Sabres' Luukkonen to miss start of training camp with lower-body injury

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Buffalo Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams listed Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen as day to day on Wednesday in announcing the starting goalie will miss the opening of training camp because of a lower-body injury.

Adams did not reveal the exact nature of the injury except to say Luukkonen began experiencing pain and having difficulty pushing off on his pads in preparing for camp, which opens Thursday. He said medical tests came back clean and there’s been no discussion of the sixth-year player requiring surgery.

In other injury news, Adams said hard-hitting forward Jordan Greenway will likely miss all of training camp after requiring a second operation to repair a mid-body core injury that led to him missing the final three weeks of last season. Forward Alex Tuch was listed as day to day with an undisclosed injury, which Adams termed as minor.

Despite Luukkonen’s positive prognosis, Adams acknowledged the team’s decision to sign veteran free agent goalie Alexandar Georgiev to a one-year, $825,000 contract last week was made as a precaution to provide Buffalo experienced depth. The 29-year-old Georgiev, who split last season between Colorado and San Jose, will compete for the backup job with offseason free agent addition Alex Lyon.

As for highly touted prospect Devon Levi, Adams said the 23-year-old will likely continue developing in the minors for a second full year.

Luukkonen remains the team’s projected starter, though coming off an inconsistent season a year after signing a five-year contract extension. He finished 24-24-5 during a season in which the Sabres finished 14th in the Eastern Conference standings and extended their NHL-record playoff drought to 14 seasons.