The Buffalo Sabres have had 20 head coaches in their franchise history, but only three have coached more than 300 games with the franchise. The first to reach this milestone was Scotty Bowman, who was the head coach from 1980 to 1987 after coaching the Montreal Canadiens to four straight Stanley Cups.
He wouldn't have the same success, although the Sabres did reach the playoffs in five of his seven seasons with the team and had an impressive points percentage of .594 in 404 games. Another coach was Ted Nolan, who coached four seasons with the Sabres, but two of those seasons were during the 1990s, with the other two seasons coming almost 20 years later.
He didn't have the same success as Bowman with the Sabres reaching the playoffs only once and he had a points percentage below .500. In the end, there was one clear answer for the best head coach in franchise history, and it is the current head coach in Lindy Ruff.
Lindy Ruff is the best head coach in Buffalo Sabres history
Lindy Ruff has been the Sabres' head coach for 17 seasons, with the first 15 from 1997 through 2013. He returned to the Sabres before the 2024-25 season and will be entering his third season in his second run with the team.
In total, he has coached 1,247 games (843 more than the next coach), with 607 wins (397 more than the next coach), and 1,383 points (903 more than the next coach). He has led the Sabres to the playoffs eight times, advancing five times, and was the last coach to get them there back in the 2010-11 season.
In the Sabres' history, they have had four seasons where they have had 110 or more points, and Ruff has been the head coach for two of them. That includes the 2006-07 season when the Sabres tied the franchise record with 113 points.
Ruff is probably facing his toughest challenge now with the Sabres as they try to end their playoff drought. However, if he is able to get Buffalo back to the playoffs this season, it might be the top accomplishment with the franchise.