The last time a Buffalo Sabres player won an end-of-season NHL award was during the 2009-10 campaign, the year preceding the Sabres' last pre-drought playoff appearance.
That award season saw Tyler Myers take home the Calder Memorial Trophy, commemorating the NHL's top rookie during a given campaign, while goaltender Ryan Miller won the NHL Foundation Player Award and the Vezina Trophy.
16 years later, the Sabres are back in the award spotlight
Not only is head coach Lindy Ruff once again in consideration for the Jack Adams Award, an award he earned in 2006 while serving his first stint as the Sabres' bench boss, but defenseman and captain Rasmus Dahlin is in contention for both the Bill Masterton Trophy, presented annually to the player that best exemplifies perseverance, and the Norris Trophy, which commemorates the league's top defenseman during the season.
But Dahlin does have some stiff competition for both awards. For the Bill Masterton Trophy, he'll have to contend with Colorado Avalanche captain Gabe Landeskog and Winnipeg Jets forward/ex-Chicago Blackhawk Jonathan Toews.
His competition for the Norris Trophy is easily seen to be tougher. He'll primarily have to contend with Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Zack Werenski, who finished second to Oilers defenseman Evan Bouchard in the points by defensemen category with 81 points to Bouchard's 95. That 81-point haul put Werenski just one point shy of his 82-point haul in the 2024-25 season and, by extension, the franchise record for points scored in a single season by a defenseman.
Elsewhere, Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar will serve as the third finalist for the Norris Trophy. Makar finished third in points scored by a defenseman during the 2025-26 campaign, and his 79 points helped his Avalanche side to record a franchise-record 121 points in the standings and win the Presidents' Trophy.
In a way, Dahlin's continued success represents the story of the 2025-26 Sabres ...
While Dahlin is just the second Sabre to be named as a finalist for the award, he could become the first to win the award.
But even while posting a 70-plus point season in the face of significant adversity, he still faces an uphill climb to claim the title.
Despite recording 74 points (19 goals and 55 assists), he was only sixth in the league in terms of points by defensemen. Not only did he finish behind the likes of Bouchard in the point-scoring department, who posted stronger statistical seasons yet were still snubbed, but he is also in last place when considering the point totals recorded by his co-finalists.
It's also worth noting that each of the last three Norris Trophy winners led all NHL defensemen in points during the season in which they won. This will be the first season since the 2021-22 campaign in which the defenseman that leads their position in points doesn't win the Norris Trophy, though Werenski does hold the advantage given that he was second-best to Bouchard.
But even though he might be at a statistical disadvantage compared to his fellow Norris Trophy finalists, winning it would help to reinforce the narrative of Buffalo's season, one that saw the Sabres forced to overcome several sizeable obstacles since the start of the season.
A second straight 0-3-0 start to the season pegged Buffalo back early and ignited fears of yet another lost season, while an inability to consistently pull clear of the .500 mark only reinforced those concerns.
But even with fears of a playoff drought extending to 15 years in mind, the Sabres were able to overcome that hurdle by converting a 10-game end-of-December winning streak and a 10-4-1 January into control of a playoff berth with less than half the season to play.
Concerns of an end-of-season slump would surface twice in the post-Olympic period, once when the team went 0-1-2 during a late-March stretch before losing their first two games in April by multiple goals, both of which could have easily cost the team crucial postseason seeding. But the Sabres battled back each time, putting together the required points to clinch the Atlantic Division title with a game to spare.
The Sabres have had to end so many droughts this season. Among many others, they earned their first 10-game win streak since 2018, clinched their first playoff berth since 2011, and earned their first series win since 2007.
... and a one-up on those that left
Not only has Dahlin had to persevere through so much this season, but he's also played for the team during the latter half of its 14-season playoff drought, which arguably included some of its worst moments. Only a handful of players have been on the team for as long as Dahlin, and yet they still pushed through and brought Buffalo back to the playoffs.
Other star players that would have played for the Sabres in the past would have easily wanted out. Jack Eichel wanted out due to (understandable) disagreements over surgery to replace a herniated disk, while others like Sam Reinhart (also understandably) left for Florida because of a disinterest in another rebuild.
The same can be said for other stars around the league. Quinn Hughes left Vancouver just recently for the Minnesota Wild after more than six seasons with the team, while Matthew Tkachuk quit on Calgary even after helping to earn them a first-place finish in the Pacific Division and an appearance in the second round of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Both players would go on to win Stanley Cups with their new franchises, but it's possible to argue that, barring a Stanley Cup triumph of their own, simply getting over the hump and earning some form of playoff success will be seen as a significant victory. That idea is especially true for those who stuck with the Sabres through the constant rebuilds, retools, and revamps. We've seen this rant before, but sometimes, simply delivering for an ultra-passionate and ultra-starved fanbase is the most rewarding part of playing hockey, especially in the NHL.
For Dahlin, being able to keep at it and turn the page from seven seasons of losing streaks, close calls, and winless starts into a sustained postseason run is something that only the most hard-working and dedicated players could achieve. That's not a slight to the likes of Eichel and Hughes, but Dahlin should arguably earn his keep with the stars of the NHL due to his resilience and his willingness to stick it out even when teammates galore jump ship.
That should put him level with his fellow Norris Trophy finalists and, by extension, reward Buffalo's fans for their own dedication to the team.
And even if Dahlin doesn't win the Norris Trophy, he's already helped realize what many thought laughable. He's helped to put one of the league's most passionate fans back on their feet while embodying exactly what it means to be a hockey player.
And Buffalo is rewarding him for his efforts.
Let's see if the rest of hockey media reflects my vision.
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