Have The Sabres Done Enough To Remain Competitive?

The Buffalo Sabres were the feel-good story of the 2025-26 season, finishing 50-23-9 on their way to 109 points and an Atlantic Division title. The Sabres rolled over the Boston Bruins in the first round and pushed the Montreal Canadiens to the absolute limit in the second round, ultimately losing in seven games. The Sabres were legitimate Stanley Cup contenders, and it was fair to wonder, going into the offseason, whether they could improve their roster or whether salary-cap constraints would lead to key departures. Now, less than a month away from the start of NHL training camps, it is fair to wonder how much roster turnover the Sabres can tolerate before it threatens the team’s ability to make the playoffs this upcoming season.

The Sabres lost two major roster pieces from last season, forward Alex Tuch and defenseman Bowen Byram. While they were wise to avoid the massive overpays that took place for both Tuch and Byram, it still stings in the short term and could have put enough of a dent in Buffalo’s roster to remove them from the playoff conversation.

Tuch was a key cog for the Sabres last season, notching 33 goals and 33 assists in 79 games while playing 19 minutes a night. He was less effective in the playoffs, posting seven points in 13 games and going scoreless in the Sabres’ seven-game series loss in the second round. Buffalo ultimately moved Tuch in a sign-and-trade to the Washington Capitals, where he quickly agreed to an eight-year, $84MM contract extension. The Sabres could never make that contract work, and it will benefit them in the long term that they didn’t sign it. However, his absence will be felt this year, as the team lacks an adequate replacement for what Tuch brought. The Sabres may feel they can duplicate Tuch’s production internally through a variety of means, but 33 goals is a lot to make up, and it’s fair to wonder if they can.

In Byram’s case, his loss will likely be felt less, although he was a terrific offensive contributor last year, with 11 goals and 31 assists in 82 games. Like Tuch, Byram had seven points in 13 playoff games, and his good showing allowed Buffalo to move him for an absolute haul, nabbing the fourth overall pick, the 45th overall pick, as well as Louis Crevier. In a vacuum, the move made sense for Buffalo, as Byram was a year away from becoming a UFA, and Buffalo likely did not want to make the massive financial commitment it would have taken to secure Byram long-term. The move will create some short-term pain, but the Sabres are hoping they were able to patch things up enough to replace what they lost.

Buffalo acquired Olen Zellweger in a separate deal with the Anaheim Ducks, giving up a second-round pick and Anton Wahlberg to secure the young defender. The hope for the Sabres is that Zellweger can step into a bigger opportunity in Buffalo and thrive. Last year, the 22-year-old had 22 points in 76 games, and it’s not outside the realm of possibility that he taps into more offense eventually. But that doesn’t mean it will happen right away, or even in the next two years. That’s sort of what the Sabres need with Byram out of the picture.

Circling back to the Byram trade, Crevier could be a bit of a wildcard this year. The 6’8” defenseman has the potential to slot into the Sabres’ top four as early as this season, which would ease the loss of Byram. The 25-year-old had seven goals and 18 assists last season in 78 games and is carrying a $900K cap hit this season, the final year of a two-year contract. Crevier will be motivated to show he can be the second-line pivot, and if he is ready for it, that would be a massive development. The “if” in that sentence is a massive if, but Crevier did play very difficult minutes in Chicago last season and fared reasonably well. A more likely scenario is that Crevier becomes more of a Logan Stanley than a Byram, but it’s possible he falls somewhere in the middle. The Sabres also traded defenseman Michael Kesselring to the Sharks this summer, making Crevier a very important piece of the Sabres’ defensive core going forward.

Beyond their major moves, Buffalo is betting big on its young players to take a big step. The Sabres have locked up Zach Benson, Josh Doan and Peyton Krebs to long-term deals over the past year, but they also have Jack Quinn, Konsta Helenius and Noah Ostlund, whom they hope will take additional steps forward. Helenius was a point-per-game player in the AHL last season, showing signs he is ready for a full-time jump to the NHL. When you look at the sheer volume of young Sabres who could develop further this year, the Tuch subtraction starts to become a bit easier to swallow, as the Sabres could make up the loss of his offense in the aggregate.

One of the Sabres’ moves that flew under the radar was trading goaltender Devon Levi to the Edmonton Oilers for a 2028 third-round pick. That move leaves Buffalo with Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Alex Lyon as their tandem. Buffalo didn’t touch their goaltending beyond the Levi trade, although they were loosely connected to Connor Hellebuyck. It’s not the worst move to roll back to last year’s goaltenders, but with a couple of key pieces lost, there is really no margin for error, so Buffalo will need their best from Luukonen and Lyon.

One final key consideration is that the Atlantic Division is shaping up to be a buzzsaw. It’s hard to see the Sabres repeating last season’s 109-point performance when Florida, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal should all be better teams if they can make internal improvements and bounce back from their seasons. Boston and Tampa Bay will still be hanging around and really haven’t dropped off from last year, meaning that Buffalo will be in a dogfight to compete against their division rivals. That’s a major concern because the Sabres could still be a really good team but miss the playoffs due to the difficulty of their division.

Returning to the original question in this article, the case that Buffalo did enough really hinges on the core taking major steps in their development, and it’s hard to gauge whether that will happen this year. The good news for the Sabres is that they’re in a healthier long-term position. They avoided some major financial commitments that would have been questionable, and they avoided losing Byram for nothing. Those are all big wins.