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The Buffalo Sabres will begin their 2024-25 regular-season schedule with a highly anticipated matchup against the New Jersey Devils at 10 am EDT on Friday. The game will mark the start of a big season for the Sabres as they look to bounce back from a disappointing 2023-24 season that saw them finish sixth in the Atlantic Division with a 39-37-6 record.
The team experienced a bit of a roster turnover this summer, specifically throughout their bottom six forwards as they set their sights on a return to the playoffs.
At the same time, the Buffalo Sabres also made several notable offseason acquisitions via free agents while resigning key players in Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Henri Jokiharju.
With the team preparing to make the jump from the preseason into the regular season, coach Lindy Ruff is preparing final roster cuts after placing six players on waivers earlier in the week. As of right now, the team's lines are:
Forwards
- L1: JJ Peterka - Tage Thompson - Alex Tuch
- L2: Zach Benson - Dylan Cozens - Jack Quinn
- L3: Jason Zucker - Ryan McLeod - Jordan Greenway
- L4: Beck Malenstyn - Sam Lafferty - Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Defense
- L1: Rasmus Dahlin - Henri Jokiharju
- L2: Bowen Byram - Owen Power
- L3: Mattias Samuelsson - Connor Clifton
Goalies
- Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen
- Devon Levi
Looking at the Buffalo Sabres offseason transactions and the 2024-25 NHL season ahead
Outgoing players: Eric Comrie, Tyson Jost, Brandon Biro, Jeff Skinner, Victor Olofsson, Matthew Saboie, Eric Robinson, Zemgus Girgensons
Incoming players: Jason Zucker, Ryan McLeon, Dennis Gilbert, James Reimer, Beck Malenstyn, Nicolas Aube-Kubel, Sam Lafferty
In their quest to return to the playoffs for the first time since the 2011 season, where they were bounced from the postseason in the first round for the second year in a row, GM Kevyn Adams made some notable moves.
Most notably, the Buffalo Sabres decided to buy out Jeff Skinner after replacing coach Don Granato with Lindy Ruff. Given that the front office didn't believe Skinner would fit in with Ruff's playschemes, the team opted to buy him out, a somewhat surprising move despite Skinner's drop in production last season.
In addition, the team also notably traded away budding young prospect Matthew Saboie in a controversial move that riled up Buffalo Sabres fans. While the move didn't sit well with many fans initially, the acquisitions of Tyler Tullio and Ryan McLeod from the Edmonton Oilers could prove to be big for the team.
McLeod is fresh off a breakout year with the Oilers where he logged 30 points (12 goals, 18 assists) over 81 games before then playing valuable minutes in the postseason.
While the team currently has the second-worst odds to win the Atlantic Division, they will look to build on the momentum from last season as they continue to develop young talent in pursuit of a long-awaited return to the playoffs.
