Last season, the Buffalo Sabres had one of the best Top 4 in the league, and if they want to remain one of the top bluelines, they have to find a way to replace Bowen Byram. Lindy Ruff on WGR550 talked about the potential of Olen Zellweger and Louis Crevier to replace Byram in the lineup, but the pressure really might be on Owen Power.
"I still think that the defense is a strength of ours. Our Top 4, you look at right now, and we've got a guy like Zellweger who's stepping in. We got Crevier, another big guy that will be stepping in," Ruff said.
"I feel like that is still going to be our strength. Are we going to miss [Byram]? We are going to miss him, but it's another opportunity. I think that Owen Power took a big step and is ready to step in and be a huge factor in the way we play, in all aspects of our game, whether it's penalty kill or power play."
There is no question that expectations have always been high for Owen Power since he was taken first overall in 2021. He has never really been able to play up to those expectations, but this past season he got closer, even with a decrease in points from 40 in 2024-25 to 29 in 2025-26.
When looking at some of the advanced analytics, it supports what Lindy Ruff was saying. According to Natural Stat Trick, he saw improvements season over season in Corsi For %, Goals For %, xGoals %, Scoring Chances For %, and High-Danger Chances For %.
Buffalo Sabres expecting Owen Power to have a bigger role on special teams in 2026-27
As Ruff notes, the Sabres are going to need to find a way this season to replace Bowen Byram's impact on the power play and penalty kill. It sounds like, based on the interview on WGR550, that Power is going to be a major factor in that equation.
For Power, the increase in opportunity is going to happen more on the power play, as he has already been a big part of their penalty kill. Over the past three seasons, Owen Power has had at least 115 minutes of penalty kill time, and this past season set a career high with almost 153 minutes.
This past season, though, Power saw his role cut on the power play, as he had only 75:46 of ice time on the power play after being over 120 minutes in each of the three prior seasons. Even with the additional minutes early in his career, he didn't make much of an impact, with only one career power-play goal and 19 power-play assists.
The Sabres, though, need someone to step up and help a power-play unit that has struggled the past two seasons. This could be a great chance for Power to show he really has improved, with increased production on the power-play unit, and to give him a chance to get back to being a 40-point player.
While Olen Zellweger or Louis Crevier may take Bowen Byram's spot on that second pair with Power, it will really be the former first-overall pick that needs to make up for the lost production with the departure of Byram.
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