At this point in the offseason, most NHL rosters are close to locked in. Free agency has been open for about a month, training camps are a little over a month away, and the market has slowed to a crawl. That leaves a familiar group of players in a tricky spot: the veterans still waiting for a team, often looking at PTOs or short-term deals to get back in the mix.
Among that pool are four former Buffalo Sabres who are still without a job heading toward the 2026-27 season.
Logan Stanley is the one that stands out most. Even after an underwhelming stretch with Buffalo following the midseason trade, it is still a little surprising that the 28-year-old defenseman has not landed somewhere yet.
At 6'7", Stanley brings size and a physical edge, and he already has 278 career regular-season games under his belt. He also flashed more offense than usual last season in Winnipeg, scoring nine goals in 59 games, which topped his career total entering the year.
A new contract feels inevitable; the only real question is where, and whether it will be the kind of deal he had in mind.
Jeff Skinner is another former Sabres scorer still on the market. His last season in Buffalo came in 2023-24, when he posted 24 goals and 22 assists before the Sabres bought him out.
That buyout is still hitting Buffalo’s cap this season for more than $6 million. Skinner then signed a one-year deal with the Edmonton Oilers and produced 16 goals and 13 assists.
Last season with the San Jose Sharks, he managed 13 points in 32 games before being waived after losing his place in the lineup. Now 34, he is not the same player he was in Buffalo, but he could still help in the right setting.
He looks like a strong PTO candidate, and it would not be a shock if he plays his way onto a roster.
Evander Kane is in a similar lane. Buffalo traded him during the 2017-18 season, and since then he has played for the San Jose Sharks, Edmonton Oilers, and most recently the Vancouver Canucks.
Last season he finished with 31 points in 71 games, but his minus-20 rating likely explains part of why teams have been hesitant. His defensive issues appear to be carrying more weight now than his offense.
Even so, Kane could still give an attack a boost if he lands in the right spot. For now, though, a PTO seems to be the likeliest path.
James Reimer rounds out the group. He spent one season with the Sabres in 2024-25, going 10-8-2 in 19 starts.
After that, he joined the Ottawa Senators as a backup and made 13 starts, finishing 7-4-2, though he did not sign with Ottawa until January when the team needed help in goal. Reimer is 38 now, and the free-agent goalie market still has several names in front of him, including Cam Talbot, Connor Ingram, and Petr Mrazek, who are all expected to find deals before camp.
Still, Reimer showed last season that he can handle backup duty, and he should get another call, whether that comes before training camp or later in the season, just like it did a year ago.
In Other News...
Evander Kane Has Sabres Fans Revisiting A Familiar Dilemma
Evander Kane is still out there as NHL free agency drags on, and for Sabres fans, that alone is enough to stir up old memories. The former Buffalo winger has been around long enough to know how quickly a market can cool, and after playing 71 games for Vancouver last season and finishing with 31 points, he remains a name teams have to weigh carefully when they talk fit, role and risk.
The tug-of-war is familiar in Buffalo because Kane has always carried a certain on-ice appeal along with questions that follow him off the ice. Even now, the sense around the league is that any path back into a contenders lineup may come in the form of a short-term deal or even a professional tryout, which says plenty about how teams view his ceiling and his baggage at the same time. [Read more 🡒]
Which Young Sabres Forward Can Become Buffalos Next Difference-Maker
The Sabres head into the 2026-27 season with expectations higher than they have been in a long time after a recent division title, and a big part of the next step will be how their young forwards are deployed. Jiri Kulich, Noah Ostlund and Konsta Helenius all give the roster a different kind of upside, and each arrives with some proof of concept already in hand, along with a different set of questions about where he fits and how quickly he can turn promise into regular production.
Kulich has already shown he can handle meaningful NHL responsibility, while Helenius is still working through the sort of development curve that comes with being one of the organizations most interesting prospects. Ostlund is the wild card, because his path to making a real imprint may depend less on raw talent than on the linemates and power-play time he gets. For a team trying to turn last seasons success into something more durable, the answer to which young forward becomes the next difference-maker could shape the lineup in a hurry. [Read more 🡒]