The main thing that the Buffalo Sabres need out of Josh Norris in the 2026-27 season is for him to stay healthy. Buffalo knew what they were getting when they acquired Norris from the Ottawa Senators, but Kevyn Adams believed that it was still worth the risk. It's hard to argue, as he is a great player when healthy, but it's tough when you have to close your eyes every time he takes contact because of his injury history.
Norris played just three games after coming over from the Senators midway through the 2024-25 season, and followed that up with 44 games last season. He was healthy for the playoffs until he wasn't. Norris missed a few games against the Boston Bruins in the first round, before returning in Game 6 to score a goal to help clinch the series.
Norris does have 36 points in 47 regular-season games for Buffalo, but just 47 games in that span for a player making $7.95 million annually isn't good enough for a team that now believes they are in their contention window. The worry has to be that his shoulder injuries are approaching a point where Norris can't come back from them, and if that is the case, Buffalo will be regretting that trade immensely if they aren't already.
What can a healthy Josh Norris do for the Sabres?
Norris is averaging 0.68 points per game in his NHL career, and has been on an even better pace than that in his games with the Sabres. At worst, he's a competent middle-six center whose ceiling might be a point-per-game if he gets hot in a season.
The stats won't jump off the page, but the advanced analytics community loves his game and will always value him highly given his numbers. Look at any of the cards put forth by any of the social media analytics platforms, such as NHL Analytics, and Norris is in the positives in almost every metric.
The jury is out on Norris until he can show that he can stay healthy. Sabres fans will go into every season with optimism, but there will always be a sense of worry around him. If he can put together a healthy season, the fans will love him, and with Alex Tuch likely heading out the door, Buffalo is going to need Norris to be reliable to make up for that loss in their forward group.
If Jarmo Kekalainen has any concerns about Norris' future, a revisiting of the Robert Thomas trade rumors might be in order. However, with him reportedly off the table, Buffalo may settle for some Dylan Larkin discussion.
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