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There’s still time for the Sabres to rebound after another tough start

Mike Gould
Mike Gould
Nov 20, 2025, 14:21 EST
There’s still time for the Sabres to rebound after another tough start
Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

Just more than a month into the 2025-26 regular season, the Buffalo Sabres are in last place in the Eastern Conference.

Surprised? You probably aren’t, considering the Sabres are in the midst of an active 14-year playoff drought, the longest in NHL history. They’ve picked first overall twice during that stretch. The words “Buffalo” and “basement” go together like Datsyuk and Zetterberg, or Ovechkin and Backstrom. Quite simply, it’s the norm.

At home on Wednesday night, the Sabres had an opportunity to win their third consecutive game when they took on the lowly Calgary Flames, who entered the contest with a league-worst 5-13-3 record. Instead, the Sabres allowed the scoring-starved Flames to hang six goals on them in a 6-2 loss. The die-hards who remained at the KeyBank Center until the final buzzer booed the Sabres off the ice.

Even after beating the Sabres, the Flames remain alone in 32nd overall and are nine points out of the Western Conference playoff picture. Just more than a quarter of the way through the regular season, they’re already completely out of the race. The only things their fans have to look forward to are the trade deadline and the draft lottery.

But the same isn’t true for the Sabres, even after their turbulent start. They’ve already gone through a five-game losing skid, and their minus-13 goal differential is by far the worst in the Eastern Conference, but with a 7-9-4 record and 18 points through 20 games, the Sabres are only four points back of tying the Tampa Bay Lightning for the final Wildcard playoff spot.

Despite their best efforts, the Sabres are not out of it. And there are legitimate reasons for optimism around them as they approach the month of December, which brings with it a few multi-day breaks for extra rest and a relatively light slate of opponents.

Lopsided loss to Calgary notwithstanding, the Sabres are starting to look a little better in general. Mattias Samuelsson is having a resurgent season on the top pairing. Josh Doan and Ryan McLeod are looking like guys the Utah Mammoth and Edmonton Oilers should’ve worked harder to keep. And Tage Thompson has played extremely well since being shifted back to his familiar center position.

The Sabres are due for a few things to start breaking their way. They’ve been outscored 50-41 at 5-on-5 this year despite their expected goals and high-danger chance rates both hovering around 50 percent. They have the NHL’s best penalty kill but a bottom-10 power play, and their team shooting percentage of 10.05 ranks 25th in the league.

On top of that, the Sabres are currently without Josh Norris, Zach Benson, Michael Kesselring, Jiri Kulich, and Jason Zucker, and they’re still sniffing around in the Eastern Conference. Norris, Benson, and Zucker have all resumed skating with the team and could return within the next few games, which would give Buffalo an enormous boost.

Brought in as the main piece when the Sabres sent Dylan Cozens to the Ottawa Senators last trade deadline, Norris hasn’t had much of an opportunity to make his mark in Buffalo. The oft-injured center has skated in just four games with the Sabres and has finished only two of them. But when he’s healthy, Norris scores goals like few others can, and his return will give the Sabres a much-needed lift down the middle.

By the same token, all these injuries have opened the door for the Sabres to get a closer look at two of their recent first-round picks. Isak Rosen and Noah Ostlund have both done commendable jobs holding the fort for this beleaguered team and could remain in the shuffle for the Sabres even after other players return from injury.

The biggest elephant in the room for the Sabres at this point is veteran right winger Alex Tuch, a Syracuse product who has enjoyed some of the greatest individual successes of his career in Buffalo. Tuch is in the final year of his contract and will be 30 when any new deal begins, which sets the stage for a pivotal negotiation process over the next seven months. The Sabres won’t want to lose Tuch, but can they afford to pay him what he wants — and should they?

Sabres fans are rightfully frustrated with where their team is at. They’re more than fed up with owner Terry Pegula, who has yet to guide the Sabres anywhere close to the same success he’s enjoyed with the NFL’s Buffalo Bills. The Sabres don’t spend to the cap, and they’ve cultivated a reputation as a farm team for the rest of the league. The last thing Sabres fans want to see is Thompson and Rasmus Dahlin following Jack Eichel, Sam Reinhart, and Ryan O’Reilly out the door.

But it’s not over. The East is a mess, and once the Sabres get healthy, teams who underestimate them could do so at their own peril. The Sabres have all the pieces they need to remain competitive, especially if and when overperformers like the Boston Bruins, New York Islanders, and Detroit Red Wings come crashing down to Earth.

Perhaps it’ll go down in the end as a bad call, but still: Don’t be surprised if the Sabres’ playoff drought stops just short of reaching 15 seasons.

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POST SPONSORED BY bet365

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