2023-24 Buffalo Sabres lineup projection 2.0 (Mixing Old and New)

We’re months away from the 2023-24 regular season kicking off in October, but it’s never too early to project what the Buffalo Sabres lineup may look like. 

It’s never too early to project how next season will turn out. And while I’ve always stressed we need to take press conferences with minute grains of salt, we need to ask ourselves what the Buffalo Sabres lineup will look like in 2023-24 if we go by general manager Kevyn Adams’ and head coach Don Granato’s words.

It could look essentially the same in many aspects, but you may still get a few surprises. In my first projection, I went without the likes of Zemgus Girgensons and Kyle Okposo. I also had Jiri Kulich and Brett Murray in the lineup over the likes of other prospects.

Now that nearly a month has gone by since that projection, the time’s come to make a new one based on not just Adams’ and Granato’s words, but also their actions. To fill in a few more blanks, I also used my own intuition.

2023-24 Buffalo Sabres lineup projection 2.0 – Old and new faces collide

The Forwards

First Line: Jeff Skinner – Tage Thompson – Alex Tuch

Second Line: J.J. Peterka – Dylan Cozens – Jack Quinn

Third Line: Lukas Rousek – Casey Mittelstadt – Matt Savoie

Fourth Line: Tyson Jost – Peyton Krebs – Kyle Okposo

Extras: Zemgus Girgensons, Jordan Greenway

So this one remains virtually unchanged over the first two lines, but there is turbulence on the bottom six. Thanks to Casey Mittelstadt’s breakout season in 2022-23, look for head coach Don Granato to thrust him into more of a leadership role, where he will center Lukas Rousek and Matt Savoie.

At this point, I’m rolling with Savoie over Jiri Kulich, mainly because the former isn’t AHL eligible. Rousek, of course, has priority given his solid play in two NHL appearances last season. Tyson Jost re-signs and plays on the fourth line with Peyton Krebs while Kyle Okposo and Zemgus Girgensons rotate as fourth liners and extras, and Jordan Greenway also sticks around.

Defensive Rotation

First Pairing: Mattias Samuelsson – Rasmus Dahlin

Second Pairing: Ilya Lyubushkin – Owen Power

Third Pairing: Henri Jokiharju – Riley Stillman

Extra: Kale Clague

This projection WILL change once the Buffalo Sabres inevitably sign a top four defenseman. But for this lineup, I decided not to name drop until we know for sure who is and who isn’t testing the free agent market.

Mattias Samuelsson and Rasmus Dahlin are shoo-ins on the first pairing, while a healthy Ilya Lyubushkin can effective enough for the second pairing with Owen Power. Henri Jokiharju may find his niche on the third pairing next to the physical Riley Stillman, and Kale Clague showed us enough to return as the extra.

Goaltenders: Devon Levi – Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen

I wouldn’t be surprised if the Sabres held onto Eric Comrie if it meant giving Luukkonen more of a push to win the job. Luukkonen could use all the motivation he can get his hands on, and Comrie’s presence will give him that. He wins the backup job in camp, however, and Comrie will go elsewhere.

As you can see, this projection bears little difference from the lineup we saw last season, except three more prospects have been called up, Victor Olofsson is no longer on the roster, and there is a young and exciting goaltender tandem in place. As with the previous projection, expect this to change in the months ahead, but for now, I’m rolling with a lot of familiar faces until inevitable roster transactions state otherwise.