Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - The wait is over. Hockey has, once again, returned to Western New York.
The Sabres get ready to drop the puck on the 2025-26 regular season on Thursday night when they face the New York Rangers at KeyBank Center in Downtown Buffalo.
While last season was another disappointing campaign with another year of no playoff hockey, the Sabres are hopeful that Year 2 under the tutelage of head coach Lindy Ruff can help the team take a positive step toward the Stanley Cup Playoffs come the spring.
It was another relatively quiet offseason for the Sabres, with the exception of one substantial trade that saw winger JJ Peterka heading to the Utah Mammoth.
However, the Sabres will feature plenty of new faces in the lineup this upcoming season, including the two key pieces of the trade package with Utah in forward Josh Doan and defenseman Michael Kesselring. Also joining the Sabres this upcoming season is defenseman Conor Timmins after being acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins, as well as forward Justin Danforth and goalie Alex Lyon as free agent signings.
Much of the attention surrounding the Sabres continues to revolve around the organization's record 14-straight seasons without a playoff appearance. The pressure continues to mount in Buffalo, as the team still searches for answers to get over the proverbial hump and take part in postseason hockey for the first time since 2011.
Is this the season that Buffalo can finally put an end to its record-long postseason drought? Can the Sabres find a way into a playoff spot in a relatively stacked Eastern Conference?
Let's take a look at five bold predictions for the upcoming season that may have a substantial impact for the Sabres:
1.) Zach Benson explodes for 60-point season
Despite finding himself a bit banged up in the preseason, it appears Benson is slated to be ready for the season opener on Thursday, and is expected to skate alongside Tage Thompson and Josh Norris on the Sabres' top line.
Through the first two seasons of his young career, the 20-year-old has already played 142 games and has 21 goals and 58 points to his name. Benson has gotten plenty of chances to play up-and-down the lineup, and has flashed plenty of potential at being a top-six forward in the Buffalo lineup for years to come.
With Benson getting the immediate opportunity to play top-line minutes, expect him to eat as a playmaking winger that can distribute the puck to goal scorers like Thompson and Norris, while feasting plenty on his own.
The hope is for Benson to produce anywhere between 20 and 25 goals, while adding on 35-to-40 assists to help the Sabres continue to produce offensively.
Bold prediction: 24 goals, 39 assists, 63 points
2.) Josh Norris remains healthy and leads Sabres in scoring
The biggest question always surrounding Norris is his health. Can Norris stay healthy long enough to make a legitimate impact in the lineup?
Norris has proven to not only to be a dynamic playmaker down the middle of the ice as a true center, but also a goal scorer that can put the puck in the net with the best of them.
In his healthiest season to date during the 2021-22 campaign, Norris scored 35 goals and added 20 assists for 55 points in 66 games played. The year before that, Norris was able to play the full season in Ottawa, producing 17 goals and 18 assists for 35 points in a COVID-shortened 56-game schedule.
Norris admitted he was able to get a full healthy offseason of work to prepare himself for the upcoming season, which is certainly a best-case scenario for the Sabres. Not only that, but in his three preseason games, Norris seemed to already have some good chemistry with Thompson while producing seven points (3+4).
While maybe expecting Norris to play a full 82 games this season seems like a bit of a stretch, if he can play, at least, 75 games for Buffalo, he will get plenty of opportunities to become an offensive catalyst and a No. 1 center in the NHL.
Bold prediction: 34 goals, 58 assists, 92 points
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3.) Sabres reap the benefits of JJ Peterka trade
Perhaps the biggest need for the Sabres this offseason was acquiring a right-shot defenseman to pair with Owen Power for years to come. Kesselring certainly fits the bill there.
In parts of three NHL seasons, Kesselring has proven to be a lumbering, yet smooth-skating defenseman with a big shot from the right side of the ice. While never the most offensively dynamic blue liner with 53 points (12+41) in 156 games, Kesselring is a very solid two-way presence that can be that reliable player at both ends of the ice.
While Kesselring is set to start the year on Injured Reserve with a nagging injury from training camp, once he steps back into the lineup, he may be that nice safety blanket for Power to allow him to really find his stride at the NHL level.
If Kesselring is the key to helping Power blossom on the Buffalo blue line while also rounding out that top-four defensive group, the Sabres will be much better off this year and over the next few seasons as well.
Meanwhile, there seems to be plenty of love surrounding Doan heading into his first season with the Sabres.
The son of longtime NHLer Shane Doan, Josh has all the makings of being a skilled, yet tough to play against forward at the top level. In his 62 games over parts of two seasons in the NHL, Doan has 12 goals and 16 assists for 28 points, and shows all the signs of becoming a solid power forward in the middle part of a lineup.
The 23-year-old was a bit of a late bloomer, but seems to be hitting his stride at the right time. The Sabres are certainly hopeful they acquired Doan just as he's about to break out of his shell and turn into a young, budding talent in the NHL.
It seems like Doan is set to start the year on the right wing on a line with Jack Quinn and Ryan McLeod. He can compliment that line by being a guy who goes hard to the net and cleans up loose pucks in front, while periodically interjecting some skill below the hash marks.
Bold prediction(s): Kesselring - 8 goals, 25 assists, 33 points // Doan - 15 goals, 21 assists, 36 points
4.) Rasmus Dahlin finishes a finalist for Norris Trophy
It seems like every season since entering the NHL in 2018, Dahlin has managed to hit another level of his game. It's quite clear the 25-year-old has ascended into the discussion as being a top defenseman in the league.
This season may be, yet, another stride for Dahlin, as he looks to firmly supplant himself among the top tier of defensemen in the NHL.
Last season was a nice bounce back campaign for the Sabres captain, who scored 17 goals and added 51 assists for 68 points in 73 games played. Not only was Dahlin back to nearly a point per-game on the stat sheet, but he also showed more maturity and composure to his overall game.
In his preseason action, Dahlin appeared to be playing with complete confidence, motoring all around the ice and wanting the play to go through him on a regular basis. It's the same level of confidence swagger he displayed as a 17-year-old while playing in Sweden during his draft year.
Last year, Dahlin managed to earn enough votes among hockey pundits to finish sixth in voting for the Norris Trophy as the league's best defenseman. If Dahlin can manage to finally hit a point per-game pace this season while helping Buffalo contend from start-to-finish this season, there may be many who cast their Norris ballots this season with Dahlin among the top-three blue liners in the league.
Bold prediction: 21 goals, 60 assists, 81 points
5.) Alex Lyon starts more than half of Buffalo's games
Lyon is already going to get the lion's share of the work to start the season in goal due to an injury to Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. Buffalo is also making the switch with their third option in net to youngster Colten Ellis after veteran Alexandar Georgiev didn't do enough in the preseason and training camp to earn the trust of coaching and management.
After beginning his NHL career primarily as a backup or a third-string option in the American Hockey League, Lyon got the chance to be an NHL-caliber goalie in Detroit with the Red Wings over the past two seasons. In 74 games played, Lyon went 35-27-6 with a 2.96 goals-against average and a.901 save percentage.
Buffalo is certainly hoping Lyon can be the latest veteran goaltender to find their stride at an older age in the NHL, similar to Anthony Stolarz (31) with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Charlie Lindgren (31) with the Washington Capitals or Scott Wedgewood (33) with the Colorado Avalanche.
In addition, even if Luukkonen does manage to get healthy enough to suit up for the Sabres, he struggled mightily toward the end of last season, giving way to veteran James Reimer for the final stretch of games. While it's not an ideal situation for Buffalo, maybe a limited workload for Luukkonen can help him get back into a groove going forward.
At 32-years-old, it's reasonable to believe Lyon could get a fairly consistent workload over his counterparts in goal this season. And if the Sabres are able to get the Lyon that helped push the Florida Panthers to the playoffs over Buffalo back in the 2022-23 season, that may be what this team needs to get into a position to, once again, compete for a playoff spot heading into March and April.
Bold prediction: 46 games played, 22-17-5 record, 2.94 goals-against average, .906 save percentage, two shutouts
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