The Buffalo Sabres enter the 2025-26 NHL season with a singular goal: Finally bring a merciful end the franchise's 14-year playoff drought.
Sabres fans have received a jolt of optimism from an unexpected place in recent weeks. The analytics community, which has long been bearish on the team's chances of turning things around, has published a wave of projections putting Buffalo in the Eastern Conference's playoff mix.
Now the question is whether the Vegas bookmakers share that positive outlook as the Sabres attempt to re-energize one of the best hockey fanbases in North America.
All betting lines listed below are courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook.
Notable takeaways from the NHL odds and betting lines for the Buffalo Sabres' 2025-26 season
Bookmakers aren't buying the Sabres playoff hype
+180 to make the postseason; 86.5 over/under season point total
The analytics faction's support for the Sabres came as a surprise given the team's mostly modest set of offseason moves. It also doesn't help the roster dealt with a barrage of injury concerns throughout training camp and the preseason, including the continued absences of goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and defenseman Michael Kesselring, who entered the year among the team's most important players.
So, perhaps it's not a shock the betting lines suggest Buffalo still faces an uphill battle to make its first postseason appearance since 2011.
In particular, the predicted point total is still a few wins shy of the 91 points it required to make the playoffs last season, when the Sabres missed the cut line by 12 points with 79.
It's still well within the margin for error, of course. Still having a shot at the postseason heading into the final month of the campaign would represent progress for Buffalo, and perhaps at that point it can get hot at the right time and make a run.
Buffalo is a long shot in the Atlantic
+4000 to win the division title
There are countless reasons the Sabres are mired in the longest playoff drought in NHL history. Playing in an Atlantic Division that regularly produces the Stanley Cup champion, including the Florida Panthers the past two years, is a major part of the losing equation.
Although the Panthers are dealing with major injuries to cornerstones Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk, the division as a whole is still incredibly difficult. The Cats remain a threat, while the Tampa Bay Lightning and Toronto Maple Leafs also belong in the Cup contender category.
Beyond that top three, the Ottawa Senators have been trending in the right direction, while the Montreal Canadiens and Detroit Red Wings both expect to take a step forward in 2025-26.
The oddsmakers place all six of those teams ahead of the Sabres in the Atlantic hierarchy, with the Boston Bruins being the only club ranked behind them.
Finding a way to climb higher in the division standings is a key first step for Buffalo.
Tage Thompson is a Rocket Richard Trophy candidate
+1800 to win the lead the NHL in goals scored
Thompson has topped 40 goals twice in his NHL career, and he's a popular pick to surpass the 50-goal milestone this season. It may be a necessity for the Sabres, who didn't directly replace high-scoring winger JJ Peterka after trading him to the Utah Mammoth.
Tage ranks behind only seven NHL players — Leon Draisaitl, Auston Matthews, Kirill Kaprizov, David Pastrnak, Connor McDavid, Brayden Point and William Nylander — in terms of the best odds to win the Rocket Richard Trophy.
He'd become the first Buffalo player to capture the award, which debuted in 1998-99.
Rasmus Dahlin could approach career-high point total
69.5 over/under points scored
Dahlin, one of the NHL's best defensemen, compiled a career-best 73 points in 2022-23. He approached that number again last season, ultimately falling a few points short (68).
His season-long betting line suggests he'll end up in the same neighborhood in 2025-26, and it's within reason to believe he could push toward the mid-70s to establish a new career high, particularly if he's able to stay healthy for all 82 games.
If that happens, Dahlin should also find his name in the Norris Trophy conversation and potentially even win the award if he carries the Sabres back to the playoffs.