Sabres Aim Higher After Ending 15-Year Drought and Reaching the Second Round

The Buffalo Sabres enter this season’s training camp eager to move forward after an emotional year, when they won the Atlantic Division and ended a 15-year playoff absence, before being eliminated on an overtime goal in Game 7 against the Montreal Canadiens in the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.

As NHL reports, forward Tage Thompson said at the media tour in Las Vegas that the team’s core is still the same and that the players feel a “hunger” to do more, stressing that most of those who reached this stage are still on the team. Thompson finished last season with 40 goals and 81 points in 81 games.

Before Alex Newhook’s overtime goal, the Sabres and their fans had enjoyed more than a month of celebration after securing a playoff berth for the first time since 2011. Thompson described the experience as bittersweet: joy at breaking the long drought, but also disappointment because the ultimate goal remained unrealized.

Coach Lindy Ruff warned that the expectations that came with last season’s success do not guarantee wins; what will make the difference, he said, is how hard and competitively the team works every day. General manager Jarmo Kekalainen underlined that from Day 1 the team must show seriousness and readiness, because opponents will come prepared against them after their strong prior performances.

Among this edition’s challenges is replacing the 108 points that left with Alex Tuch to the Washington Capitals and Bowen Byram to the Chicago Blackhawks; the team has brought in names like Josh Doan and Olen Zellweger to help in this direction. According to NHL, how the team is built from training camp and the experience of young players like Owen Power — the first pick of the 2021 draft and now 23 years old — will determine whether the Sabres can take a step forward in the 2026-27 season.