"It's a loss," Granato said. "… He's a leader. He's helped us as coaches in the transition. He's such a great communicator to us, to the teammates. Everybody looks up to him. So, we definitely lose a big portion of that. He's a guy that's around all the time and I'm sure he'll still be helping us in many respects."
Dustin Tokarski will make his second straight start in goal coming off a 29-save performance against Washington on Thursday, his first NHL victory since 2015. He will be backed up by Michael Houser with Linus Ullmark out week-to-week due to a lower-body injury.
The Sabres reassigned Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen from the Rochester Americans to the taxi squad, opening the door for the 22-year-old to potentially make his NHL debut against the Penguins on Sunday. Granato said there had been no decision in that regard as of Saturday afternoon.
"I haven't even given a thought as to tomorrow's game," Granato said. "I know it would be tough with Tokarski going tonight to play back-to-back, but that's not out of the question either. … I'm not even thinking that far ahead yet. But he will get in there at some point."
