There was big news and more bad news from Sabres practice Monday morning in KeyBank Center.
The weight has returned. So have Quinn’s skating stride and elite right-handed shot, clearing the way for the 2020 first-round draft choice to return to the Amerks’ lineup Wednesday against Syracuse.
High-scoring Jack Quinn, Buffalo's No. 1 choice in the 2020 draft, has been reassigned from Rochester to the taxi squad and skated at practice. Quinn is expected to make his NHL debut Tuesday night when the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning are in town.
"It's great. I get to see the best team in the first game and go from there," Quinn said. "Their best players are so fun to watch. I love watching guys like (Nikita) Kucherov, (Steven) Stamkos and (Brayden) Point. So just be able to play against them will be cool."
But for all the hype about Quinn's much-anticipated debut, the Sabres' battle with Covid-19 continues as center Tage Thompson has been added to the team's protocol list. Thompson has become the Sabres' No. 1 center this season in the absence of Casey Mittelstadt and leads the team in both goals (12) and points (23).
We have a Jack Quinn sighting at #Sabres practice. pic.twitter.com/pHagsmEqiG
— Mike Harrington (@ByMHarrington) January 10, 2022
Thompson joins three holdovers on the Covid list in forwards Alex Tuch, Peyton Krebs and Kyle Okposo. Defenseman Casey Fitzgerald, who has been on the list, returned to practice Monday. Coach Don Granato said the trio of forwards who remain out are doing well and could return for Thursday night's game in Nashville. He said the Sabres will be calling up another forward from Rochester to meet the Lightning.
Quinn skated at left wing on a line with center Dylan Cozens and right wing Vinnie Hinostroza, and also got time working on the No. 1 power play unit with Cozens, Jeff Skinner, Victor Olofsson and Rasmus Dahlin.
Quinn is having a breakout season in Rochester with 12 goals and 14 assists in 20 games. He exploded out of the gate and was the AHL's leading goal scorer for the first month of the season but missed nine games and lost 17 pounds due to a bout of mononucleosis.
"I'm excited for him because he's done so well in the American Hockey League," Granato said. "There's a lot of things in the American Hockey League that are just easy for him now after gaining experience of a year ago and building on it. I think he's ready for this next new challenge and the timing's right for him. ... This is an opportunity for us, a window of opportunity that we have to put him in the lineup on Dylan Cozens' line. Two young, exciting guys, offensively gifted guys that you can put together."
Quinn returned to the lineup last Wednesday and has one goal in his first three games back with the Amerks.
"No matter what the stats show, there's always parts of your game you can keep working on," he said. "I think the stats are a good reflector of how you're playing and where you're at and what kind of player you are. But no matter what they are, there's always different points in your game you can attack. So you just keep continuing to find those and keep improving on them no matter how many points I'm getting or not."
