Last Word on Hockey’s Puck Drop Previews are back for the 2024-25 season! As the regular season approaches, Last Word will preview each team’s current outlook and stories to watch for the upcoming year. We’ll also do our best to project how things will go for each team throughout the campaign. Today, we’re previewing the 2024-25 Buffalo Sabres.
2024-25 Buffalo Sabres Puck Drop Previews
2023-24 Season
The Buffalo Sabres once again missed out on the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Buffalo possess the long playoff drought at 13 seasons and haven’t won a series in 17. There was hope the Sabres were going to build off their 91-point campaign in 2022-23. However, things all crashed down and Buffalo had early tee times in the middle of April.
A team that’s struggling to get into the playoff places has to have a lot of things go their way. However, that wasn’t the case with the Sabres, who lost a ton of games due to ailments. Jack Quinn and Mattias Samuelsson missed large swaths of the season with injuries. Tage Thompson was one of the team’s top scorers in 2022-23, but missed 11 gmes.
Special teams and offence were also a massive struggle in Western New York. The power play seemingly lacked creativity and Buffalo just couldn’t put home their chances. A late charge was made, but it was too little too late for the Sabres.
2024 Off-Season
General Manager Kevyn Adams went back to the future by bringing back Lindy Ruff. Former coach Don Granato saw his time run out and he was fired almost immediately after the season. Ruff will bring an edge back to the team, but it will be hard to repeat the success that he had in his first stint as bench boss.
There’s been plenty of turnover in the Queen City this off-season with a number of players coming and going. Jason Zucker was the big signing of the free agency period while depth players like Sam Lafferty and Nicolas Aube-Kubel were also added. The team also picked up Ryan McLeod and Beck Malenstyn via trade.
Buffalo bought out Jeff Skinner and also saw longtime players like Zemgus Girgensons and Victor Olofsson leave via free agency. Adams and Ruff are trying to make over this roster and have some new faces.
Line Projections for the 2024-25 Buffalo Sabres
Forward Lines
John-Jason Peterka–Tage Thompson–Alex Tuch
Zach Benson–Dylan Cozens–Jack Quinn
Jason Zucker–Ryan McLeod–Jordan Greenway
Beck Malenstyn–Sam Lafferty–Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Extras: Lukas Rousek, Brett Murray. Peyton Krebs
Top Six
Peterka is coming off a career-best 28 goals for Buffalo and the German is going to get top-six minutes. Thompson is hoping to rebound from injuries that limited his production. However, the 26-year-old was still almost able to bag another 30-goal season. Tuch is someone that has to be in the mix for the vacant captaincy. The Baldwinsville, NY native took a sharp downturn in production. However, he may be someone that gets the “C.’
Youth is the order of the day on the projected second line for the Sabres. Benson, Cozens and Quinn are all under the age of 23 and have loads of potential. Benson played hard and showed plenty of promise in his rookie season. Cozens is willing to play tough and the “Workhorse from Whitehorse” will be a key figure. Quinn is hoping to rebound from his injuries and wants to step into a top-six role.
Bottom Six
Ruff’s teams are always heavy and physical and that’s the case here. Zucker is commanding a lot of money and may get inserted into the second line if needed. He brings a lot of veteran leadership, but can he live up to his contract? McLeod comes over from the Edmonton Oilers and can get physical if needed. Greenway is trying to find his way and live up to the billing he got earlier in his career. The Canton, NY native has yet to eclipse 15 goals in a season, but will be needed to pick up the pace.
Buffalo’s bottom line is going throw its weight around and try to use its muscle. Malenstyn comes over from the Washington Capitals and is hoping to repeat his career-best season. Lafferty and Aube-Kubel are lunchpail guys and will be used to play defensive hockey. Krebs has yet to realize his potential and could be used as trade bait down the way.
Defensive Pairings
Mattias Samuelsson–Connor Clifton
Extras: Ryan Johnson, Jacob Bryson
Top Four
There’s loads of young talent in the top four of the Sabres lineup. Byram came over via trade from the Colorado Avalanche at the end of last season and tied a career-high in goals. He and Dahlin could form a strong partnership. Dahlin could be in line to be the future captain of the Sabres and put in 20 goals for a career-best.
Power continued his strong play off his rookie season in the 2022-23 season. He’s still developing into a good defenceman and will likely be paired with Jokiharju. The Finn has been seen in some projections as an extra blueliner or on the bottom pair. However, we think he’ll get some top four minutes.
Bottom Pair
Samuelsson and Clifton bring a veteran presence to the lineup. It’s an odd thing to say with a 24-year-old like Samuelsson, but he’s had plenty of service time. Clifton is the most senior member of the group and 29 years old. We could see Johnson work into the lineup in case of injury or other circumstances.
Goalies
Extras: Devon Levi
Luukkonen started to really find his game in the latter-part of the season. His save percentage of .910 was respectable and so was his goals-against-average of 2.57. Buffalo may truly have a number one starter after years of searching.
It will be interesting to see if Reimer or Levi walks away with the backup job. Does Buffalo feel that Levi is ready to be an NHL backup or do they send him back to AHL Rochester in order to keep sharp? Reimer will serve as the veteran backup that can take games if an injury happens.
Players to Watch
Jason Zucker
The 32-year-old signed a one-year deal with a $5 million cap hit. That’s a lot of money to give to a veteran player and he could be on the block if the Sabres have to sell again.
He does provide leadership to a young group that’s going to shoulder a heavy burden. Will the California native be around at the end if Buffalo falls out of contention? Can he increase his value with strong play?
Jack Quinn
It was a lost season for Quinn, but he’s shown some potential with the club. Quinn did net 14 goals in the 2022-23 campaign and he netted nine in just 27 games last year.
The soon-to-be 23-year-old will have more opportunities to get top-six minutes according to our projections. However, it’s a matter of translating that ice time into goals.
Bowen Byram
Cranbrook, British Columbia’s own came into the league with a lot of hype as the fourth overall selection of the 2019 NHL Draft. However, Colorado decided to supplement its forward group by acquiring Casey Mittelstadt.
Byram did achieve that career-high in goals, but some think he’s still got something left to prove. He’ll get sustained minutes with either Dahlin or Power and that could be a boon to his offensive totals. He’s also coming into a contract year and wants to cash in for a raise from that $3.85 million he’s getting. A good year will hopefully net him that big payday.
Prediction for the 2024-25 Buffalo Sabres
The rest of the Atlantic Division in front of Buffalo has gotten better. We’ve seen massive moves from the Ottawa Senators, Montreal Canadiens and Detroit Red Wings in their quest to crack the top four.
One thing about this group is that they will play hard under Ruff. However, the drought will likely continue despite all the changes. This could seal Kevyn Adams‘ fate as General Manager.
Main photo by: Kim Klement Neitzel-USA TODAY Sports
