Sabres’ dream scenario in 2025 NHL Free Agency

The Buffalo Sabres have not made the playoffs since 2011, but they have the parts to start moving towards returning to the playoffs. With a young group of players who are playing well, the Sabres can make a major jump in the standings with a solid offseason. We look at the dream scenario for the 2025 Free Agency period for the Sabres as they look to break their long playoff drought.

It was a second straight year of a slight step back for the Sabres. In 2022-23, they finished in fifth in the Atlantic with 91 points and just missed the playoffs. The next year, they would finish in sixth with 84 points. This year, it was a seventh-place finish with 79 points, going 36-39-7. While there is concern for the Sabres’ future, there should also be hope. They have a great group of young players ready to make the next step.

Beyond that, the Sabres do have a solid amount of salary cap space. They are projected to have over $24 million in cap space according to Cap Wages. While they are still dealing with the dead cap space of Jeff Skinner, they also have much of their team under contract. The Sabres have just one unrestricted free agent, while they have five restricted free agents. Here are a couple of moves the Sabres could make to get them back to legitimate playoff contention.

The Sabres take care of their young core

As noted, the Sabres do not have a large class of free agents. Most of the free agents are restricted free agents, and there are some that the Sabres must re-sign. The biggest one in the group is JJ Peterka. The Sabres can re-sign him, look for an offer sheet from another team, or potentially trade Peterka. Still, trading Peterka would be a major mistake for the Sabres, and they need to re-sign him.

Peterka has been solid for the Sabres and is consistently getting better. In his first full season, he had 12 goals and 20 assists. Then, the next year, he played all 82 games, scoring 28 goals and adding 22 assists. This year, he took a major step forward. Peterka scored 27 goals, but also added 41 assists playing from the top line. He also had his best season on the powerplay, adding six goals and 12 assists when up a man.

The advanced stats also show some growth in 5v5 situations. He was the primary assist on 13 goals in 5v5 situations, the most of his career. Still, his big jump was on the power play. He created more chances and more high-danger chances on the power play than at any point in his career. Peterka could be expensive, but he will be worth it for the Sabres. He is projected to bring in between $4.6 million and $7.8 million per year, depending on the length of the contract. Still, the Sabres have the cap space and need to bring back the winger who will turn 24 during the 2025-26 season.

Brock Boeser is a dream fit in Buffalo

In a dream situation, Boeser would be open to joining a rebuilding team. Boeser has been connected to teams looking for extra help to make a playoff push, but he would be perfect in Buffalo and could lead them to a surprise playoff berth. Boeser is coming off a down year, scoring 25 goals and adding 25 assists. That gave him just 50 points, which was his lowest since 2021-22. Still, he has shown he can be a top-level goal scorer in his career.

Boeser scored 40 goals in the 2023-24 season. One major help for him in his career has been being set up from the blue line, with the help of Quinn Hughes. The Sabres have a player who can do that, both in 5v5 situations and on the power play. Rasmus Dahlin will be able to set up Boeser for scoring situations.

This would also add major scoring depth to the Sabres. Boeser played primarily right wing this year, a spot currently taken by Tage Thompson and Alex Tuch on the top two lines. Both Thompson and Tuch can play center, though. Thompson could move to the center on the top line, placing Boeser on the top line with him and Peterka. Another option is moving Tuch to center and allowing him to play on the second line, not moving Josh Norris from the top line. Regardless of the decision, this would create two powerful lines of scoring and allow Ryan McLeod to lead the third line. At a cost of $8.5 million AAV, he would eat up a lot of the cap, but be well worth it to bring to Buffalo.

The Sabres upgrade their goaltending