HighDanger

All teams / Atlantic / Buffalo Sabres

Atlantic Division · Est. 1970

Buffalo Sabres

2025–26 · 50–23–9 · 109 pts · #1 Atlantic

Atlantic champ · 14yr drought endedGM: Jarmo KekalainenHC: Lindy Ruff

Team xGF%

50.1

% · all situations · HighDanger xG

28th in NHL

Identity

Relentless forecheck

Kekalainen system reset

Contention window

Ascending

Atlantic champ · 32-6-2 run

Coach

Ruff

Structure-first system

Avg age · forwards

25.8

Youngest in division

Team Identity

Relentless-forecheck · Drought-breaking turnaround

Built around franchise pillars Tage Thompson and a Norris-contender Rasmus Dahlin, with rising stars Zach Benson and Josh Doan giving the top-six real depth and Owen Power finally settling in on the back end. The mid-season firing of GM Kevyn Adams and arrival of Jarmo Kekalainen flipped the identity to relentless forechecking, responsible defending, and reliable goaltending, sparking a 32-6-2 run that included a franchise-tying 10-game win streak and ranks among the best 40-game stretches in NHL history. Clinching the Atlantic Division title and finishing first in the conference at 50-23 ends the longest playoff drought in NHL history, 14 seasons running, and books a first-round date with the Bruins.

5-year points history

Regular-season points, last five seasons.

Organization strength

Active NHL roster only. Bar = team vs league average (▼).

Forwards · 20 39.2

top Tage Thompson (76.3) league 40.1 NHLe pts/82

Defense · 12 25.8

top Rasmus Dahlin (74.0) league 25.3 NHLe pts/82

Goalies · 4 .905

top Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (0.9087) league .895 SV%

Forwards

Lines: even-strength via DailyFaceoff

L · #19

Peyton Krebs

12G · 27A · 39P · 0.48 P/GP

C · #72

Tage Thompson

40G · 41A · 81P · 1.00 P/GP

R · #89

Alex Tuch

33G · 33A · 66P · 0.83 P/GP

Line 1

L · #17

Jason Zucker

24G · 21A · 45P · 0.73 P/GP

C · #71

Ryan McLeod

14G · 40A · 54P · 0.67 P/GP

R · #22

Jack Quinn

20G · 31A · 51P · 0.62 P/GP

Line 2

L · #6

Zach Benson

13G · 30A · 43P · 0.66 P/GP

C · #86

Noah Ostlund

11G · 16A · 27P · 0.45 P/GP

R · #91

Josh Doan

25G · 27A · 52P · 0.63 P/GP

Line 3

L · #12

Jordan Greenway

1G · 5A · 6P · 0.15 P/GP

C · #48

Tyson Kozak

2G · 4A · 6P · 0.13 P/GP

R · #29

Beck Malenstyn

7G · 7A · 14P · 0.17 P/GP

Line 4

Defense

LD · #26

Rasmus Dahlin

19G · 55A · 74P · 0.96 P/GP

RD · #23

Mattias Samuelsson

13G · 28A · 41P · 0.53 P/GP

Pair 1

LD · #25

Owen Power

8G · 21A · 29P · 0.36 P/GP

RD · #4

Bowen Byram

11G · 31A · 42P · 0.51 P/GP

Pair 2

LD · #64

Logan Stanley

9G · 17A · 26P · 0.34 P/GP

RD · #21

Conor Timmins

0G · 8A · 8P · 0.20 P/GP

Pair 3

Goaltending

Starter

G · #34

Alex Lyon

20-10-4 · .907 SV% · 2.77 GAA

Backup

G · #1

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen

22-9-3 · .910 SV% · 2.52 GAA

Injury report (2)

via CBS Sports

Noah Ostlund· Lower Body Justin Danforth· KneecapIR

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