Stuck in the NHL’s longest rebuild with no end confidently in sight, the Buffalo Sabres were supposed to arrive sooner than Ottawa and Montreal in their own division, but were passed by them last season as both qualified for the playoffs. The Sabres, meanwhile, decreased their point production, fell in the standings, and enter 2025-26 once again feeling like a cursed team with no sure way forward.
Most of the young core is locked in for the long term, so GM Kevyn Adams has pretty much already made his bets on how the lineup will develop. Though he’s overseen a roster that has been declining for a couple years in a row now, Adams was left in charge of the organization and had to navigate the JJ Peterka waters as the second-highest scorer on last year’s team asked for a trade.
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We’ve said it before, but we’ll say it again: this is an important year for the Sabres to break through. Yet another disappointment wouldn’t be the most surprising result anymore, but on paper, there’s oodles of potential here. Can they capture it in any meaningful way?
Failing to do so again could lead to further trade requests, or worse: another reverse into an even longer-term rebuild.
Newcomer to watch: Michael Kesselring
Rasmus Dahlin, Owen Power, Bowen Byram, and Mattias Samuelsson formed the top four of Buffalo’s blue line last season, but all of them are left shots. So Kesselring, acquired in the Peterka trade, brings a piece to the back end that was missing. When injuries hit Utah’s blue line last season, Kesselring was moved up the lineup and had a quiet little breakout season that the Sabres hope is more pronounced in 2025-26. The 25-year-old finished sixth in primary assists at 5-on-5 among all NHL blueliners a season ago, and when he was on the ice, Utah earned 56 per cent of all high-danger chances. He’ll have a bigger, more defined role in Buffalo with more pressure than ever before. It’s going to be hard for the Sabres and their fans to forget about Peterka, but a strong season from Kesselring will help them start to move on.
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Under-the-radar player to watch: Jack Quinn
Now two years beyond a torn Achilles tendon and a broken leg that held him to 27 games in 2023-24, the hope is that Quinn is fully past any recovery and able to make a push into a top-six role. His style is a better fit for that place in the lineup, given his defensive shortcomings, but he hasn’t yet shown he can produce enough to be a reliable player on a scoring line. In his 21-year-old season three years ago, Quinn scored 14 goals and 37 points, and barely brushed past those totals in 2024-25. Can he take another step up from there, or will his place on this depth chart continue to be a little blurry? The Sabres are going to be hard-pressed to replace Peterka’s offence, and Quinn is something of an X-Factor in that regard. The two were drafted in the same year (Quinn in the first round, Peterka in the second), and in 2022-23, Quinn outscored his then-teammate by a few goals and points. Is that version of Quinn, with that upside, still there?
Top Prospect: Radim Mrtka
With a lot of youth already in the NHL lineup, Mrtka shoots to the top of Buffalo’s prospect pipeline list after being drafted ninth overall this past June. A giant, six-foot-six, right-shot blueliner, Mrtka began last season playing in Czechia but made the mid-season move to WHL Seattle, where he got a hefty increase in ice time and ended the season as their scoring leader from the back end in 43 games. Sportsnet scout Jason Bukala had Mrtka 10th in his draft rankings and noted the defenceman had well above-average skating and puck-handling abilities for his size. Mrtka will likely be at Buffalo’s rookie camp later this month, but he’ll be on his way back to WHL Seattle in 2025-26 after signing an entry-level contract with the Sabres. In 2026-27, it’s possible that Mrtka could be one of the beneficiaries of a new CBA and revised NHL-CHL agreement that would allow him to go to the AHL as a 19-year-old instead of having to play major junior if he’s not yet ready for the big leagues.
Three Burning Questions
1. Can Josh Norris stay healthy and be a reliable No. 1 centre?
When the Sabres decided to trade away struggling young centre Dylan Cozens, they took on a fair amount of risk by acquiring Norris in return. With several shoulder injuries in his past, Norris has played eight, 50 and 56 games in each of the past three seasons, but is Buffalo’s highest-paid forward signed to a long-term contract. In 2021-22, Norris scored 35 goals for the Senators in 66 games, and the 21 goals he recorded last season (56 games) gave hope that he could return close to that production again. He played just three games with the Sabres after being traded in March, scoring one goal and one assist, but missed the end of the year with a torn oblique. Norris says he’s good now and ready for the new season, but only time will tell how his body will hold up.
2. Can Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen emerge as Buffalo’s No. 1 goalie?
In some ways, this is a make-or-break year for Luukkonen, but even if he can’t play up to standard and hold the job he’s paid to do for the full season again, it won’t be easy for the Sabres to move away from the financial commitment they gave him in 2024. Luukkonen makes $4.75 million against the cap and is signed through 2028-29. From the 2023-24 season to 2024-25, Luukkonen’s numbers took a turn for the worse, with his GAA rising from 2.57 to 3.20 and the save percentage falling from .910 to .887. He had the fourth-worst Goals Saved Above Expected mark in the NHL last season among all goalies who played in more than 41 games. Devon Levi continues to try and make a case for an NHL look through his play in the AHL and Buffalo signed veteran Alex Lyon to play backup. It’s yet another crucial season for the Sabres to find any kind of foothold in the playoff race, and Luukkonen is key to that effort.
3. What will Josh Doan add to the lineup?
We discussed Kesselring above, and Doan is the other player acquired in the Peterka trade, so everyone will be watching him from the get-go. With Utah last season, Doan played relatively sheltered third-line minutes, contributed 19 points in 51 games, and was a near point-per-game player in 28 AHL games. He’ll be in the mix for a top-six spot when training camp opens, but it won’t be a loss if he ends up fitting in as a third-liner. In fact, that might be the most likely place for him to start. The 23-year-old is still developing, by all accounts has a great attitude, and brings a strong forechecking game.
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