2020–21 Buffalo Sabres season

The 2020–21 Buffalo Sabres season is the 51st season for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on May 22, 1970.[1] The Sabres are looking to end their nine year playoff drought, having last qualified for the playoffs in the 2010–11 season.

2020–21 Buffalo Sabres
2020–21 record4–4–2
Home record2–3–1
Road record2–1–1
Goals for30
Goals against32
Team information
General managerKevyn Adams
CoachRalph Krueger
CaptainJack Eichel
Alternate captainsJake McCabe
Kyle Okposo
ArenaKeyBank Center
Minor league affiliate(s)Rochester Americans (AHL)
Cincinnati Cyclones (ECHL)
Team leaders
GoalsVictor Olofsson (4)
AssistsJack Eichel (9)
PointsJack Eichel (11)
Penalty minutesJake McCabe (9)
Plus/minusJake McCabe
Rasmus Ristolainen (+2)
WinsLinus Ullmark (3)
Goals against averageLinus Ullmark (2.56)

On December 20, 2020, the league temporarily realigned into four divisions with no conferences due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing closure of the Canada-United States border. As a result of this realignment the Sabres will play this season in the East Division and will only play games against the other teams in their new division during the regular season and potentially the first two rounds of the playoffs.

Standings

Divisional standings
East Division
Pos Team GP W L OTL RW GF GA GD Pts
1 Boston Bruins 11 8 1 2 4 36 24 +12 18
2 Philadelphia Flyers 12 7 3 2 5 39 37 +2 16
3 Washington Capitals 11 6 2 3 4 40 38 +2 15
4 Pittsburgh Penguins 11 5 5 1 1 33 41 −8 11
5 New Jersey Devils 9 4 3 2 3 23 26 −3 10
6 New York Islanders 10 4 4 2 4 23 27 −4 10
7 New York Rangers 10 4 4 2 3 29 28 +1 10
8 Buffalo Sabres 10 4 4 2 2 30 32 −2 10
Updated to game(s) played on February 6, 2021. Source: National Hockey League[2]
Rules for classification: 1) Fewer number of games played (GP, only during regular season); 2) Greater number of regulation wins (RW); 3) Greater amount of wins in regulation and overtime, excluding shootout wins (ROW); 4) Greater amount of total wins, including shootouts (W); 5) Greater number of points earned in head-to-head play; if teams played an uneven number of head-to-head games, the result of the first game on the home ice of the team with the extra home game is discarded; 6) Greater goal differential (GD); 7) Greater amount of goals scored (GF)

Schedule and results

Regular season

The regular season schedule was published on December 23, 2020.[3]

2020–21 game log
February: 0–0–0 (Home: 0–0–0 ; Road: 0–0–0)
#DateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceRecordPtsRecap
—February 2Buffalo–NY IslandersPostponed due to COVID-19.[4] Rescheduled for February 22.
—February 4Buffalo–NY IslandersPostponed due to COVID-19.[5] Rescheduled for March 4.
—February 6Buffalo–BostonPostponed due to COVID-19. Rescheduled for March 27.
—February 8Buffalo–BostonPostponed due to COVID-19. Rescheduled for April 13.
11February 11Washington–Buffalo
12February 13Washington–Buffalo
13February 15NY Islanders–Buffalo
14February 16NY Islanders–Buffalo
15February 18Buffalo–Washington
16February 20Buffalo–New Jersey
17February 22Buffalo–NY Islanders
18February 23Buffalo–New Jersey
19February 25New Jersey–Buffalo
20February 27Philadelphia–Buffalo
21February 28Philadelphia–Buffalo

Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)   Postponement

Player statistics

Updated to games played January 31, 2021

Skaters
Regular season[6]
Player GP G A Pts +/− PIM
Jack Eichel102911−62
Victor Olofsson104610−60
Taylor Hall10189−64
Sam Reinhart8336−70
Rasmus Ristolainen1024626
Eric Staal10325−44
Curtis Lazar1031410
Tobias Rieder10303−10
Dylan Cozens921310
Rasmus Dahlin10123−94
Jake McCabe1012329
Colin Miller10123−74
Riley Sheahan1011210
Brandon Montour10022−68
Henri Jokiharju7101−20
Casey Mittelstadt2011−10
Matt Irwin3011−14
Tage Thompson5011−22
Cody Eakin10011−20
Jeff Skinner1001106
Kyle Okposo5000−10
Rasmus Asplund100000

Goaltenders
Regular season[7]
Player GP GS TOI W L OT GA GAA SA SV% SO G A PIM
Linus Ullmark66375:42312162.56187.9140000
Carter Hutton44216:32130113.05105.8950000
Jonas Johansson1019:0200013.159.8890000

†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining the Sabres. Stats reflect time with the Sabres only.
‡Denotes player was traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with the Sabres only.
Bold/italics denotes franchise record.

Roster

Updated February 4, 2021[8][9]

# Nat Player Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace
3 Will Borgen D R 24 2015 Moorhead, Minnesota
24 Dylan Cozens C R 19 2019 Whitehorse, Yukon
26 Rasmus Dahlin D L 20 2018 Trollhattan, Sweden
88 Brandon Davidson D L 29 2020 Taber, Alberta
15 Jean-Sebastien Dea C R 26 2019 Laval, Quebec
20 Cody Eakin C L 29 2020 Winnipeg, Manitoba
9 Jack Eichel (C) C R 24 2015 North Chelmsford, Massachusetts
28 Zemgus Girgensons  C L 27 2012 Riga, Latvia
4 Taylor Hall LW L 29 2020 Calgary, Alberta
40 Carter Hutton G L 35 2018 Thunder Bay, Ontario
44 Matt Irwin D L 33 2020 Victoria, British Columbia
34 Jonas Johansson G L 25 2014 Gavle, Sweden
10 Henri Jokiharju D R 21 2019 Oulu, Finland
27 Curtis Lazar RW R 26 2019 Salmon Arm, British Columbia
19 Jake McCabe (A) D L 27 2014 Eau Claire, Wisconsin
33 Colin Miller D R 28 2019 Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
37 Casey Mittelstadt C L 22 2017 Eden Prairie, Minnesota
62 Brandon Montour D R 26 2019 Ohsweken, Ontario
21 Kyle Okposo (A) RW R 32 2016 Saint Paul, Minnesota
68 Victor Olofsson LW L 25 2014 Ornskoldsvik, Sweden
23 Sam Reinhart (A) C R 25 2014 North Vancouver, British Columbia
13 Tobias Rieder LW L 28 2020 Landshut, Germany
55 Rasmus Ristolainen D R 26 2013 Turku, Finland
38 Riley Sheahan C L 29 2021 St. Catharines, Ontario
53 Jeff Skinner LW L 28 2018 Markham, Ontario
49 C. J. Smith LW L 26 2017 Des Moines, Iowa
12 Eric Staal C L 36 2020 Thunder Bay, Ontario
72 Tage Thompson C R 23 2018 Glendale, Arizona
35 Linus Ullmark G L 27 2012 Lugnvik, Sweden

Transactions

Trades
DateDetailsRef
September 16, 2020 (2020-09-16) To Minnesota Wild
Marcus Johansson		 To Buffalo Sabres
Eric Staal		 [10]
October 7, 2020 (2020-10-07) To San Jose Sharks
2nd-round pick in 2020
4th-round pick in 2020		 To Buffalo Sabres
2nd-round pick in 2020		 [11]

Draft picks
See also: List of Buffalo Sabres draft picks

Below are the Buffalo Sabres' selections at the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, which was originally scheduled for June 26–27, 2020 at the Bell Center in Montreal, Quebec, but was postponed on March 25, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was held October 6–7, 2020 virtually via Video conference call from the NHL Network studio in Secaucus, New Jersey.

Round # Player Pos Nationality College/Junior/Club Team (League)
1 8 Jack Quinn RW  Canada Ottawa 67s (OHL)
2 341 John-Jason Peterka LW  Germany EHC Red Bull Munchen (DEL)
5 131 Matteo Costantini C  Canada Buffalo Jr. Sabres (OJHL)
7 193 Albert Lyckasen D  Sweden Vita Hasten (HockeyAllsvenskan)
7 2162 Jakub Konecny C  Czech Republic Sparta Jr. (U20 Extraliga)

Notes:

  1. The San Jose Sharks' second-round pick went to the Buffalo Sabres as the result of a trade on October 7, 2020 that sent a second and fourth-round pick both in 2020 (38th and 100th overall) to San Jose in exchange for this pick.[12]
  2. The Dallas Stars' seventh-round pick went to the Buffalo Sabres as the result of a trade on November 10, 2018 that sent Taylor Fedun to Dallas in exchange for this pick (being conditional at the time of the trade).[13] The condition – Buffalo will receive a seventh-round pick in 2020 if Fedun plays in 25 games during the 2018–19 NHL season and 2019 Stanley Cup playoffs combined[13] – was converted on January 17, 2019.

References
  1. National Hockey League (2010). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book/2011. Triumph Books. p. 27. ISBN 978-1-60078-422-4.
  2. "NHL Hockey Standings". www.nhl.com. National Hockey League.
  3. "2020-21 NHL schedule announced". NHL.com. December 23, 2020. Retrieved December 26, 2020.
  4. "Sabres game at Islanders postponed due to NHL COVID-19 protocol". NHL.com. February 2, 2021. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  5. "Sabres games postponed through Monday due to NHL COVID-19 protocol". NHL.com. February 2, 2021. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  6. "2020–21 Buffalo Sabres Stats – Skaters". NHL.com. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
  7. "2020–21 Buffalo Sabres Stats – Goalies". NHL.com. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
  8. "Buffalo Sabres Roster". National Hockey League. Retrieved December 28, 2020.
  9. "Buffalo Sabres Hockey Transactions". The Sports Network. Retrieved October 3, 2017.
  10. "Sabres acquire Eric Staal from Wild". NHL.com. September 16, 2020.
  11. @BuffaloSabres (October 7, 2020). "We have acquired the 34th pick from the @SanJoseSharks in exchange for the 38th pick and the 100th pick in the 2020 #NHLDraft" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  12. "Sharks Conclude 2020 NHL Draft with Nine Selections". October 7, 2020. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
  13. "Stars acquire defenseman Taylor Fedun from Sabres". November 10, 2018. Retrieved November 10, 2018.
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