Few players were more consistently important in helping the Buffalo Sabres secure a long-awaited return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season than Josh Doan.
The 24-year-old winger arrived to Western New York in a trade with the Utah Mammoth in June 2025. He quickly established himself as future roster building block, posting a career-high 52 points (25 goals and 27 assists) while appearing in all 82 regular-season games.
Giving Doan a seven-year, $48.65 million contract extension in January was one of the first orders of business by general manager Jarmo Kekalainen after he inherited the Sabres front office from Kevyn Adams, and all signs still point to that being a team-friendly deal for Buffalo.
Yet, the 6-foot-1 Arizona State product has yet to make his presence felt through three games. He's recorded just four shots on goal and no points during the club's 2-1-0 start.
Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff isn't worried, however, and hinted to reporters after Tuesday night's 3-2 overtime win against the Minnesota Wild that the right-shot forward may be fighting through an injury early in the new campaign
"He's just struggling right now. He had a little bit of a lower-body issue last game. I think it's affecting his play. Although if you ask him, he'd say no. But he'll find his game. I got all the faith in the world that he'll get to his game. It's the path that a young guy takes sometimes."Sabres HC Lindy Ruff on F Josh Doan
The fact Doan's limited involvement so far is already generating attention speaks to his typically dependable production. Even a three-game pointless streak raises a few eyebrows.
Ruff is right, though. There's no reason for panic about the 2021 second-round pick.
Compete level is the hallmark of Doan's game, and that remains evident. He's still hounding puck-carriers and doing some dirty work along the walls. The fact he may be dealing with a minor injury isn't surprising since the intensity of those efforts may be down a tad from what Sabres fans witnessed during his first season with the organization.
As long as his work rate remains high, he'll never hurt the team — he's still produced a 66.7% expected goal share at even strength in the early going, per Natural Stat Trick — and the results will eventually start to show up in the points column.
Doan's next chance to get on the score sheet comes Thursday night against the Dallas Stars.
Josh Doan joined by key fourth-line contributor in scoreless category
Doan is one of just two Buffalo players who've appeared in all three games without recording a point. The other is hard-hitting winger Beck Malenstyn.
The Sabres front office caught a lot of people off guard when they gave Malenstyn a six-year, $17.5 million extension in late June before he could become an unrestricted free agent. It's a long-term commitment for a player who's a full-time fourth-liner.
Although he's still made his presence felt, racking up 12 hits, Buffalo has struggled to win the bottom line's limited minutes, which has led Ruff to lean more heavily on his top nine so far.
Malenstyn is never going to rack up a ton of points (his career high is 21), so he has to generate value in other ways. When it comes to this season, part of that must be helping on the penalty kill as Ruff searches for solutions following the departure of Alex Tuch.
The 28-year-old Canadian received a brief opportunity on the top PK unit alongside Ryan McLeod initially, but the coaching staff has continued to try different options in that role. Josh Norris was given the latest chance in Tuesday's triumph over Minnesota.
All told, the bar Malenstyn must jump to have a successful season is a lot lower than Doan's, but it's still critical for him to make sure the fourth line is thriving, and he's helping on the PK.
Questions will otherwise linger about the contract the Sabres gave him over the summer.
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