MATT VOLZ
Sports Editor
*Note: This article was written earlier in the season, and it was published on Nov. 19, 2024.*
Fourteen years is a long time.
That’s how long it’s been since the Sabres were a playoff team.
The head coach of that 2010-11 team was Lindy Ruff, who was fired in 2013 but brought back this past offseason.
Ruff is the winningest coach in franchise history, and the hope was that he would put this group of young players on the right track toward a return to the playoffs.
Through the first 15 games of this season, the Sabres are a .500 team, meddling at 8-8-1.
It’s been a season of ups and downs, but it started with the downs as Buffalo won just one of their first six games. They followed that up with three straight wins, and then three straight losses.
However, since those three losses, the Sabres seem to have found some success, having won four of their last five outings. Because of that, I feel that Buffalo might be headed in the right direction, but I need to see more consistent results before I can make that judgment.
The overall story for the 2024-25 Sabres so far has been a lack of consistency.
They’ve had games where their offense has looked unstoppable, such as a 5-2 win over the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers on Oct. 12 and a 6-1 win over the New York Rangers on Nov. 7.
But they’ve also laid eggs at times, like when they blew multiple leads in an overtime loss in Pittsburgh on Oct. 16 or when goaltending was optional in a 7-5 loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Nov. 11.
As a result, it’s tough to get an accurate read on them. Are they a group capable of going on a run, or are they bound to be in the league’s basement again?
They’ve certainly had some bright spots to this point in the season.
Tage Thompson, a former All-Star forward, leads the team in goals and total points with 11 and 18, respectively. He is among the league leaders in goals scored through the first month and a half of the season.
Two of Buffalo’s offseason acquisitions have also earned their contracts.
Jason Zucker, a middle-six winger who signed a one-year deal over the summer, has three goals and eight assists for 11 total points through 17 games. Zucker has been one of the team’s biggest threats on a power play unit that otherwise hasn’t produced very well.
The Sabres’ power play ranks 22nd out of 32 teams, scoring on 17.3% of their opportunities. It’s not great for Buffalo, but it’s not awful when you remember that they started the season going 0-for-22 on the man advantage.
Zucker has scored two of Buffalo’s nine power play goals this season, and he’s provided at least somewhat of a net-front presence that the Sabres desperately need.
Ryan McLeod, acquired in a July trade with the Edmonton Oilers, has been phenomenal in a middle-six center role. Speed and defensive ability are his two main assets, which have made him quite the threat on the penalty kill.
Buffalo’s penalty kill unit is currently ranked 25th out of 32 teams, preventing opposing power plays from scoring at a 76.8% rate.
Some of the struggles on the penalty kill can be tied to Buffalo’s aggressive nature when being a man down. It has paid off a few times, as the Sabres are currently tied for third in the league in shorthanded goals. But it also tends to put their young goaltenders in more difficult situations, which is not ideal for a team with two developing netminders in Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Devon Levi.
Luukkonen’s stats this season have been mediocre if not slightly above average, with a .903 save percentage and a 2.83 goals-against average as of Friday, Nov. 15.
Levi, on the other hand, has struggled in limited action, posting an abysmal .870 save percentage and allowing nearly four goals per game.
Defensively, it’s been a mixed bag for the Sabres.
Captain Rasmus Dahlin has played a bit below his standards, but below average by Dahlin’s standards is still better than probably 75% of defensemen in the league, at least.
Owen Power, another former first overall pick on Buffalo’s blue line, has been excellent so far this season. I would argue that Power has been the team’s best player throughout the first 17 games.
A pair of defensemen, Connor Clifton and Jacob Bryson, are off to solid starts after being maligned for rough seasons in the past.
Clifton, playing in his second season of a three-year contract, has played top-four defensive minutes in some games and has been a stable presence on the blue line.
Bryson, a depth defenseman who has drawn the ire of fans for poor play in the past, returned from injury and has helped fill a void in November.
Despite solid play by some, Buffalo is also being let down by lackluster play from others.
Bowen Byram, a former fourth overall pick acquired in a trade with the Colorado Avalanche last season, has not lived up to expectations with the Sabres. Byram has contributed nicely on the offensive end, recording 11 points in 17 games, but he hasn’t been great in the defensive zone, which is more of what the team needs.
Additionally, Mattias Samuelsson has not played up to par and is now dealing with yet another injury. The 24-year-old defenseman has missed significant time in each of the past two seasons, and he will now be out week-to-week with a lower-body injury.
Speaking of injuries, Thompson is also now out indefinitely with an injury, which could be a major blow to the forward group.
The forwards, like the team overall, have been up and down. Although the Sabres have gotten great production from players like Thompson, Zucker, McLeod and J.J. Peterka, other key forwards haven’t been quite as good.
Dylan Cozens, whom Buffalo is counting on to fill the void left by Thompson’s injury, hasn’t been close to what they’ve needed from him. I don’t want to be too critical of Cozens, as he has gotten better in recent games, but 7 points in 17 games isn’t going to cut it for a supposed offensive weapon who’s being paid $7.1 million per year.
His linemate, Jack Quinn, has also yielded disappointing results. Quinn has played in all but one game, and he only has one goal and five points to show for it.
If the Sabres want a chance at making the playoffs, they’re going to need their top players to play like top players. That was an issue last season, as scoring for Buffalo’s top forwards fell off a cliff, which was one of the reasons former coach Don Granato was fired.
There are rumors that Buffalo could be in the market for a substantial mid-season trade, but I’ll believe that when I see it.
Aside from the Byram trade, General Manager Kevyn Adams has shown a reluctance to make any major moves during the season.
Adams received criticism this offseason for not doing more to improve scoring, and I agree with some of that. I’ll give Adams credit where credit is due. Signing Zucker and trading for McLeod are two moves that have worked out well so far.
But, I get the feeling that more pieces need to be added to the puzzle.
Instead of banking on unproven players within the system, I feel that the Sabres should be going out and trying to add another offensive threat, especially now that their top scorer may be out for a little while.
I fear that if Adams chooses to sit on his hands and do nothing to improve the team, Sabres fans may once again be sitting at home watching the playoffs, wondering what might have been.