The Buffalo Sabres are still a good two-and-a-half months from playing their first preseason game, but speculation about who will line up alongside who has already begun.
In reality, lines, pairings, and even goaltender tandems change often during the course of an 82-game season, but some are harder to split up than others. Below, I’ve outlined three potential dynamic duos that the Sabres can catch the NHL off-guard with in 2024-25 and why that would be the case. Each duo comprises either a pair of forwards, a defensive pairing, and a goaltending tandem, all of which could factor in as realistic outcomes for the upcoming season.
Tage Thompson and JJ Peterka, also featuring Alex Tuch
While he wasn’t on my projected first line, I’ll concede that I wouldn’t mind seeing JJ Peterka take such minutes at left wing alongside center Tage Thompson with Alex Tuch playing right wing. Peterka was the Sabres highest scorer next to Tage last season, and to put him on the first line with Tage and Tuch could completely resurrect the Blue and Gold’s top unit that was so dangerous in 2022-23.
That said, the focus here is on Tage and Peterka since the two would be rather new to playing alongside one another regularly. There isn’t a single team in the NHL that doesn’t know what Tage and Tuch can do to them, but that’s not yet the case with Tage and Peterka until it very well may be this season.
While Jason Zucker and Zach Benson will, or should, also get their respective chances to skate alongside Tage and Tuch, placing Peterka there may give the Sabres more upside than the former two. The best-case scenario would entail Peterka enjoying yet another leap in production and Tage regaining his 2022-23 form.
Owen Power and Bowen Byram
I would be ultra-excited for this duo, especially since they should both approach the 2024-25 season with something to prove. For Owen Power, it’s all about playing to the level his new contract will demand of him and for Bowen Byram, it’s showing that he will be a long-term solution with the Blue and Gold.
That said, Power wasn’t that bad in 2023-24 but he also didn’t play to his potential. Meanwhile, Byram has to have a chip on his shoulder as his first full season in Buffalo approaches.
Byram played like that was the case last season following his trade to the City of Good Neighbors, and if he keeps up that play, he’ll forge a remarkable pairing with Power if they end up playing alongside one another.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Devon Levi
There’s a chance James Reimer opens the season as Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen’s backup, but that should only be the case if Luukkonen proves himself capable of starting 60-plus games. Reimer’s 0.904 save percentage may have outlasted Levi’s 0.899, but Levi edged out Reimer in GAA, albeit barely, and he also had a higher quality starts percentage.
Levi also earned spot starts after the new year and finished that stretch with a 0.928 save percentage and allowed 2.3 goals per game in that span. Not bad, and if Levi picks up where he left off both in Buffalo and in Rochester, he could sidle in as a 1B, leaving Luukkonen as the 1A and with lesser time between the pipes, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
The result? A pair of 20-somethings, one of which has limitless potential (Levi) and the other who could continue what was once a great Sabres tradition of possessing outstanding goaltenders (Luukkonen). Plus, having a group of forwards willing to play defense would only help this duo should Levi sidle in as Luukkonen’s 1B.
(Statistics powered by Hockey-Reference)