Fedun got his chance on Thursday, when he earned his first recall of the season. The door was opened when Zach Bogosian sustained a knee injury, followed by the reassignment of rookie defenseman Casey Nelson to get more seasoning in Rochester.
In two games so far for Buffalo, Fedun has made the most of his opportunity. He earned an assist on Cody Franson's power-play goal against Tampa Bay on Thursday, but it was his ability to move the puck up the ice that earned him a promotion to the top power-play unit for the Sabres' game against Pittsburgh on Saturday. He responded with another assist in that game.
"I think the message that I received was just to keep moving the puck efficiently and nice and flat for the skilled guys that we have out there," he said. "I think being in that position on the power play, that's one of the most important things is getting it to those guys in a good spot where they can work their magic."
The Sabres have been looking to get their defensemen more involved offensively this season, and Fedun has shown a knack for doing that in more ways than just moving the puck up the ice. He doesn't have a hard shot, but his ability to take smart shots that get through to the net led to William Carrier's redirect goal and later to a Sam Reinhart tip-in chance on the power play on Saturday.
"We felt pretty highly of him this summer in signing him, just unfortunately with his injury he didn't get an opportunity to do anything in camp and he was at least a month behind everybody else," Sabres coach Dan Bylsma said.
"I'm surprised and encouraged by the poise he displays with the puck. It's confidence with the puck, a couple plays in the neutral zone, the passes that he made under pressure and distributing the puck up the ice to our forwards. He shows quite a bit of poise."