Zach Bogosian's status in the Buffalo Sabres' organization got a whole lot messier Monday afternoon.

The veteran defenseman has been suspended by the team after refusing to report to the Rochester Amerks. Bogosian, who has not played a minor-league game since 2009, was assigned to Rochester on Saturday after clearing waivers.

The Sabres announced the suspension in a terse two-sentence tweet and the club said: "There will be no further information or comment at this time."

Said Bogosian's agent, Darren Ferris, in a text message to The Buffalo News: "We are aware of the notice of suspension and will not be providing a comment at this time."

The suspension means Bogosian's entire cap hit of $5.14 million is off the Sabres' books, which could give General Manager Jason Botterill a huge amount of flexibility heading into the NHL trade deadline next Monday. The Sabres had already reduced the hit by $1.075 million with the minor-league assignment.

Bogosian was reportedly caught off guard by the AHL assignment, even though he was a healthy scratch in eight of the last nine games he was on the Buffalo roster. Two sources told The News that the Massena native flew home to the Thousand Islands region over the weekend, and one said Bogosian had no interest in playing in the AHL.

The Sabres can now negotiate a mutual termination of Bogosian's contract or continue the suspension to keep him off their cap. They also could keep working on a trade in advance of the deadline, although it's unlikely there is much interest in Bogosian at his current cap hit and the Sabres would not be interested in retaining any of his salary to make a deal.