Sharpen Up: September 28, 2021 | Sabres open preseason slate tonight

It's finally a game night again.
The preseason begins tonight as the Sabres travel to Columbus for a 7 p.m. faceoff from Nationwide Arena. Stay tuned for coverage from the morning skate for lineup news and notes.
The Blue Jackets' feed of the game will stream live in the Sabres' broadcast market on Sabres.com. Dan Dunleavy and Rob Ray will have the call on WGR 550.
Here's what you need to know.

Yesterday's practice

Following Sunday's Blue vs. Gold Scrimmage, head coach Don Granato put the players back to work.
They were once again split into two practice groups.
Gold Group
53 Jeff Skinner - 37 Casey Mittelstadt - 71 Victor Olofsson
91 Drake Caggiula - 74 Rasmus Asplund - 72 Tage Thompson
42 Brendan Warren - 20 Cody Eakin - 21 Kyle Okposo
73 Matej Pekar - 43 Sean Malone - 36 Ryan Scarfo / 51 Dominic Franco
26 Rasmus Dahlin - 10 Henri Jokiharju
8 Robert Hagg - 33 Colin Miller
75 Josh Teves - 13 Mark Pysyk
56 Matthew Cairns - 38 Nick Boka
41 Craig Anderson
1 Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen
32 Michael Houser
Blue Group
77 JJ Peterka - 24 Dylan Cozens - 22 Jack Quinn
96 Anders Bjork - 28 Zemgus Girgensons - 29 Vinnie Hinostroza
57 Brett Murray - 25 Arttu Ruotsalainen - 15 John Hayden
65 Linus Weissbach - 49 Ryan MacInnis - 27 Michael Mersch
78 Jacob Bryson - 64 Oskari Laaksonen
4 Will Butcher - 6 Ethan Prow
67 Peter Tischke - Mitch Eliot
80 Aaron Dell
41 Dustin Tokarski
We'll have the game group for you after the morning skate commences.
Before practice, the team announced that 2021 draft picks Josh Bloom, Viljami Marjala, and Olivier Nadeau had been loaned back to their respective junior clubs.

What to look for in net

Mondays' written report took a look at the team's goaltending and a newcomer on the blue line. After Sunday's scrimmage, Granato said if the season started Monday, it would be veterans Craig Anderson and Aaron Dell on the opening night roster.
"They've got, really, the first opportunity," Granato said. "They've got the better track record at this level. So, we'll be watching those guys, I guess, because they should play. Their resume says they're the guys who can handle this."

Anderson and Dell have both expressed willingness to serve as veteran mentors, both for Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and the other young players who project to comprise the bulk of this year's roster.
"I think it's gone pretty well so far," Dell said. "Everyone's played pretty well so far in the scrimmage and in practice and stuff like that. I'm just going to do my work and I'm excited to see where it goes."

Robert Hagg also spoke with the media after practice. The 26-year-old defenseman was acquired with a first-round pick in the 2021 NHL Draft in the trade that sent Rasmus Ristolainen to Philadelphia.
"They said they really wanted me here," Hagg said. "I found a lot of energy, came in here early to get to know everybody and I'm really excited to get this going. It's a fresh start for me with new coaches, new teammates."
Read more in the full Training Camp Report.

Asplund embracing each new opportunity

Our video report focused on Rasmus Asplund and the different roles he's played through four days of training camp: