The Buffalo Sabres’ regular-season opener, which is also their home opener, is on Oct. 9 against the New York Rangers. With that being said, I’m going to give five bold predictions for the Sabres heading into the season. I will preface that if any of these happen, then I see the Sabres at a minimum competing for a playoff spot with a chance to break their playoff drought in April.
Jiri Kulich Scores 30-Plus Goals
Jiri Kulich is entering his second season in the NHL. Last season, he recorded 24 points (15 goals and nine assists) in 62 games played. For most of last season, he was playing around 11-12 minutes a night; then, in the last month of the season, he started to get substantially more ice time. He is projected to be the team’s first line center playing with Zach Benson and Tage Thompson. Kulich has one of the better shots on the team, and with him getting 17-plus minutes a night playing with two talented players, Benson and Thompson, 30 goals is not out of the question.
Jack Quinn Becomes Point Per Game Player
Jack Quinn got off to a rough start last season, but he picked it up after Jan. 1. He became a half-point per game player for the Sabres and looked like the player he was before he suffered two lower-body injuries six months apart. I know this is a long shot, given his career high in points is only 39, which he recorded last season. However, the new confidence he showed at the end of the season could play a massive part in this. Everything needs to go right for this to happen this season, but I know he has it in him.
Rasmus Dahlin Wins the Norris Trophy
Some may not see this as such a hot take, but when you play in the same league as Cale Makar and Quinn Hughes, it is a hot take. Rasmus Dahlin finished the 2024-25 season sixth in Norris voting, which was the highest in his career. Dahlin gets overlooked because the Sabres are not great, so people don’t pay attention, but people who watch him play understand he is a Norris-winning talent. He recorded 68 points in 73 games last season. If he stays healthy this season, I’d expect an 80-point season, which should be good enough for the Norris Trophy.
Dahlin is a Norris Trophy-winning talent, and he can be a finalist if he records 80-plus points. Additionally, if the team sneaks into the playoffs, his performance could be a factor. He’s only getting better as his career goes on, and with how talented he is, it’s hard to see him end his career without a Norris Trophy. It’ll happen this season.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen Posts Save Percentage of .915 or Higher & Reaches 30-Plus Wins
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen needs a primary bounce-back season. Finishing with a save percentage (SV%) of .887 and having his job stolen by James Reimer in the last two months of the season, there’s only up for him to go. However, in the 2023-24 season, he recorded a SV% of .910. I expect him to get back to that number and even a little higher. In terms of wins, he needs to play great, and the team needs to score. A 30-win season likely means the Sabres will make the playoffs, unless backup goaltender Alex Lyon has fewer than 10 wins on the season, which would be a huge disappointment. Luukkonen cannot afford a repeat of last season, or Lyon could potentially steal his job at some point this season, potentially pushing Luukkonen out of the picture. I do have extreme confidence that Luukkonen reaches this prediction, though.
Sabres Special Teams Both Finish Top 10 in the League
The Sabres’ special teams have not been particularly great the last few seasons. Last season, they ranked 24th in the league in power play percentage (18.8%) and 23rd in penalty kill percentage (76.3%). The Sabres’ power play has too much talent not to be dominant. With players like Thompson, Alex Tuch, Dahlin, Bowen Byram, Owen Power, and more seeing power-play time, the expectations should be a top-10 unit in the NHL, which is very doable.
Related: Sabres’ Blue Line Could Quietly Be One of the NHL’s Best
On the penalty kill side of things, it’ll be an uphill battle, but it’s achievable. The Sabres have been actively trying to acquire players who are better defensively, so you would think that would help the penalty kill. Acquiring Michael Kesselring and Josh Doan from Utah in the J.J. Peterka trade will help tremendously, as I expect both players to get penalty kill minutes. As for other players on the roster, Tuch, Ryan McLeod, Dahlin, and Benson should all be featured on the penalty kill as well. The last time both units finished towards the top half of the league was the 2018-19 season. The power play finished 16th in the league (19.5%), and the penalty kill finished 12th (80.9%).
Time to Re-Write Old Trends
The Sabres have a massive season ahead of them. Riding a 14-year playoff drought, a few questions surround some players, like Quinn, and how the new additions will help the team, etc. Every season, it’s the same story over and over again: The team has some hype around them; they start off alright, big losing streak in November, play average in December/January, then when it’s too late, start putting together winning streaks from February to April, then miss the playoffs by five to eight points. This season, it’s time to put all of those trends to bed and get into the playoffs, and it all starts with these bold predictions.
