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Nikita Zadorov will be healthy scratch Friday night, reports the Olean Times Herald.

Zadorov will be healthy scratch Friday night, reports the Olean Times Herald.

Analysis:

The Sabres are raising some eyebrows with their handling of Zadorov, which has become eerily similar to Mikhail Grigorenko's situation last year. As a 19-year-old drafted from the CHL, Zadorov is not eligible for AHL play. The Sabres can keep him around for up to nine games before they have to make a decision whether or not to send him back to the OHL's London Knights. The Sabres will have played five games by Friday night and the Knights have played eight. Head coach Ted Nolan won't say exactly why Zadorov is sitting, but did mention that they were working on his conditioning. Curious, indeed. Want the Internet theory? There's scuttlebutt that the Knights are trading Zadorov, possibly to the Erie Otters, as a replacement for Aaron Ekblad if Ekblad sticks with the Panthers. The Sabres won't return Zadorov back to the OHL until they know where he's going.

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