2023–24 Buffalo Sabres
DivisionAtlantic
ConferenceEastern
2023–24 record10–12–2
Home record5–5–0
Road record5–7–2
Goals for70
Goals against83
Team information
General managerKevyn Adams
CoachDon Granato
CaptainKyle Okposo
Alternate captainsRasmus Dahlin
Zemgus Girgensons
ArenaKeyBank Center
Minor league affiliate(s)Rochester Americans (AHL)
Jacksonville Icemen (ECHL)
Team leaders
GoalsJJ Peterka
Jeff Skinner (10)
AssistsCasey Mittelstadt (16)
PointsRasmus Dahlin
Casey Mittelstadt (20)
Penalty minutesConnor Clifton (32)
Plus/minusHenri Jokiharju
JJ Peterka (+5)
WinsUkko-Pekka Luukkonen (6)
Goals against averageUkko-Pekka Luukkonen (2.88)

The 2023–24 Buffalo Sabres season is the 54th season of play for the Sabres in the National Hockey League (NHL).

The Sabres will attempt to improve on a strong 2022–23 season (42–33–7; 91 points). After the Seattle Mariners of MLB clinched a playoff spot for the 1st time since 2001 and the Sacramento Kings of NBA clinched a playoff spot for the first time since 2006, The Sabres and New York Jets of NFL are tied for the longest active playoff drought in American sports, missing them 12 years straight. They will attempt to return to the playoffs for the first time since 2011 (the current longest, and the longest playoff drought in NHL history), when they lost in the first round to the Philadelphia Flyers.

Standings

Divisional standings

Atlantic Division
Pos Team GP W L OTL RW GF GA GD Pts
1 Boston Bruins 23 16 4 3 13 78 58 +20 35
2 Florida Panthers 24 14 8 2 12 72 62 +10 30
3 Detroit Red Wings 23 13 7 3 11 86 68 +18 29
4 Toronto Maple Leafs 22 12 6 4 5 76 74 +2 28
5 Tampa Bay Lightning 25 10 10 5 9 83 93 10 25
6 Montreal Canadiens 24 10 11 3 4 68 87 19 23
7 Buffalo Sabres 24 10 12 2 9 70 83 13 22
8 Ottawa Senators 19 9 10 0 7 64 63 +1 18
Updated to game(s) played on December 2, 2023. Source: National Hockey League[1]
Rules for classification: 1) Fewer number of games played (GP, only during regular season); 2) Greater number of regulation wins (RW); 3) Greater number of wins in regulation and overtime, excluding shootout wins (ROW); 4) Greater number of total wins, including shootouts (W); 5) Greater number of points earned in head-to-head play; if teams played an uneven number of head-to-head games, the result of the first game on the home ice of the team with the extra home game is discarded; 6) Greater goal differential (GD); 7) Greater number of goals scored (GF)

Conference standings

Eastern Conference Wild Card
Pos Div Team GP W L OTL RW GF GA GD Pts
1 AT Toronto Maple Leafs 22 12 6 4 5 76 74 +2 28
2 ME New York Islanders 23 10 7 6 8 65 74 9 26
3 ME Philadelphia Flyers 24 12 10 2 9 72 69 +3 26
4 AT Tampa Bay Lightning 25 10 10 5 9 83 93 10 25
5 ME Pittsburgh Penguins 23 11 10 2 10 72 61 +11 24
6 ME New Jersey Devils 22 11 10 1 9 79 83 4 23
7 AT Montreal Canadiens 24 10 11 3 4 68 87 19 23
8 AT Buffalo Sabres 24 10 12 2 9 70 83 13 22
9 ME Columbus Blue Jackets 25 8 13 4 7 73 85 12 20
10 AT Ottawa Senators 19 9 10 0 7 64 63 +1 18
Updated to game(s) played on December 2, 2023. Source: National Hockey League[2]
Rules for classification: 1) Fewer number of games played (GP, only during regular season); 2) Greater number of regulation wins (RW); 3) Greater number of wins in regulation and overtime, excluding shootout wins (ROW); 4) Greater number of total wins, including shootouts (W); 5) Greater number of points earned in head-to-head play; if teams played an uneven number of head-to-head games, the result of the first game on the home ice of the team with the extra home game is discarded; 6) Greater goal differential (GD); 7) Greater number of goals scored (GF)

Schedule and results

Preseason

The preseason schedule was published on June 21, 2023.[3]

Regular season

The regular season schedule was published on June 27, 2023.[11]

2023–24 game log
December: 0–1–0 (home: 0–0–0; road: 0–1–0)
#DateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceRecordPtsRecap
24December 2Buffalo2–6CarolinaComrie18,79710–12–222[35]
25December 3NashvilleBuffalo
26December 5DetroitBuffalo
27December 7BuffaloBoston
28December 9MontrealBuffalo
29December 11ArizonaBuffalo
30December 13BuffaloColorado
31December 15BuffaloVegas
32December 16BuffaloArizona
33December 19ColumbusBuffalo
34December 21TorontoBuffalo
35December 23BuffaloNY Rangers
36December 27BostonBuffalo
37December 30ColumbusBuffalo
38December 31BuffaloOttawa

Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)

Player statistics

Skaters

Regular season[36]
Player GP G A Pts +/− PIM
Casey Mittelstadt2451621+212
Rasmus Dahlin2451520−516
Jeff Skinner2410818−34
JJ Peterka2410818+38
Alex Tuch218917−326
Tage Thompson166612−56
Owen Power2411112−26
Dylan Cozens224711−425
Victor Olofsson18279−14
Henri Jokiharju21279+42
Kyle Okposo24347−210
Zach Benson14257−26
Jordan Greenway21347−121
Tyson Jost19224−54
Peyton Krebs22134+312
Mattias Samuelsson21123−114
Brandon Biro320200
Zemgus Girgensons20202−37
Erik Johnson24202−12
Connor Clifton21022−739
Ryan Johnson 12 0 1 1 +1 4
Jiří Kulich 1 0 0 0 −1 0
Matt Savoie 1 0 0 0 0 0
Jacob Bryson3000−10
Isak Rosén 3 0 0 0 −3 0
Lukáš Rousek5000−20

Goaltenders

Regular season[36]
Player GP GS TOI W L OT GA GAA SA SV% SO G A PIM
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen1210646:07641312.88325.9051004
Devon Levi98498:36341313.73251.8760000
Eric Comrie66285:44140193.99140.8640000

Denotes player spent time with another team before joining the Sabres. Stats reflect time with the Sabres only.
Denotes player was traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with the Sabres only.
Bold/italics denotes franchise record.

Roster

Updated November 29, 2023[37][38]

No. Nat Player Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace
9 Canada Zach Benson Injured Reserve LW L 18 2023 Langley, British Columbia
15 Canada Brandon Biro LW L 25 2020 Sherwood Park, Alberta
78 Canada Jacob Bryson D L 26 2017 London, Ontario
75 United States Connor Clifton D R 28 2023 Long Branch, New Jersey
31 Canada Eric Comrie G L 28 2022 Edmonton, Alberta
24 Canada Dylan Cozens C R 22 2019 Whitehorse, Yukon
26 Sweden Rasmus Dahlin (A) D L 23 2018 Trollhättan, Sweden
28 Latvia Zemgus Girgensons (A) Injured Reserve C L 29 2012 Riga, Latvia
12 United States Jordan Greenway LW L 26 2023 Canton, New York
6 United States Erik Johnson D R 35 2023 Bloomington, Minnesota
33 United States Ryan Johnson D L 22 2019 Irvine, California
10 Finland Henri Jokiharju D R 24 2019 Oulu, Finland
17 Canada Tyson Jost C L 25 2022 St. Albert, Alberta
19 Canada Peyton Krebs C L 22 2021 Okotoks, Alberta
1 Finland Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen G L 24 2017 Espoo, Finland
37 United States Casey Mittelstadt C L 25 2017 Eden Prairie, Minnesota
21 United States Kyle Okposo (C) RW R 35 2016 Saint Paul, Minnesota
71 Sweden Victor Olofsson LW L 28 2014 Örnsköldsvik, Sweden
77 Germany JJ Peterka LW L 21 2020 Munich, Germany
25 Canada Owen Power D L 21 2021 Mississauga, Ontario
22 Canada Jack Quinn Injured Reserve RW R 22 2020 Ottawa, Ontario
63 Sweden Isak Rosen RW L 20 2021 Solna, Sweden
23 United States Mattias Samuelsson D L 23 2018 Voorhees, New Jersey
53 Canada Jeff Skinner LW L 31 2018 Markham, Ontario
72 United States Tage Thompson Injured Reserve C R 26 2018 Phoenix, Arizona
89 United States Alex Tuch RW R 27 2021 Syracuse, New York

Transactions

The Sabres have been involved in the following transactions during the 2023–24 season.

Key:

   Contract is entry-level.
   Contract initially takes effect in the 2024–25 season.

Trades

DateDetailsRef
August 18, 2023 To Anaheim Ducks
Ilya Lyubushkin
To Buffalo Sabres
4th-round pick in the 2025
[39]

Players acquired

DatePlayerFormer teamTermViaRef
July 1, 2023Connor CliftonBoston Bruins3-yearFree agency[40]
Devin CooleyNashville Predators1-yearFree agency[41]
Erik JohnsonColorado Avalanche1-yearFree agency[42]
Justin RichardsColumbus Blue Jackets1-yearFree agency[41]
Dustin TokarskiPittsburgh Penguins1-yearFree agency[43]

Players lost

DatePlayerNew teamTermViaRef
July 1, 2023Malcolm SubbanSt. Louis Blues1-yearFree agency[44]
July 7, 2023Vinnie HinostrozaPittsburgh Penguins1-yearFree agency[45]
Michael HouserRochester Americans (AHL)1-yearFree agency[46]
July 18, 2023Austin StrandChicago Wolves (AHL)1-yearFree agency[47]
August 2, 2023Sean MaloneSCL Tigers (NL)2-yearFree agency[48]
August 7, 2023Matej PekarHartford Wolf Pack (AHL)1-yearFree agency[49]

Signings

DatePlayerTermRef
July 1, 2023Tyson Jost1-year[50]
July 4, 2023Kale Clague1-year[51]
July 14, 2023Brett Murray1-year[52]
Anton Wahlberg3-year[53]
July 17, 2023Linus Weissbach1-year[54]
July 28, 2023Zach Benson3-year[55]
October 9, 2023Rasmus Dahlin8-year[56]
October 11, 2023Owen Power7-year[57]

Draft picks

Below are the Buffalo Sabres selections at the 2023 NHL Entry Draft, which will be held on June 28 and 29, 2023, at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. With their first selection, the Sabres selected Zach Benson from the Winnipeg Ice of the WHL.[58]

Round # Player Pos Nationality College/Junior/Club team (League)
1 13 Zach Benson LW  Canada Winnipeg Ice (WHL)
2 39 Anton Wahlberg C  Sweden Malmö Redhawks (SHL)
2 45 Maxim Strbak D  Slovakia Sioux Falls Stampede (USHL)
3 86 Gavin McCarthy D  United States Muskegon Lumberjacks (USHL)
4 109 Ethan Miedema LW  Canada Kingston Frontenacs (OHL)
5 141 Scott Ratzlaff G  Canada Seattle Thunderbirds (WHL)
6 173 Sean Keohane D  United States Dexter Dex (USHS-MA)
7 205 Norwin Panocha D  Germany Eisbären Berlin (DNL U20)

References

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