A healthy Buffalo Sabres roster (which only lasted for one game) forced GM Kevyn Adams’ hand in every part of the roster, and ultimately cuts were necessary.

Gone were the days of extra goaltenders and defensemen — over the course of 14 days, the Sabres put Jacob Bryson, Tyson Jost and Eric Comrie on waivers. While the cap rules limit their buried hits to a certain extent on what counts against the big club's working cap, those three combine for $5.7 million in real dollar salary this season alone.

When you include Buffalo assigning defensemen Kale Clague and Riley Stillman to Rochester after camp, those are five players Adams brought in with expectations of playing for Buffalo since they're paid by Buffalo, not Rochester.

Financials aside, this is a major shift in the roster at hand for head coach Seth Appert. 

“I think more often last year and some of this year we didn't have enough bodies at times, but we were depleted with injuries, COVID, call-ups,” said Appert. “And so you're trying to piece together a lineup and then now it's different. We've got 16 forwards and eight defensemen and three goalies that realistically all are good enough to be in the lineup every night.”

Appert takes a lot of pride in the way the Amerks have developed not only prospects early in their careers, but send guys like Anders Bjork and Mark Jankowski back to the NHL by retooling their game. On either side of the puck, certain skills can make a bottom-six player irreplaceable, but that can take an acceptance of reality and self-assessment.

“Those are conversations, and we've had those conversations, and some of them are hard conversations with those guys about what's led to this. Why are you here and what can we help you to get back to there?” said Appert. “A lot of times if you're in that 6, 7, 8-hole as a [defenseman] or 9 through 13-hole as a forward, if you can create a niche for yourself.”

As teammates carpool between Buffalo and Rochester, the transition can be rocky, on and off the ice, even with the best intentions and attitude. 

“I think it fueled a little bit of my game, you know, especially that first game just because it was such a hectic day and I probably only got like an hour's sleep the night before,” said Jost. “And then I got told that at 3 o'clock or whatever. So I drove down and there wasn't a lot of energy in my body, but, I was definitely motivated for sure. I wanted to show everyone what I'm kind of made of, and where I really do belong.”

Once on the ice, it's hard to deny the atmosphere that Appert cultivates.

"His practices are so much fun because he brings so much energy, so much love for the game,” said Comrie. “He exuberates the attitude of the team — I want you to have fun, I want you to enjoy the game, because he really does enjoy it and he has fun with it. He loves competing. He loves the energy and enthusiasm. And Seamus [Kotyk, Sabres goaltending development coach] is fantastic. He’s awesome. His knowledge of the game is one of the best I’ve ever seen, because he’s been around the game for such a long time."

But Appert doesn’t keep the rink fun without intention or direction; the purpose is to force a reset for players who have been strung out by the pressure of the NHL. 

“When you're in and out of the lineup and you kind of try to figure out why you're not playing a lot when you're in the lineup, [it] definitely wears on you and it's hard mentally and it's not fun at all,” said Jost. “And yeah, I lost a little bit of that love, I guess you could say. So just being able to come down here, and play in those two games, and play a lot of minutes, and help and contribute and play to my skills and assets is nice. And yeah, I definitely found that that drive again.”

“I think sometimes it becomes a business at the end of the [day] ... sometimes it's just fun to get back to loving the game, and having fun and remember why you started playing the game in the first place, and that's the biggest thing is how I try and do is get back to just loving it, not be so worried about what's going to happen, what's this, why's this happening,” said Comrie. “Going back to just truly loving the game, cause I have fun.”