Sabres stock watch: Who’s trending up, who’s trending down after 16 games?

BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Buffalo Sabres have had an eventful start to their week. After losing a bizarre, 7-5 game to the Montreal Canadiens on Monday afternoon, their injury report got crowded. Tage Thompson , Mattias Samuelsson and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen all didn't finish the game and then missed practice on Wednesday.

The good news: Thompson and Luukkonen are considered day to day and could play as early as Thursday.

The bad news: Samuelsson is going to be out long-term, according to Lindy Ruff. He won't miss the rest of the season or need surgery, but it's going to be weeks before he plays again.

That's a lot to juggle for a team that is 7-8-1 and already has ground to make up in the Eastern Conference playoff race. On Wednesday afternoon, the Sabres claimed goalie James Reimer to give them some organizational depth in net and another option if Luukkonen misses any time.

Four of the Sabres' next five games are against potential lottery teams in the Blues , Flyers , Sharks and Ducks . That's a significant chance to make a standings push.

So let's take stock of which Sabres are trending up and trending down heading into this pivotal point in the season.

Trending up

JJ Peterka

Outside of Thompson, no player has driven offense for the Sabres like JJ Peterka. Buffalo has 57 percent of the expected goals when he's on the ice at five-on-five. He has four goals and four primary assists at five-on-five to go with three power-play goals. He missed time early in the season with a concussion, but Peterka bounced back quickly and is playing at a point-per-game pace. This is the type of season Buffalo was expecting from Peterka, and he's delivering. Of the team's pending restricted free agents, Peterka is the one who is making the best case for a long-term extension .

Jordan Greenway

Few players have better fit how Ruff wants to play than Jordan Greenway. When Ruff talks about wanting players to get emotionally involved in the game, Greenway is typically the one leading that charge. He's had a slight uptick in both hits and blocked shots per 60 minutes of ice time. The Sabres have 12 goals for and eight against when he's on the ice at five-on-five, and Greenway is also a key piece of Buffalo's penalty kill. With his contract expiring at the end of the season, Greenway is making a case to stick around in Buffalo beyond 2024-25.

Dennis Gilbert

Samuelsson's long-term injury is going to give Dennis Gilbert a chance to get more games. He had a tough game last weekend, taking three penalties in a win against the Flames . But he's been an effective player in brief action this season. The Sabres haven't lost a game when he's been in the lineup. If Ruff wants a left-handed defenseman on the third pair, Gilbert will be the front-runner. He also brings a physical edge that no other defenseman on Buffalo's blue line can match.

Dylan Cozens

Dylan Cozens didn't start the season well, and he's still not playing at the level you'd like a $7 million player to play at. But there are some encouraging signs in Cozens' game. He's been on the ice for four five-on-five goals in the last three games after being on the ice for four five-on-five goals in the first 13 games. He also has as many points in the last three games as he had in the first 13. He's tied for third on the team with 27 individual scoring chances, leads the team in scoring chances in all situations and is second in shots on goal. More production should be coming if he keeps playing this way.

"It's time for me to step up here and be the player I know I can be," Cozens said.

Zach Benson

Now that he's healthy, Zach Benson is once again showing what type of player he can be. Other than the top line players, Benson has the best on-ice expected goal share at five-on-five among Buffalo's forwards. He also has three points in four games since he got back from injury. He's been a fixture in the top six and is also earning time on the power play.

Trending down

Mattias Samuelsson

Samuelsson's latest injury couldn't come at a worse time for the player. He's missed 68 games combined in the last two seasons and got off to a sluggish start to this season. After 12 games, Ruff made Samuelsson, one of Buffalo's alternate captains who has an annual salary north of $4 million, a healthy scratch. Samuelsson's play left little choice. While was the victim of some tough luck in terms of his on-ice save percentage in those games, Samuelsson made too many careless mistakes. He took an untimely penalty that cost the Sabres in a loss to the Kings . More recently, his failed clearing attempt led to a decisive goal in a loss against the Red Wings . In between, he made too many ill-advised passes and hasn't been physical enough for his third-pairing role. He got back into the lineup on Monday but left the game with a lower-body injury that will keep him out for weeks. For a player trying to make his mark with a new coach, the first month of the season hasn't been a good one.

Henri Jokiharju

After starting the season playing with Rasmus Dahlin on the first pair, Henri Jokiharju has watched the last three games from the press box as a healthy scratch. It's clear Ruff wants Jokiharju to be a more physical player. With Bowen Byram taking the spot next to Dahlin on the top pair and Jokiharju having uneven results playing with Owen Power the last couple of years, it's not easy to find a consistent spot in the lineup for Jokiharju. That said, he's a serviceable right-handed defenseman who has been on the ice for eight five-on-five goals for and only four against. If the Sabres aren't going to find a spot for him in the lineup, he'd have trade value.

Jack Quinn

It's tough to fathom how far Jack Quinn has fallen off after averaging 2.93 points per 60 minutes at five-on-five last season. This season, his metrics are down across the board. He has one goal and three assists and that goal was an empty-netter. He hasn't looked strong with the puck on his stick, and the Sabres are generating just 44 percent of the expected goals during his five-on-five minutes. Development is not linear, so it's unwise to lose faith in Quinn's long-term potential this early in the season. But it's clear he's holding back Buffalo's second line from reaching its potential. Considering Quinn is a restricted free agent at the end of this season, the price of his next contract could be coming down.

Devon Levi

Devon Levi has only appeared in five games for the Sabres and started four. While he hasn't been great when he's played, including him in this section has more to do with his situation than his play. Levi is still in just his second pro season and needs to play games. The Sabres mishandled him last year, starting him in every game to start the season before he got injured, and he underperformed and eventually finished the season in Rochester. He should have been there from the beginning. This season, Levi hasn't gotten enough game action to gauge where his development is. With the Sabres claiming Reimer, it's fair to wonder if Levi could end up in Rochester at some point this season.

"I'm not worried about him because his work ethic and what he does in practice is something that can keep him ready without playing," Ruff said. "I've been around a lot of goalies and how hard he works is second to none."

(Photo of Zach Benson and JJ Peterka: Ben Ludeman / NHLI via )