Image credit: @Buffalo Sabres via Facebook
The Buffalo Sabres started the 2025–26 season with an extremely long playoff drought. The Buffaloes were returning in the seventh overall spot in the Atlantic Division, so there was little expectation that they could be a threat to even the Stanley Cup. However, they turned around a remarkable team to become the Atlantic Division champions from an early season struggles team.
The beginnings of the story are bad. Buffalo was 11-13-4 and 1-1 in the Eastern Conference in early December. The Sabres, however, had been saddled with injuries and began to come together as a more cohesive unit to regain their form.
The centrepiece was Tage Thompson, who performed an amazing campaign. The destructive forward went on to record 40 goals and 81 points as Buffalo’s top point-producer. His creativity on offense turned towards one the biggest tools in the team’s arsenal.
On the other side of the ball, Rasmus Dahlin once more proved himself to be the Buffalo franchise leader. He finished in the top 10 in the league in each category at defenseman with 55 assists for 74 points, in addition to his 19 goals. His ability to get into the blue line and start play was a game-enhancing ability for Buffalo.
Alex Tuch also had a major contribution, with 33 goals, size, experience and two-way skills. Typically, Buffalo’s roster also may change rapidly as his move to Washington proves.
It meant a historic season for Buffalo — 50-23-9 with a first-place Atlantic Division record and a playoff berth for the first time since 2011. In a hard-fought seven game series in Round 2 of the playoffs, the Sabres faced Boston on the ice to score a win in Round 1 and then beat Montreal in Round 2 in a dramatic series.
There were no one superstar to build a rise for Buffalo. It was a result of a group of players maturing into a team something that could be the most significant of all of the Sabres’ future.
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