Zucker (illness) is considered a game-time decision for Saturday's road matchup against the Oilers, Mike Harrington of The Buffalo News reports. Zucker has missed the last two games due to an illness,

Zucker is an influential voice in the locker room and wants to make Buffalo better despite knowing he could be traded at the deadline.

Buffalo Sabres left wing Jason Zucker (illness) practiced on Friday and may be ready to return to the lineup on Saturday against the Edmonton Oilers. The veteran has missed a couple of games due to an illness.

Zucker’s net-front residence has yielded offense at both 5-on-5 and on a resurgent Buffalo power play. Since Dec. 21, with Zucker a regular on the top unit, the Sabres have gone 9-for-28 (32 percent) with the man advantage, seventh best in the NHL during that span.

McLeod has 10 goals and 14 assists for the Sabres and is on pace to shatter the career highs of 12 goals and 30 points he set last year for

Despite their promising young core, the Buffalo Sabres have fallen short of expectations this season, leaving fans disappointed. As they look to the future, some veteran players, including Jason Zucker, may be moved to make room for younger talent.

Dealing with illness

The Buffalo Sabres play the Oilers on Saturday in Edmonton, and will catch a break as Connor McDavid is serving the last game of a three-game suspension. Paul Hamilton has his game preview:

The Edmonton Oilers host the Buffalo Sabres after Zach Hyman's two-goal game against the Vancouver Canucks in the Oilers' 6-2 win.

The Buffalo Sabres (18-26-5) fell 3-2 to the Edmonton Oilers (31-15-3) at Rogers Place on Saturday afternoon, dropping to 1-4 in their last five games. Buffalo’s Alex Tuch opened the scoring late in the first period, converting on a sharp pass from Jason Zucker, but the Oilers responded just 17 seconds later, thanks to former Sabre Jeff Skinner.

Jiri Kulich had a goal and two assists and the Buffalo Sabres rallied to beat the Vancouver Canucks 3-2 on Tuesday night. JJ Peterka also scored and had an assist for the Sabres, while Tage Thompson scored his team-leading 21st of the season.