to help the team transition to offense.
“The Sabres have exactly zero leverage on this one. Tuch is the guy who grew up in suburban Syracuse rooting for the goatheads, dreaming of wearing them one day. There’s just about no one else like him in the league in that respect. KeyBank Center doors aren’t being beaten down by players trying to come here,” Mike Harrington writes.
“I want to help this team win and be the best it can be,” Johnson said. “Whether that’s being a defensive guy, where I’m being a reliable player, shutting down plays and being able to be a match for guys, that would be something, a role that I could fill.”
Injury update
Jiri Kulich re-joined the Sabres on the ice Tuesday morning after the center missed the last four days of practice and a preseason game due to a muscle tweak. Kulich skated on a line with Josh Doan and Jack Quinn and will play Wednesday against the Penguins.
Jordan Greenway skated Tuesday at LECOM Harborcenter. The left wing has yet to participate in training camp, following a setback in rehabilitation following offseason surgery for a middle-body injury.
“He’s progressing nicely and it’s probably a short period of time before he joins us in practice,” Ruff said of Greenway. “Just trying to do the right thing, but he’s feeling good.”
Byram did not practice but skated Tuesday. Noah Ostlund, a center, is week to week with an undisclosed injury.
Goalie update
Ukko-Pekka Luukonnen will start in goal in the Sabres’ fifth preseason game on Wednesday against Pittsburgh. Ruff, though, said the Sabres would decide Tuesday afternoon if Luukkonen would play in two periods or a full game against the Penguins.
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Rachel Lenzi
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