What happened to the Buffalo Sabres?
The fact you could lead with at least five different answers — inconsistent goaltending, significant special teams issues, young players faltering in larger roles, veterans not living up to their past performance metrics or ineffective coaching — helps explain why the Sabres currently sit 11th in the Eastern Conference standings.
Buffalo also dropped to 21st in The Athletic's NHL power rankings on Friday, with analysts Sean Gentille and Dom Luszczyszyn picking Josh Doan as the player who must step up if the defending Atlantic Division champions are going to turn things around:
"The disappointing Sabres have a few options, but it's hard not to pick Josh Doan. After a breakthrough season in which he looked like a core piece, Doan has struggled to maintain that level. Through 19 games, he has just five points and isn't tilting the ice the way he did last year. Doan was second [on the team] in xG rate at 54 percent last season; this season, he's 10th at 50 percent."Sean Gentille and Dom Luszczyszyn
Doan, who was acquired from the Utah Mammoth in June 2025 as part of the JJ Peterka, was terrific throughout his first season in Buffalo.
The 24-year-old winger posted 52 points (25 goals and 27 assists) while playing all 82 regular-season games. He added 10 points (three goals and seven helpers) in 13 playoff appearances.
His instant impact convinced Sabres general manager Jarmo Kekalainen to make signing him to a long-term contract extension ($48.65 million over seven years) one of his first orders of business after taking over the franchise's front office.
Doan simply hasn't played at the same level early in the 2026-27 campaign. The 6-foot-2 forward dealt with a nagging injury early on, and it's unclear whether that's continued to keep him below full strength. Regardless, his numbers have dipped (five points in 18 games).
His underlying numbers are still decent, which includes ranking fifth on the team in individual expected goals (5.79), according to Natural Stat Trick. Getting back to a point where he's a menace on the forecheck and backcheck is essential, though.
One thing's for sure: His performance last year was far too strong to give up on him after 19 games.
No single player is to blame for Buffalo's poor play
A lot of Sabres players have received ample criticism, a lot of it completely fair, early in the season. It's a group that includes Doan, Josh Norris, Ryan McLeod, Konsta Helenius, Jiri Kulich, Jason Zucker, Louis Crevier and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. Even Rasmus Dahlin has joined the list as of late.
Coaches, including head coach Lindy Ruff and assistant Seth Appert (who's in charge of the power play), have also been critiqued frequently.
It speaks to the depth of the problems facing Buffalo right now. This isn't a situation where one player can go on a hot streak to solve all of the team's woes, or a simple change in approach from the coaching staff is going to spark a prolonged hot streak.
This is an organization-wide issue that's going to take a concerted effort to fix.
It starts with getting back to the style of hockey the Sabres played last season: an up-tempo pace that punished opponents for mistakes with lethal transition offense.
Everything feels hard for Buffalo right now offensively. Teams aren't giving them nearly as many opportunities to create high-danger chances on the fly, and the team's in-zone cycling simply hasn't been as effective as it was en route to its first playoff berth since 2011.
Yes, there are concerns about the goalies (Alex Lyon's return should help) and there have been too many defensive lapses, but it'll be impossible for the Sabres to keep pace in the East if their offense continues to struggle to this degree for much longer.
Their next chance to begin turning things around comes Saturday night when they visit the American Airlines Center to take on the Dallas Stars.
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