Injury Report | Mittelstadt skates with Sabres, considered day to day

Casey Mittelstadt participated in the Sabres' morning skate on Thursday, his first time on the ice with the team since sustaining an upper-body injury on Dec. 7.
He is listed as day to day on the Sabres' latest injury report, which you can view below in its entirety. Sabres coach Don Granato said he expects Mittelstadt to return to the lineup within the next couple games.

The Sabres host the Stars on Thursday and the Flyers on Saturday before heading to Ottawa to play the Senators next Tuesday.
"Big thing is to get him integrated in practice, see where he's at," Granato said. "… We'll get another practice in tomorrow and we'll see where he's at."
Mittelstadt, 23, was poised to enter the season as Buffalo's top-line centerman after tallying 17 points in 22 games to end 2020-21. He sustained an upper-body injury during the season opener against Montreal, forcing him to miss more than two months.
Mittelstadt returned to the lineup on Dec. 2 and played three games before sustaining another upper-body injury in the same area during a home game against Anaheim. He underwent surgery on Dec. 10.
"I'd be lying if I said it wasn't hard, especially the first couple days after," Mittelstadt said. "I don't know. Just turn the page and start going again. I'm not the only one who has been through it, so get back to work and the faster, the harder you work, the faster you're going to get back.
"For me, that was my goal and obviously, it's hard to watch the team and not be able to be out there with the guys and be around the guys every day. That's been my motivation for getting back, getting back into the lineup, going out there and helping the team."
Mittelstadt said the surgery gives him peace of mind moving forward.
"He had the surgery and he has a different level of confidence," Granato said. "He knows he's fixed, he's repaired, he's ready to go. So, it's a whole other level of confidence with respect to, it's a complete known. 'I know I'm ready to go, I know it's fixed, repaired, whatever.' And that's much different than where he was six weeks ago, and he's going to be better because of it."
Below are more updates from Thursday's injury report:

Zemgus Girgensons and Jacob Bryson

Both players are considered day to day. Girgensons (lower body) is eligible to be activated off injured reserve on Friday and could potentially play Saturday in Detroit. Bryson has missed two games with a lower-body injury.

Vinnie Hinostroza and Kyle Okposo

Both forwards are considered week to week. Hinostroza sustained his lower-body injury during the Sabres' overtime loss to the Red Wings on Monday and missed their following game against the Senators. He is expected to miss a minimum of three weeks, Granato said.
Okposo sustained his upper-body injury on a hit into the boards from Senators defenseman Erik Brannstrom on Saturday. His absence is not concussion related, Granato said.
"He'll plow through this I'm pretty certain pretty quick," Granato said. "But he's dealing with some bumps and bruises from the game the other night."

Colin Miller

Miller is expected to miss a minimum of six weeks after having surgery to repair a lower-body injury, Granato announced. Miller last played Jan. 15 in Detroit.

Malcolm Subban

Subban underwent surgery to repair an upper-body injury and is expected to miss the remainder of the season, Granato announced.
"It is a bummer when you see a guy that's so excited and committed and now it looks like it's gone because it's right on the cusp of not being able to back in time for the end of the season," Granato said.
The statuses of fellow goaltenders Craig Anderson (month to month), Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (week to week), and Dustin Tokarski (week to week) are unchanged. Tokarski has skated with the team but has not been cleared to play due to lingering symptoms of COVID-19.