Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams was talking earlier this season about the difficulty of drawing free agents to Buffalo or having players keep the city off their no-trade lists.
‘We don’t have palm trees. We have taxes in New York,’ he told reporters.
He acknowledged that life would be easier if the Sabres could get over the hump and become a playoff contender. But that is going to have to wait.
Despite a late surge, the Sabres’ postseason drought hit 14 seasons on Tuesday when they were officially eliminated from contention. That extended the team’s NHL record for futility and tied the NFL’s New York Jets for the longest active drought in North American sports. The skid looks even worse considering that the Pegula family also owns the highly successful Buffalo Bills.
What went wrong – again – with the Sabres this season? A closer look:
Offseason moves leave them short
The Sabres bought out the contract of Jeff Skinner, who had 24 goals last season and 30 or more the two seasons before that. The move ended up being fine, considering he got off to a slow start in Edmonton. But the thought going into the regular season was that Buffalo needed another top-six winger.
Veteran Jason Zucker played well enough to earn a two-year extension but offseason acquisitions Ryan McLeod, Sam Lafferty, Beck Malenstyn and Nicolas Aube-Kubel (since traded) were role players. Younger players Zach Benson and Jack Quinn didn’t take a step forward.
The Sabres brought back coach Lindy Ruff, who was behind the bench when the team last made the playoffs and who went to the 1999 Stanley Cup Final. But it wasn’t enough.
Yet another long losing streak
The Sabres often seem to be short-circuited by an early-season swoon, and it happened again. They lost their opening two games in Europe and when they finally pushed to two games above .500 on Nov. 23, they went a month before their next win. During that 0-10-3 slide, they scored two or fewer goals eight times and gave up four or more goals eight times. They dropped to an 11-19-4 record before they finally won again on Dec. 23.
The Sabres started to turn it around before and after the 4 Nations Face-Off, then had a six-game losing streak. That left too much distance for the Sabres to make up.
Players’ slow starts
In 2022-23, when the Sabres missed the playoffs by a point, Tage Thompson had 47 goals, Alex Tuch had 36, Skinner 35, Dylan Cozens 31 and Victor Olofsson 28. All those numbers dropped last season.
Skinner and Olofsson are gone this season, and Cozens had 31 points in 61 games before he was traded in March to Ottawa, where he’s averaging about a point a game.
Thompson and Tuch could end up matching their 2022-23 numbers, but a chunk of that is from a surge that started in March.
Injuries pile up
Only three players have played every game. Rugged winger Jordan Greenway has missed 42 games. Captain Rasmus Dahlin missed eight games (during the team’s first slide). Fellow defenseman Mattias Samuelsson missed 20. Thompson missed six. Josh Norris got hurt after coming over in the Cozens trade.
Statistics suffer
The Sabres (through Monday) give up the fourth-most goals and have the eighth-worst power play. Goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen ranked 86th in the league in MoneyPuck’s goals saved above expected.
What’s next for the Sabres?
Buffalo’s core of Dahlin, Thompson, Owen Power and Norris are locked in long-term. Tuch has another year left on his deal. There are plenty of restricted free agents to get signed, notably JJ Peterka, Bowen Byram, Quinn and McLeod. Backup goalie James Reimer is unrestricted, which gives an opportunity for Devon Levi next season.
The Sabres still could use a top-six winger, either their youngsters taking the next step in their development or finding a free agent who doesn’t mind the lack of palm trees.
