Zellweger and Samuelsson Are Both Banged Up, and the Blue Line Was Already Short

Olen Zellweger and Mattias Samuelsson are both day-to-day with pre-season injuries. That's two of the more important names on a defense that was already working without Bowen Byram, who was traded to Chicago this summer. The Sabres brought Zellweger in specifically to help absorb that loss. Him going down before the season gets going is not a small thing.

Rasmus Dahlin is the anchor back there, and that's not changing. He put up a career-high 74 points last season and earned a spot on NHL Network's top-20 player list. But Dahlin being good doesn't solve the depth problem — it just means the top of the blue line is fine while everything behind it gets thin. Owen Power and Conor Timmins are the next names on the depth chart. That's where the concern sits.

The Byram trade was always going to leave a gap. The organization accepted that, took the No. 4 overall pick in Daxon Rudolph, and moved on. Zellweger was the bridge piece. With him unavailable and Samuelsson also nicked up, the bridge is a little wobbly right now. Day-to-day can mean a few days or it can drag. Worth watching as the roster takes shape this week.