Practice Report | Sabres recall Biro from Amerks, Levi returns to practice

The Buffalo Sabres recalled forward Brandon Biro from the Rochester Americans Tuesday morning, stepping in for an injured Zach Benson, who general manager Kevyn Adams said is week to week with a lower-body injury.

Biro was hanging out at home Monday evening when he found out he’d be heading to Buffalo on a recall.

“It’s really exciting. It was pretty disappointing last year getting hurt and missing out on it. So, just excited to be here and ready for the opportunity,” he said.

The 25-year-old was on the coaching staff’s radar for a call-up opportunity last season, but a lower-body injury Biro sustained prevented it from coming to fruition. Despite ending the 2022-23 campaign early due to the injury, the forward was voted the Most Valuable Player by his Rochester Americans teammates after tallying 51 points (16+35) in 49 games and representing Rochester at the AHL All-Star Classic last February.

Biro has recorded two goals and four assists for six points to start the season for the Amerks after enjoying a strong NHL training camp in Buffalo with three points (1+2) in five preseason games.

“There's a lot to his game to like,” coach Don Granato said. “Very talented player, skilled, evasive, intelligent, slippery—it goes hand in hand with the evasive. He can make plays with skill players. He can play right wing, left wing, center. He's done well in all three spots. But I think the real exciting thing for me is he complements other players. He's the type of player you put on the ice and he enhances those around him because of his compete and his intelligence.”

The Sherwood Park, Alberta native skated on a line with Jordan Greenway and Tage Thompson at practice Tuesday and Granato expects to put Biro into the lineup right away.

The Sabres open a home-and-home series with the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday at Wells Fargo Center before returning home to KeyBank Center on Friday to close out the set.

Wednesday’s pregame coverage kicks off at 6:30 p.m. on MSG/MSG+. The puck drops at 7 on MSG and WGR 550.

Out-of-market fans can find the national broadcast on TNT.

Here are more notes from practice at KeyBank Center.

1.Goaltender Devon Levi returned to practice for his first full practice since sustaining a lower-body injury. Levi has been out since Oct. 19 and was all smiles when he greeted reporters Tuesday.

“I was just taking it day by day, trying it out, seeing when I could get back. Took a few days off the ice, let it heal, and now I'm back. I feel good on the ice,” he said. “I'm so happy to be back.”

The 21-year-old started in Buffalo’s first four games of the season before his injury and is looking forward to getting back into game action soon with the new perspective he gained from watching the games in the press box.

“It was just a good opportunity to step back. I can't learn on the ice, so I’ll learn off the ice,” Levi said.

“Every day in the NHL is a good day and to be able to watch NHL goalies every night, it's great. That's what I did growing up, so I'm still staying true to myself and continue learning from other guys. There’s a lot of good goalies in the league, a lot of good teams, and there's always opportunity to learn. That's kind of my focus during those games.”

2. Like Levi, Granato is expecting Benson to learn and grow from his time off the ice while dealing with his own injury. Benson has recorded two points (0+2) in six games this season.

“…As an 18-year-old player coming into your first NHL season, everything's a first. Everything is brand new,” Granato said. “Going to Philadelphia is brand new for him today, which he'll make the trip with us for that reason—to take things in. You can only take so much in at a time. So, he doesn't have the responsibility of playing tomorrow night, but he can take in other things that will really help him.”

3. Here's how the group lined up for practice:

Forwards

12 Jordan Greenway – 72 Tage Thompson – 15 Brandon Biro

53 Jeff Skinner – 37 Casey Mittelstadt – 77 JJ Peterka

71 Victor Olofsson – 24 Dylan Cozens – 89 Alex Tuch

28 Zemgus Girgensons – 19 Peyton Krebs – 21 Kyle Okposo

17 Tyson Jost

Defensemen

26 Rasmus Dahlin – 23 Mattias Samuelsson

25 Owen Power – 10 Henri Jokiharju

78 Jacob Bryson – Erik Johnson

75 Connor Clifton (currently serving a two-game suspension)

Goalies

1 Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen

27 Devon Levi