Sabrespace Season Predictions 2025-26

[DarthEbriate]

The Sabres play in less than 24 hours. What do you think will happen for this season?
(Using the same format @GASabresIUFAN presented last year.)

 

1) Sabres point total?

2) Will the Sabres makes the playoffs? 

3) Sabres leading goal scorer?

4) Sabres leader in total points?

5) Sabres MVP?

6) Sabres ROY?

7) Best off-season acquisition?

8.) Worst off-season acquisition?

9) Biggest surprise? (positive or negative)

10) Breakout player?

11) Will any Sabres players or coaches finish as finalists (win?) for any major awards such as the Norris or Selke?

12) Unsung hero?

13) Who will be the first Sabre traded away this season?

14) Will KA make any in-season acquisitions before the deadline?

15) Will the Sabres be buyers or sellers at the deadline?

16) Other bold prediction? {Such as KA gets fired mid-season ;)}

17) Any other thoughts?

 

[LabattBlue]

Prediction…Pegula addresses the crowd before the game tomorrow at center ice.  Announces he is selling the team and new owner is keeping the team in Buffalo.

[GASabresIUFAN]

19 minutes ago, DarthEbriate said:

The Sabres play in less than 24 hours. What do you think will happen for this season?
(Using the same format @GASabresIUFAN presented last year.)

 

1) Sabres point total? 82 pts

2) Will the Sabres makes the playoffs? No!

3) Sabres leading goal scorer? Tage - 45 goals

4) Sabres leader in total points? Dahlin - 85 pts

5) Sabres MVP? - Dahlin 

6) Sabres ROY? Ellis

7) Best off-season acquisition? Ellis

8.) Worst off-season acquisition? Lyon because Georgiev didn'even make it out of camp

9) Biggest surprise? (positive or negative) Ryan Johnson and Josh Doan positive; Power continues to regress

10) Breakout player? Kulich - 60 pts

11) Will any Sabres players or coaches finish as finalists (win?) for any major awards such as the Norris or Selke? Dahlin Norris

12) Unsung hero? Ryan Johnson 

13) Who will be the first Sabre traded away this season?  Zucker and then Tuch near the deadline, but re-signs in Buffalo in the offseason.

14) Will KA make any in-season acquisitions before the deadline? No

15) Will the Sabres be buyers or sellers at the deadline? Sellers

16) Other bold prediction? {Such as KA gets fired mid-season ;)}  After another slow start, KA is finally fired and there was much rejoicing.  Benson, Doan and Kulich are better than expected and their play makes Zucker expendable.  This allows Jarmo, the new GM, to bring up Helenius  who is burning up the AHL.

17) Any other thoughts?  The bad defense and goaltending continue causing the Sabres to lose many 4-3, 5-4 type games.  Ellis is a bright spot, but Ruff insists on playing UPL despite a GAA near 3.5 and a 875 save %.  Jarmo fixes this, but it already to late to save the season.

 

 

Edited yesterday at 12:34 AM by GASabresIUFAN

[LGR4GM]

34 minutes ago, DarthEbriate said:

The Sabres play in less than 24 hours. What do you think will happen for this season?
(Using the same format @GASabresIUFAN presented last year.)

 

1) Sabres point total? 89

2) Will the Sabres makes the playoffs? Yes

3) Sabres leading goal scorer? Thompson

4) Sabres leader in total points?

5) Sabres MVP?

6) Sabres ROY?

7) Best off-season acquisition?

8.) Worst off-season acquisition?

9) Biggest surprise? (positive or negative)

10) Breakout player?

11) Will any Sabres players or coaches finish as finalists (win?) for any major awards such as the Norris or Selke?

12) Unsung hero?

13) Who will be the first Sabre traded away this season?

14) Will KA make any in-season acquisitions before the deadline?

15) Will the Sabres be buyers or sellers at the deadline?

16) Other bold prediction? {Such as KA gets fired mid-season ;)}

17) Any other thoughts?

 

1) Sabres point total? 89

 

2) Will the Sabres makes the playoffs? Yes

 

3) Sabres leading goal scorer? Thompson

 

4) Sabres leader in total points? Edit: Dahlin (got ahead of myself)

 

5) Sabres MVP? Thompson 

 

6) Sabres ROY? Ryan Johnson 

 

7) Best off-season acquisition? Kesselring 

 

8.) Worst off-season acquisition? Geertsen

 

9) Biggest surprise? (positive or negative) Colten Ellis

 

10) Breakout player? Zach Benson 

 

11) Will any Sabres players or coaches finish as finalists (win?) for any major awards such as the Norris or Selke? Dahlin, Norris 

 

12) Unsung hero? Zach Benson 

 

13) Who will be the first Sabre traded away this season? Malenstyn 

 

14) Will KA make any in-season acquisitions before the deadline? yes

 

15) Will the Sabres be buyers or sellers at the deadline? Buyers

 

16) Other bold prediction? {Such as KA gets fired mid-season ;)} we'll know before seasons end that KA is getting a new title and Kekalainen is taking over. 

 

17) Any other thoughts?

Edited yesterday at 12:50 AM by LGR4GM

[Taro T]

1) Sabres point total?  92.5  (In one game, against the dastardly Bruins, as @Sabres Fan in NS would say, after all 18 skaters and the backup goalie has gone in the SO, the score remains tied at 2 as Mittelstadt and Jokiharju score for the B's and Geertson and Bryson are the only 2 Sabres to score; figuring this'll go on all night they decide to call it a draw and split the extra SO point.)

2) Will the Sabres makes the playoffs?  Yes, the Aisles end up in 9th place with 92 after having swept the Sabres 

3) Sabres leading goal scorer?  Thompson

4) Sabres leader in total points?  Dahlin

5) Sabres MVP?  Ellis

6) Sabres ROY?  Johnson 

7) Best off-season acquisition?  The S&C coach

8.) Worst off-season acquisition?  The new sound system (technically the new B&G goal song; but that wasn't actually "acquired" in the off-season so ...)

9) Biggest surprise? (positive or negative)  The Sabres are legitimately in a playoff spot (both by points and %age on US Thanksgiving)

10) Breakout player?  One of the guys in the press box for the Vegas game.  Fortunately it doesn't spread through the entire roster.

11) Will any Sabres players or coaches finish as finalists (win?) for any major awards such as the Norris or Selke?  Dahlin - runner up for Norris.  Tuch gets votes for Selke but just misses top 3.  Thompson ends up 4th in the Rocket Richard race

12) Unsung hero?  Byram

13) Who will be the first Sabre traded away this season?   UPL

14) Will KA make any in-season acquisitions before the deadline?  Yes.  

15) Will the Sabres be buyers or sellers at the deadline?  Yes.

16) Other bold prediction? {Such as KA gets fired mid-season ;)}  They bring back Gilbert singing after home W's, but courtesy of the Wonder of AI, it appears he's singing it to RJ.  THAT's what rallies the team to the 92.5 point season.  

17) Any other thoughts?  The season needs more cowbell.

[DarthEbriate]

1) Sabres point total? 94 (Ninety-four)
Someday I'm going to be right, and I hope I'm there to see it.

2) Will the Sabres makes the playoffs? Yes

3) Sabres leading goal scorer? Thompson

4) Sabres leader in total points? Thompson

5) Sabres MVP? Dahlin

6) Sabres ROY? Ellis

7) Best off-season acquisition? Ellis

8.) Worst off-season acquisition? Timmins

9) Biggest surprise? (positive or negative)

10) Breakout player? Benson

11) Will any Sabres players or coaches finish as finalists (win?) for any major awards such as the Norris or Selke? Ruff wins the Adams (partially as a lifetime achievement award); Dahlin is a Norris finalist (he wouldn't be if they miss the playoffs).

12) Unsung hero? Norris     Edit: I guess this is more of a sung hero because of his placement in the lineup, I just think he'll be overshadowed by the numbers of TNT, Tuch, Dahlin, and the surprise goalie. But his overall impact (and swapping out Cozens with a 200' player) cannot be  overlooked unsunged.

13) Who will be the first Sabre traded away this season? Georgiev, for future considerations

14) Will KA make any in-season acquisitions before the deadline? Yes. A veteran (age 29+ defenseman is acquired to replace Samuelsson when he goes on LTIR)

15) Will the Sabres be buyers or sellers at the deadline? Buyers. Wait, what?

16) Other bold prediction? {Such as KA gets fired mid-season ;)}  The Sabres have two winning streaks of 5 games or more, before March 1st, 2026.

17) Any other thoughts?   This is an 88-point team, tops.

Edited 11 hours ago by DarthEbriate

[Sabres73]

I’m not doing all that, but predict we get the #1 wildcard spot. Yes I am.

[SABRES 0311]

1) Sabres point total? 90

2) Will the Sabres makes the playoffs? No

3) Sabres leading goal scorer? Thompson

4) Sabres leader in total points? Thompson 

5) Sabres MVP? Thompson

6) Sabres ROY? None

7) Best off-season acquisition? Norris

8.) Worst off-season acquisition? A goalie

9) Biggest surprise? (positive or negative) Benson positive/Quinn negative

10) Breakout player? Benson

11) Will any Sabres players or coaches finish as finalists (win?) for any major awards such as the Norris or Selke? No

12) Unsung hero? Byram

13) Who will be the first Sabre traded away this season? Quinn

14) Will KA make any in-season acquisitions before the deadline? No

15) Will the Sabres be buyers or sellers at the deadline? Sellers

16) Other bold prediction? {Such as KA gets fired mid-season ;)} Thompson requests a trade

17) Any other thoughts? Lots

[steveoath]

1) Sabres point total? 94

2) Will the Sabres makes the playoffs? Yes

3) Sabres leading goal scorer? Tage

4) Sabres leader in total points? Tage

5) Sabres MVP? Dahlin

6) Sabres ROY? Ellis

7) Best off-season acquisition? Doan

8.) Worst off-season acquisition? Keeping Bryson

9) Biggest surprise? (positive or negative) Samuelson will fight

10) Breakout player? Benson

11) Will any Sabres players or coaches finish as finalists (win?) for any major awards such as the Norris or Selke? Dahlin - Norris top 3, Tage - Rocket top 3  

12) Unsung hero? Malenstyn 

13) Who will be the first Sabre traded away this season? Byram

14) Will KA make any in-season acquisitions before the deadline? Yes, but only fringe/cringe acquisitions  

15) Will the Sabres be buyers or sellers at the deadline? Neither

16) Other bold prediction? {Such as KA gets fired mid-season ;)} we win more fights than we lose  

17) Any other thoughts? Go hockey? 🤷‍♂️ 

[inkman]

A poll would have been ideal 

Edited 14 hours ago by inkman

[LGR4GM]

34 minutes ago, inkman said:

A pole would have been ideal 

[SabreFinn]

1) Sabres point total? 89

2) Will the Sabres makes the playoffs? No

3) Sabres leading goal scorer? Tage

4) Sabres leader in total points? Tage

5) Sabres MVP? Dahlin 

6) Sabres ROY?   -

7) Best off-season acquisition? Norris (almost offseason)

8.) Worst off-season acquisition? Georgiev 

9) Biggest surprise? (positive or negative) they change their way of pp setup

10) Breakout player? Doan

11) Will any Sabres players or coaches finish as finalists (win?) for any major awards such as the Norris or Selke? Dahlin ( Norris), Tage (Rocket Richard)

12) Unsung hero? Danforth

13) Who will be the first Sabre traded away this season? Byram

14) Will KA make any in-season acquisitions before the deadline? Probably 

15) Will the Sabres be buyers or sellers at the deadline? Neither

16) Other bold prediction? {Such as KA gets fired mid-season ;)} Another losing streak in December,  ten game.

17) Any other thoughts?

Finlands biggest (and only) sports magazin has Sabres att seventh place in Atlantic.  A podcast I follow here in Finland also has Sabres 7th. The site nhlsuomi.com has us at 8th. When talking about Sabres it is the bad/losing coulture that is always mentioned.

[dudacek]

You're just getting optimism from me today.

Zach Benson, Josh Norris, Jack Quinn and Owen Power will have career years.

Justin Danforth and Shane Doan's boy are going to be more popular than anyone imagined when they were acquired.

 

[DarthEbriate]

2 hours ago, inkman said:

A poll would have been ideal 

I'm happy to look up how many teams have 7 goalies under contract, but create multiple poll questions...? Too lazy.

[inkman]

5 minutes ago, DarthEbriate said:

Too lazy.

Just like our Sabres  

[DarthEbriate]

46 minutes ago, SabreFinn said:

12) Unsung hero? Danforth

Good call.

Danforth is a 12/13 guy but he doesn't make mistakes.

Here are opening night 4th liners from the past several seasons: Malenstyn, Aube-Kubel, Lafferty / Girgensons, Krebs, Okposo / Asplund, Bjork, Caggiula / Skinner, Lazar, Sheahan

Sabres fans are going to like Danforth's fourth line game much more than everyone but Girgensons.

[Thorny]

They haven’t done close to enough to put themselves in a spot where playoffs can be comfortably expected, but thankfully making the playoffs isn’t hard and remains a coin flip: if they stay out of their own way even a little bit they’ll have a reasonable shot of it breaking their way this time. It’s a toss up but I’ll predict: PLAYOFFS. 

Cause, why not

[LabattBlue]

7 minutes ago, Thorny said:

…but thankfully making the playoffs isn’t hard

The last 14 years of Sabres fandom says hello! 👋🏻😂

[Thorny]

Just now, LabattBlue said:

The last 14 years of Sabres fandom says hello! 👋🏻😂

lol I mean ya 

but in seriousness most of the frustration with this terribly historic streak we are on is the fact that the thing we are asking for and failing to achieve is so reasonably attainable 

Alan Iverson-esque

”we aren’t talking about a Cup…not winning a cup…not winning a playoff series….we’re talking about making the playoffs. Playoffs.” 

[#freejame]

19 hours ago, DarthEbriate said:

1) Sabres point total? 93 or 78

2) Will the Sabres makes the playoffs? Yes at 93/No at 78

3) Sabres leading goal scorer? Thompson (61/43)

4) Sabres leader in total points? Dahlin (90/74)

5) Sabres MVP? Dahlin

6) Sabres ROY? Ryan Johnson

7) Best off-season acquisition? Doan

8.) Worst off-season acquisition? Georgiev

9) Biggest surprise? (positive or negative) Dahlin paces 100 points until Olympic break

10) Breakout player? Benson

11) Will any Sabres players or coaches finish as finalists (win?) for any major awards such as the Norris or Selke? Dahlin gets nominated for Norris and the Hart. Thompson wins Rocket Richard.

12) Unsung hero? Peyton Krebs supplying the vibes

13) Who will be the first Sabre traded away this season? It’ll be a top prospect 

14) Will KA make any in-season acquisitions before the deadline? Yes

15) Will the Sabres be buyers or sellers at the deadline? Buyers

16) Other bold prediction? {Such as KA gets fired mid-season ;)} The Sabres are in the hunt and playing at a playoff pace until the Olympic break. We either continue strong and finally make the playoffs, or the break takes a toll of our stars health and teams momentum and the wheels fall off. 

17) Any other thoughts? Please be good  

 

 

[pastajoe]

1) Sabres point total? 87

2) Will the Sabres makes the playoffs? No

3) Sabres leading goal scorer? Tage

4) Sabres leader in total points? Tage

5) Sabres MVP? Dahlin

6) Sabres ROY? Ryan Johnson 

7) Best off-season acquisition? Kesselring

8.) Worst off-season acquisition? Georgiev

9) Biggest surprise? (positive or negative) Geertsen will play many games 

10) Breakout player? Doan

11) Will any Sabres players or coaches finish as finalists (win?) for any major awards such as the Norris or Selke? No  

12) Unsung hero? McLeod

13) Who will be the first Sabre traded away this season? Krebs

14) Will KA make any in-season acquisitions before the deadline? No 

15) Will the Sabres be buyers or sellers at the deadline? Sellers

16) Other bold prediction? {Such as KA gets fired mid-season ;)} Norris will play more than 60 games 

17) Any other thoughts? The goaltending will be their downfall 

[mjd1001]

1) Sabres point total? 95

2) Will the Sabres makes the playoffs? Yes

3) Sabres leading goal scorer?  Tage

4) Sabres leader in total points?  Tage

5) Sabres MVP?  Dahlin

6) Sabres ROY?  No idea (Ellis?)

7) Best off-season acquisition? Doan

8.) Worst off-season acquisition? Georgiev (I was thinking about this last week before he was waived and he was my choice, sticking to it)

9) Biggest surprise? (positive or negative)  Samuelsson plays more than 50 games AND is good on the PK and pretty good on the 3rd pair.

10) Breakout player? Kulich (he'll have the greatest increase in points)  or Doan (has a chance to become a 'top 10' player on this team in overall play)

11) Will any Sabres players or coaches finish as finalists (win?) for any major awards such as the Norris or Selke? Dahlin has the best shot

12) Unsung hero? McLeod seesm obvious, but since he is a popular choice I'll go with Power.  Not that he will be 'unsung' with his pedigree, but I think he will play better than what most people 'observe'. (under-appreciated)

13) Who will be the first Sabre traded away this season? UPL (doubt it but can't think of anyone else)

14) Will KA make any in-season acquisitions before the deadline? Yes something minor/moderate

15) Will the Sabres be buyers or sellers at the deadline?  Minor buyers for depth

16) Other bold prediction? {Such as KA gets fired mid-season ;)}  Less than 50% chance, but greater than 25% that Bryam gets dealt this year.

17) Any other thoughts?  I think this team might have a slow-moderate start to the season, getting the fanbase riled up and not that happy, but I think the team, without major injuries, will 'turn it on' mid season to the end and finish in a playoff spot.

Edited 5 hours ago by mjd1001