Season in Review | Jacob Bernard-Docker

Every day through early May, Sabres.com will be recapping each player’s performance with all the numbers, highlights, quotations and content that tell the story of their 2024-25 season.

Jacob Bernard-Docker, D

15 GP | 1 G | 3 A | 4 P | +3

• Read previous Season in Review profiles here

Season at a glance

Bernard-Docker hadn’t played in nearly three months by the time he made his debut for the Sabres in Minnesota on March 22.

The defenseman sustained a high-ankle sprain while practicing with the Senators in early January, remained a scratch upon his recovery in early March, and waited a week for visa clearance after being acquired by the Sabres at the trade deadline.

He made the most of his opportunity once it finally came. Bernard-Docker scored a goal and two assists in his first three games for Buffalo and went on to play in each of the team’s final 15 games. He ranked third on the Sabres with 25 blocked shots and had a plus-3 rating in that span.

The fact that Bernard-Docker is a right shot made him a useful puzzle piece on a lefty-heavy Sabres defense corps. His games with Buffalo saw him line up mostly alongside Owen Power but also with Rasmus Dahlin, Mattias Samuelsson, and Jacob Bryson.

Number to know: 55.6

The Sabres outscored opponents 10-8 with Bernard-Docker on the ice at 5-on-5, a 55.6-percent share of goals. That number ranked second among Sabres defensemen after he joined the team.

They said it

“For me, playing on the right side of any of those guys, it’s just trying to put the puck in their hands and kind of just be a safety net for them and hopefully be a good partner for one of them. That’s the goal.” – Bernard-Docker on playing alongside the Sabres’ left-shot defensemen.

“The one thing that helps [Owen Power] is someone who can move the puck, and be clean with the puck touches. It’s why I thought he and Bernard-Docker played pretty well together because JBD is pretty simple with the puck and makes good decisions.” – General manager Kevyn Adams on Bernard-Docker’s time spent playing with Power.

What’s next

Bernard-Docker is a restricted free agent this summer, meaning the Sabres can extend a qualifying offer and have the right to match any offer sheet extended by another team.