The Buffalo Sabres didn’t just stumble into relevance last season. They kicked the door down, snapped a lengthy playoff drought and won the Atlantic Division while they were at it. That first-round sweep of the Boston Bruins had the fan base buzzing, but the seven-game loss to the Montreal Canadiens pulled the group back to reality.
Now comes the harder part: proving it wasn’t a one-year spike. The Atlantic Division is back to being a grind after several teams that had rough years retooled in the offseason, and Buffalo will need its young core to hold the line. If the Sabres are going to stay in the mix, the players who broke through last season have to keep it rolling.
Zach Benson is right near the top of that list. Corey Pronman may think otherwise, but Benson has the look of a legitimate top-six winger.
He doesn’t have the size, but he brings edge, he’ll jump into the fight, and there’s real offensive pop in his game. His breakout came in the 2026 playoffs, and somehow people are still doubting him.
That matters because Buffalo is going to need him to help replace the production lost with Alex Tuch’s departure. The encouraging part is that when Tuch struggled in the playoffs, Benson was the one cleaning up the mess.
Fans already saw that he can handle pressure. The question is whether he can do it for 82 games.
If the playoff version of Benson shows up every night, the Sabres’ run starts looking a lot more real.
Josh Doan is another player who changed the feel of Buffalo’s season. Benson’s linemate was one of the team’s most important players all year and a huge reason the playoff drought finally ended. Kevyn Adams saw something others missed when he traded JJ Peterka for Doan and Michael Kesselring, and it’s not often a general manager wins a deal when one of the returns ended up as a healthy scratch in the playoffs.
Doan backed up the move in a big way. The 24-year-old posted his best pro season with 25 goals and 52 points, and he played every game for Buffalo during the regular season.
He also showed he could deliver when the games tightened up, adding 10 points in 13 playoff contests. While the Sabres had plenty of similar-looking pieces, Doan gave them a different kind of edge and a little more identity.
Then there’s Owen Power, a name that fits this conversation even if his regular season didn’t always scream it. There were stretches when people wondered what kind of defenseman he was becoming, and his offensive numbers dipped to their lowest since he entered the NHL. But by the end of the year, his defensive game had taken a couple of steps forward.
Power carried that into the playoffs. He played all 13 games, picked up six assists and held up well defensively even as Buffalo ran into some trouble in that area.
His work against the Bruins in the first round stood out in particular, showing he could handle Boston’s physical bottom six and still contribute. If he keeps trending that way in 2026-27, the Sabres will have another important piece helping them turn last season into something more than a nice surprise.
In Other News...
Sabres Goalie Chase Suddenly Feels Real Again
The Sabres have spent plenty of time trying to stabilize the crease, and Connor Hellebuyck has stayed near the center of that conversation. Buffalo had already explored a move for the Winnipeg Jets goalie before the 2026 NHL Draft, but the asking price quickly pushed the talks into dangerous territory, leaving the sides without a deal as the offseason moved on.
Now the situation has picked up again, with Winnipeg acknowledging the backdrop and Buffalo still viewed as a team with real interest. Hellebuycks contract, his recent performance and the kind of assets it would take to pry him loose all remain part of the equation, which is why this one still feels very much alive even without a resolution yet. [Read more 🡒]
Sabres Face A Ryan Johnson Decision That Could Cost Them Value
Ryan Johnson has always been valued more for what he prevents than what he produces. The 25-year-old defenseman brought a reputation for strong positioning and reliable defensive work into Buffalos system, and even with limited NHL experience and modest offensive numbers, he still looks like the kind of player who can fill a third-pair role if given the chance.
The problem for the Sabres is the math on the blue line. Buffalo has a crowded defense corps, and Johnson is so far down the pecking order that a real NHL opportunity does not appear close unless the team runs into injuries or another unexpected opening. For a club trying to manage every asset carefully, that leaves a tricky decision about how long to keep waiting on a player whose value may be clearer to other teams than it is in Buffalo right now. [Read more 🡒]
Sabres Wing Search Could Center On One Very Real Trade Target
The Sabres are still working through how to replace the offense they lost with the departures of Alex Tuch and Bowen Byram, and the search has naturally turned toward players who can help both immediately and in the room. Jarmo Kekalainen has been looking for additions who can supply scoring punch while also bringing some leadership, which makes this next stretch of the season worth watching as the trade market starts to take shape.
One name that fits the profile is Rickard Rakell, a 33-year-old winger with the Penguins who finished with 24 goals last season. Buffalo has been tied to the idea of adding a proven offensive piece, but Rakells situation is still tied to Pittsburghs own trajectory, since his value to the Penguins changes depending on where they stand in the playoff race. [Read more 🡒]