Predicting the Sabres’ Major Stat Category Leaders for 2026-27

With training camps started, the 2026-27 NHL regular season will be here faster than we know it. As the Sabres have likely finished up all their offseason acquisitions, they now turn their attention to getting all the right roster pieces up to speed. Between the moves they made, from the draft, and through free agency, they have some familiar faces that will not be around to make an impact, which leaves things open for new emerging players to take some of these top stat category spots.

Sabres’ Offensive Leaders

The Sabres head in to this season with a solid forward group. Some firepower may have been lost with the subtraction of Alex Tuch, but they still have some great young players to fill his spot and take on his responsibilities. Notable breakout players from the 2025-26 season like Zach Benson and Josh Doan will have increased roles based on depth, and I would expect them to be able to contribute to the offense very well considering their prior seasons.

The usual suspects to run things offensively otherwise will still be Tage Thompson and Rasmus Dahlin, as they both continue to frontload the scoresheet for this team on a regular basis. Other players that stepped up last season that will get some more attention and need to contribute to the offense, are the likes of Jason Zucker, Jack Quinn, as well as newly extended forward Noah Ostlund, returning sniper Jiri Kulich, and even potentially rookie sensation Konsta Helenius. The kids all have something to prove, and it is going to be a riot seeing what they can pull off.

Sabres’ Defensive Leaders

The defense saw a bit of a shift in the offseason when they moved on from Bowen Byram, and sent him to the Chicago Blackhawks. They also flipped Michael Kesselring to the San Jose Sharks after he just could not stay healthy, or fit in their system well enough to be in the lineup when he was. Remaining of their big defensive core is Rasmus Dahlin, Owen Power, and Mattias Samuelsson, with Conor Timmins still among the group, newcomers Louis Crevier and Olen Zelweger providing some freshness, and Zach Metsa rounding things out in the 7th position. They have a lot of great things going for them for their usual stability, but they will have some small chemistry things to work out with the new faces coming in to play.

Then there are the forwards who can still contribute well on the defensive side. With full recognition going out to Ryan McLeod for his penalty killing ability (5 short handed goals), Zach Benson’s tenacity in both zones, and Beck Malenstyn’s willingness to let pucks hit him and throwing his body around the ice like a madman, there are plenty of forwards who play both sides. The leaders coming from the defensive end, will surely be split fairly well among the forwards and defenders.

Sabres’ Goaltending Leaders

Somehow, the Sabres ended up with another three goalie situation last season, and as it currently sits, they will be running with it again. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Alex Lyon essentially split their starts, games, and wins all last season, with third stringer Colten Ellis stepping in when he needed to. This will again likely be the case, as all three are still on the roster. Do they need to do this? No, but it will be interesting to see how the games get split when one goalie gets hotter than the others.

I wish there was an easy answer to which one takes the lead, but after seeing how close both Lyon and Luukkonen were statistically last season, it is a bit of a coin toss. Lyon is more consistent, and has less trouble playing after long rests, but when Luukkonen is rolling, he looks like one of the better goalies in the NHL. If Luukkonen can take the reigns early, it will be tough to see him sitting often. It is once again, his net to win or lose.

Sabres’ Stat Leader Predictions

Some of the predictions from last season were a bit off, but others made were fairly close. At the end of the day, predictions like this are meant to be a fun way to look ahead to the season, and take some guesses at the players that fit into these categories, and watch as they unfold throughout the season. With that being said, these are the major stat predictions for the 2026-27 Sabres regular season:

• Goals – Tage Thompson – 45
• Assists – Rasmus Dahlin – 62
• Points – Tage Thompson – 90
• Shots – Tage Thompson – 281
• Power-Play Goals – Josh Doan – 14
• Power-Play Assists – Rasmus Dahlin – 26
• Shorthanded goals – Noah Ostlund – 4
• Faceoff Percentage – Sam Carrick – 55%
• Hits – Beck Malenstyn – 279
• Takeaways – Zach Benson – 52
• Blocked Shots – Mattias Samuelsson – 170
• Plus/Minus – Ryan McLeod – plus-21
• Penalty Minutes – Zach Benson – 185 PIM
• Goals Against Average – Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen – 2.68
• Save Percentage – Alex Lyon – .908
• Goalie Games Played – Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen – 48
• Wins – Ukko-Pekka Luukonen – 30
• Shutouts – Alex Lyon – 3

Some of these categories will have players closer than you might think. Sure the goals department will be fronted by Thompson all the way, but he will still be chased decently by Jack Quinn, Josh Norris (if healthy), and even Jiri Kulich (also if healthy). The power-play was a mess… no, a disaster last season, so whoever decides to put the puck in the net the most will be the one who goes to the front of the net the most. Since that isn’t how Thompson is set up on the PP, this leaves him out of that category. More eyes will be on Benson to do more this season, and to build off his incredible playoff run, so expect to see him head up a few categories as well. All in all, there is lots of fun storylines to watch for.

This team has a lot of potential, and they are bursting at the seams with young talent waiting to prove themselves. Doan and Benson are looking to follow up well, Kulich, Ostlund, and Helenius have a lot to prove in their very young careers, and the Luukkonen has a lot on his shoulders to finally prove he is the right guy for the job. They broke their playoff drought last season out of consistency and sheer willpower. While they may not be able to replicate the same exact magic, they do have everything they need to get them back to the playoff dance in spring.