There are members of the Buffalo Sabres fanbase who've never experienced a Party in the Plaza for a home playoff game, and that's a shame. Those type of unforgettable moments have evaporated during the team's NHL-record 14-year postseason absence.
Now the question is whether that extended stretch of misery about to reach a merciful conclusion.
On one hand, the Sabres have become a preseason darling in the analytics community with most systems projecting them to push toward at least 90 points to compete for a playoff spot. That's a notable change from recent years when those same predictions were bearish on Buffalo.
Yet, the team's front office has also received harsh grades for its lackluster offseason, which didn't include significant roster moves after missing the Stanley Cup playoffs by 12 points last season. It's left general manager Kevyn Adams firmly on the hot seat to open the 2025-26 campaign.
Put the two sides of the coin together and it creates ample uncertainty as Buffalo prepares to open the regular season Thursday night when it hosts the New York Rangers at the KeyBank Center. It sets the stage for our latest Sabres debate topic.
Are the Buffalo Sabres finally set to make a long-awaited return to the NHL's Stanley Cup Playoffs?
The case for the Sabres making the playoffs
Buffalo's summer moves, while modest on the surface, actually accomplished Adams' goal of trying to make the team's roster tougher to play against.
It dealt high-scoring, one-dimensional winger JJ Peterka to the Utah Mammoth in exchange for a duo of more well-rounded contributors, forward Josh Doan and defenseman Michael Kesselring. Although Kesselring is starting the season on injured reserve, once healthy he should finally provide Owen Power with a stable, long-term partner on the second pair.
Other new arrivals, such as winger Justin Danforth and blueliner Conor Timmins, bring more of a three-zone presence than the players they replaced (Sam Lafferty and Connor Clifton).
The Sabres also return the highly productive superstar tandem of Tage Thompson and Rasmus Dahlin, who should do a lot of the heavy lifting offensively. They'll be supported by a solid cast of secondary scorers, including Alex Tuch, Ryan McLeod and Jason Zucker, among others.
Buffalo also has an opportunity to see substantial internal growth thanks to a squad with a lot of young players on the rise. Power, Doan, Zach Benson, Jiri Kulich, Bowen Byram and Jack Quinn are all under 25 years of age and should still have another gear or two to their games.
Yes, the Sabres have been burned by counting too much on U-25 players in the past, but they all should be able to handle the roles they're being asked to fill in 2025-26.
The combination of those two factors, the improvement of rising stars and the upgraded group of depth players, is why so many analytics models think the Blue and Gold are ready to turn a corner.
The case for the Sabres missing the playoffs
Buffalo dealt with an endless stream on injury issues throughout training camp and the preseason. Rarely did a day go by without a new ailment or two popping up, and the final outcome was five players landing on injured reserve when the 23-man roster was announced.
While the Sabres improved their lineup depth, they're still extremely limited when it comes to potential impact players in the minors who can fill short- and long-term injury voids. They'll have to lean heavily on untested prospects as those situations arise throughout 2025-26.
Having Jacob Bryson, a proven sub-replacement-level defender, alongside Power on the second pair in the expected Opening Night lineup because of Kesselring's injury illustrates the problem.
As a result, a wave of injuries or an extended absence for a key contributor like Thompson, Dahlin or Tuch would deal a crushing blow Buffalo may not be able to overcome.
Meanwhile, goaltending was already a massive question mark even before Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen suffered an injury that'll force him to miss the start of the campaign.
UPL looked like the Sabres' long-term solution between the pipes when he posted a 2.57 goals against average and a .910 save percentage in 2023-24. Those numbers fell considerably last season (3.20 GAA and .887 SV%) as part of a forgettable year for the 26-year-old Finland native.
Buffalo will open the campaign with free-agent signing Alex Lyon (.902 career SV%) and recent waiver claim Colten Ellis (.922 SV% in the AHL last year) as its goalie options. Alexandar Georgiev was waived after an underwhelming preseason.
Devon Levi, a prized prospect whose stock has fallen amid some struggles at the NHL level, will try to build off his recent AHL success with Rochester Americans. If he's called up this season it's probably because the Sabres are desperately trying to save their season.
Unfortunately for Buffalo, goaltending is the one position that can sink a team, even if the forwards and defensemen are playing at a hypothetical playoff level.
The Sabres really need UPL to showcase his 2023-24 form upon his return.
Verdict: Buffalo misses the postseason
It's easy to understand optimism from outside Western New York, and it's provided some much-needed hope for a fanbase that hasn't felt that sensation much over the past 14 years.
Alas, the analytics projections are based on a full-strength Sabres squad, not the injury-riddled one that'll take the ice against the Rangers on Opening Night, and that speaks to the reason for the pessimistic prediction about the season.
The bottom line: Buffalo needs too many things to fall perfectly into place to make the playoffs.
It would require healthy seasons from Thompson and Dahlin, several young players enjoying exponential growth, the early-season injury problems to fade away and the goaltending to work itself out despite a lack of thrilling options.
That doesn't even include the need for better special teams after both the power play and the penalty kill ranked in the bottom 10 of the NHL last season, or the fact the Sabres will be dependent on Adams to make key moves to upgrade the roster despite his poor track record in six years as GM.
It's just too much. Is there a path for Buffalo to finally host a playoff Party in the Plaza again? Of course, it's not an impossible task. Half the league makes the postseason.
The Sabres' path is far narrower than most of their counterparts in the Eastern Conference, however, and that tends to become a problem during an 82-game campaign.
Look for Buffalo to finish with a point total in the mid-80s, a handful of points short of a playoff berth.