The Buffalo Sabres are trying to turn things around. They have been stuck in a cycle of failed rebuild after failed rebuild for close to two decades. In fact, they own the longest playoff drought in the NHL at this time, sitting at 14 seasons. The next closest team is the Detroit Red Wings, who currently have missed the playoffs in nine straight years.
The Sabres certainly have promising talent. Rasmus Dahlin is the captain and one of the most underrated defensemen in the NHL. Tage Thompson is a star-level goal scorer. Complementary players such as Alex Tuch, Owen Power, and Bowen Byram give Buffalo an intriguing core to work with.
However, this has not turned into solid results on the ice. The Sabres nearly made the Stanley Cup Playoffs a few seasons back. Unfortunately, they missed by one singular point. Making matters worse is that they have not come close to that point in the succeeding campaigns.
The 2025-26 season is also not getting off to a good start. The Sabres lost on Monday afternoon to the Colorado Avalanche by a score of 3-1. This is their third consecutive loss to begin the season. And according to Dahlin, this sort of performance is “unacceptable,” as he told NHL.com after the game.
“It’s not good enough, a lot of the areas,” he said. “Better start today, worse ending. Not good on the power play, good [penalty kill], goaltending. I mean, we can’t catch a break there. We’ve got to get out of this [nonsense].”
Sabres Trying Not To Let Poor Start Snowball
Jared C. Tilton/Getty ImagesBuffalo Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin is trying to right the ship early on.
Buffalo is certainly feeling a ton of pressure to finally turn things around. Things are getting to a point where the team may need to make changes if they continue losing. And major changes midseason can have a drastic impact — positive or negative — on a team.
The Sabres have felt a ton of negativity over the last decade and a half. But this team wants to be the group to break the cycle. They want to bring postseason hockey to this city. This begins by stopping the negativity before it becomes ingrained in the locker room.
“I’m a big believer that negativity breeds negativity, and that’s kind of how we’ve snowballed things in the past,” Thompson said, via NHL.com. “So, we can’t let three games be the end of the world, like I said. Obviously this [stinks]. No one wants to lose their first three games, but we’ve got an opportunity Wednesday (against the Ottawa Senators) to turn it around, and I think that’s all we’ve got to start doing: just look at the next game.”
Buffalo Managing Multiple Injuries Early On
One piece of context that’s key is the health of the Sabres roster. Buffalo has made some significant moves over the last year, year-and-a-half. Unfortunately, the impact of those moves has been lessened by poor injury luck.
Forward Josh Norris, acquired from the Ottawa Senators last year, suffered an injury in their first game of the season. Defenseman Michael Kesselring, acquired in the JJ Peterka trade with the Utah Mammoth, is also nursing an injury.
Even beyond the acquisitions, key members of the roster are also down. Forwards Zach Benson and Jordan Greenway have dealt with something early on. And goaltender Ukka-Pekka Luukkonen is week-to-week.
The Sabres are making no excuses, but it’s fair to say we don’t know what this team is capable of at full strength. Getting everyone back healthy could help set things back on track. And it could be the start of turning things around for the better.
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