Sabres' Sam Reinhart to play in season opener

Buffalo Sabres center Sam Reinhart, No. 4 on the NHL.com Top 60 prospect ranking, will remain with the Sabres for their season opener Thursday against the Columbus Blue Jackets at First Niagara Center.

Sabres coach Ted Nolan made the announcement after practice Monday.

"I can't predict how long [Reinhart] will be with us, but in training camp you just want to make sure you're doing the right thing with young players for their development," Nolan said. "We're also evaluating Nikita [Zadorov]. He's physically big enough and needs to work on parts of his game; we'll evaluate that decision."

Reinhart was chosen No. 2 by the Sabres in the 2014 NHL Draft.

The Sabres made two other roster moves. Center Mikhail Grigorenko was sent to Rochester of the American Hockey League and forward Zac Dalpe was placed on waivers with the purpose of sending him to Rochester.

Grigorenko, a 20-year-old first-round pick (No. 12) in 2012, had started each of the past two seasons with the Sabres but ultimately was returned to the Quebec Remparts of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

"The one thing we talked about earlier was hopefully these guys make it tough on us," Nolan said. "Certainly [reassigning Grigorenko] was tough."

The 6-foot-3, 209-pound left-shot forward has three goals, eight points and a minus-4 rating in 43 games for the Sabres. He had four assists and a plus-1 rating in nine games with the Americans last season.

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