Sabres have ‘itch for more’ this season after ending playoff drought

The margin between exhilaration and devastation can be wafer-thin in the hockey world, even indistinguishable at times.

But the Buffalo Sabres prepare for training camp this week a hungry group after riding an emotional roller-coaster last season when they won the Atlantic Division and ended the longest Stanley Cup Playoff drought in NHL history before an overtime loss to the Montreal Canadiens in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Second Round.

“Sure, we can build off that, especially with what we went through,” forward Tage Thompson said last week at the NHL/NHLPA North American Player Media Tour in Las Vegas. “Most of the guys from that team are still here. These are guys that you go to war with, you go to battle with every day, and we all respect each other and love each other in that room.

“That's just what you see on the ice. And I expect will again.”

Up until an overtime goal by Canadiens forward Alex Newhook, the Sabres and their fans had been enjoying a month-long party after clinching a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2011, ending the longest such drought in NHL history and igniting blue-and-gold euphoria throughout the city.

“It was such a weird mixture of feelings,” Thompson said. “On one hand, it's a rewarding feeling because of all the adversity we'd faced to finally accomplish the goal of breaking that playoff drought. But then at the same time, it's like you didn't win anything, so it's not the ultimate goal.”

So, the Sabres enter the 2026-27 season with loftier goals than just qualifying for the postseason again.

They’re eager to continue building.

“Given how the season played out, it still leaves you with that hunger and that itch for more,” said Thompson, who led Buffalo last season in goals (40) and points (81) in 81 games. “But obviously you’ve got to take the positives from that experience and can't minimize the accomplishment it was to get there.

“I think the way you’ve got to look at it is that I got the opportunity to play in those situations. I mean, if you would have told me when I was 10 years old that you're going to have the chance to play in Game 7, Round 2, but you're going to lose, you know, sign me up, right? Like, I would have just been happy to be told I was going to get a chance to play in the NHL. So, it's all perspective, and obviously, you want to be on the right side of it.”

But being on the “right side of it” one season guarantees nothing the next. The only thing for sure entering this season is that the Sabres are not going to sneak up on anyone.

“We've earned those expectations with the way we've played, but expectations aren't going to win us games,” coach Lindy Ruff said Wednesday on the eve of training camp. “How hard we work and how hard we compete will, that'll be the difference. But we put ourselves in a position where we've got a standard now that we really like, can we improve on that standard, don't be happy with that. Can we improve on that standard and be a better team?”

For younger players such as defenseman Owen Power, the experience of being a part of playoff hockey was a huge step. The 23-year-old, who was the No. 1 pick in the 2021 NHL Draft, feels a lot of pressure was alleviated, and he and his teammates no longer having to carry the burden of a 15-year postseason drought, even if they weren’t around for the majority of those hard times.

“I mean, now we kind of know what it takes to get there,” Power told NHL.com over the offseason. “And we won the first round against Boston, so we had a little bit of a taste of what you need to win in the playoffs. So, it's definitely helped us a lot, especially with how young we are and how little experience we had going into it.

“We’re a little more experienced now. We know what to expect.”

The biggest question for the Sabres this season is can they replace the 108 combined points (44 goals, 64 assists) that left with the departures of forward Alex Tuch (Washington Capitals) and defenseman Bowen Byram (Chicago Blackhawks)? They’ll be counting on the likes of forward Josh Doan and defenseman Olen Zellweger to do so after each was acquired this offseason.

“I think obviously losing those two guys this year is something we have to deal with, but I think you saw other guys step up last year, especially in the playoffs,” Power said. “So, I'm pretty confident that the entire team's going to be able to build off the year we just had.”

That building has to start with the first day of training camp, which is Thursday, general manager Jarmo Kekalainen said.

“It’s going to be tough to make the playoffs. There’s 32 teams; only 16 make it. It’s tough every year, and it’s going to be really tough this year, too, and that’s what we’ve got to understand from Day 1,” Kekalainen said. “It doesn’t matter that we were division champs last year. There’s nothing to do, that’s done, it’s over with. Now everybody wants our head because we did well last year, and they know that we have a good team, so they’re coming after us.

“We better be ready.”

NHL.com independent correspondent Heather Engel contributed to this report