# 2023–24 Buffalo Sabres season

The 2023–24 Buffalo Sabres season was the 54th season of play for the Sabres in the National Hockey League (NHL).
The Sabres failed to improve on a strong 2022–23 season (42–33–7; 91 points). After the 2022 Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball (MLB) clinched a playoff spot for the first time since 2001 and the 2022–23 Sacramento Kings of National Basketball Association (NBA) clinched a playoff spot for the first time since 2006, the Sabres and New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL) are tied for the longest active playoff drought in American sports, missing them for 12 consecutive years. They attempted to return to the playoffs for the first time since 2011 (the current longest, and the longest playoff drought in NHL history and professional sports only behind the New York Jets who also missed the playoffs), but were eliminated from playoff contention for the 13th consecutive season after a 3–2 loss to the Dallas Stars on April 9, 2024.

## Standings
### Divisional standings

Atlantic Division :
| Pos | Team v t e | GP | W | L | OTL | RW | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | y – Florida Panthers | 82 | 52 | 24 | 6 | 42 | 268 | 200 | +68 | 110 |
| 2 | x – Boston Bruins | 82 | 47 | 20 | 15 | 36 | 267 | 224 | +43 | 109 |
| 3 | x – Toronto Maple Leafs | 82 | 46 | 26 | 10 | 33 | 303 | 263 | +40 | 102 |
| 4 | x – Tampa Bay Lightning | 82 | 45 | 29 | 8 | 37 | 291 | 268 | +23 | 98 |
| 5 | e – Detroit Red Wings | 82 | 41 | 32 | 9 | 27 | 278 | 274 | +4 | 91 |
| 6 | e – Buffalo Sabres | 82 | 39 | 37 | 6 | 33 | 246 | 244 | +2 | 84 |
| 7 | e – Ottawa Senators | 82 | 37 | 41 | 4 | 25 | 255 | 281 | −26 | 78 |
| 8 | e – Montreal Canadiens | 82 | 30 | 36 | 16 | 20 | 236 | 289 | −53 | 76 |

### Conference standings

Eastern Conference Wild Card :
| Pos | Div | Team v t e | GP | W | L | OTL | RW | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | AT | x – Tampa Bay Lightning | 82 | 45 | 29 | 8 | 37 | 291 | 268 | +23 | 98 |
| 2 | ME | x – Washington Capitals | 82 | 40 | 31 | 11 | 32 | 220 | 257 | −37 | 91 |
| 3 | AT | e – Detroit Red Wings | 82 | 41 | 32 | 9 | 27 | 278 | 274 | +4 | 91 |
| 4 | ME | e – Pittsburgh Penguins | 82 | 38 | 32 | 12 | 32 | 255 | 251 | +4 | 88 |
| 5 | ME | e – Philadelphia Flyers | 82 | 38 | 33 | 11 | 30 | 235 | 261 | −26 | 87 |
| 6 | AT | e – Buffalo Sabres | 82 | 39 | 37 | 6 | 33 | 246 | 244 | +2 | 84 |
| 7 | ME | e – New Jersey Devils | 82 | 38 | 39 | 5 | 33 | 264 | 283 | −19 | 81 |
| 8 | AT | e – Ottawa Senators | 82 | 37 | 41 | 4 | 25 | 255 | 281 | −26 | 78 |
| 9 | AT | e – Montreal Canadiens | 82 | 30 | 36 | 16 | 20 | 236 | 289 | −53 | 76 |
| 10 | ME | e – Columbus Blue Jackets | 82 | 27 | 43 | 12 | 21 | 237 | 300 | −63 | 66 |

## Schedule and results
### Preseason

The preseason schedule was published on June 21, 2023.

### Regular season

The regular season schedule was published on June 27, 2023.
2023–24 game log :
Legend:
  Win (2 points)
  Loss (0 points)
  Overtime/shootout loss (1 point) :

## Player statistics
### Skaters

Regular season :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM |
| Alex Tuch | 75 | 22 | 37 | 59 | +9 | 54 |
| Rasmus Dahlin | 81 | 20 | 39 | 59 | −3 | 66 |
| Tage Thompson | 71 | 29 | 27 | 56 | −1 | 43 |
| JJ Peterka | 82 | 28 | 22 | 50 | +10 | 28 |
| Dylan Cozens | 79 | 18 | 29 | 47 | −4 | 42 |
| Casey Mittelstadt$^‡$ | 62 | 14 | 33 | 47 | +12 | 28 |
| Jeff Skinner | 74 | 24 | 22 | 46 | −2 | 34 |
| Owen Power | 76 | 6 | 27 | 33 | +8 | 28 |
| Zach Benson | 71 | 11 | 19 | 30 | −3 | 36 |
| Jordan Greenway | 67 | 10 | 18 | 28 | +11 | 64 |
| Kyle Okposo$^‡$ | 61 | 12 | 10 | 22 | +1 | 32 |
| Henri Jokiharju | 74 | 3 | 17 | 20 | +14 | 24 |
| Jack Quinn | 27 | 9 | 10 | 19 | −1 | 8 |
| Connor Clifton | 79 | 4 | 14 | 18 | +12 | 88 |
| Peyton Krebs | 80 | 4 | 13 | 17 | +2 | 67 |
| Victor Olofsson | 51 | 7 | 8 | 15 | −1 | 4 |
| Zemgus Girgensons | 63 | 8 | 6 | 14 | −1 | 21 |
| Bowen Byram$^†$ | 18 | 3 | 6 | 9 | −1 | 13 |
| Eric Robinson$^†$ | 40 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 0 | 19 |
| Jacob Bryson | 36 | 1 | 7 | 8 | +5 | 8 |
| Mattias Samuelsson | 41 | 1 | 6 | 7 | +4 | 26 |
| Ryan Johnson | 41 | 0 | 7 | 7 | +3 | 12 |
| Tyson Jost | 43 | 3 | 3 | 6 | −11 | 10 |
| Erik Johnson$^‡$ | 50 | 3 | 0 | 3 | −5 | 24 |
| Brandon Biro | 5 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Lukas Rousek | 15 | 0 | 2 | 2 | −1 | 0 |
| Kale Clague | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Jiri Kulich | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 0 |
| Matthew Savoie | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Brett Murray | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 2 |
| Isak Rosen | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −3 | 0 |

### Goaltenders

Regular season :
| Player | GP | GS | TOI | W | L | OT | GA | GAA | SA | SV% | SO | G | A | PIM |
| Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen | 54 | 51 | 3,081:14 | 27 | 22 | 4 | 132 | 2.57 | 1,470 | .910 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 8 |
| Devon Levi | 23 | 21 | 1,294:54 | 10 | 8 | 2 | 67 | 3.10 | 666 | .899 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Eric Comrie | 10 | 10 | 519:54 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 32 | 3.69 | 254 | .874 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
$^†$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.

## Transactions

The Sabres have been involved in the following transactions during the 2023–24 season.
Key:  † Contract is entry-level.  ‡ Contract initially takes effect in the 2024–25 season.

### Trades

| Date | Details | Details |
| August 18, 2023 (2023-08-18) | To Anaheim DucksIlya Lyubushkin | To Buffalo Sabres4th-round pick in the 2025 |
| December 6, 2023 (2023-12-06) | To Columbus Blue Jacketsconditional NSH 7th-round pick in 2025 | To Buffalo SabresEric Robinson |
| January 11, 2024 (2024-01-11) | To Montreal CanadiensFilip Cederqvist | To Buffalo SabresFuture considerations |
| March 6, 2024 (2024-03-06) | To Colorado AvalancheCasey Mittelstadt | To Buffalo SabresBowen Byram |
| March 8, 2024 (2024-03-08) | To Florida PanthersKyle Okposo | To Buffalo SabresCalle Sjalin Conditional 7th-round pick in 2024* |
| March 8, 2024 (2024-03-08) | To Philadelphia FlyersErik Johnson | To Buffalo Sabres4th-round pick in 2024 |
| March 8, 2024 (2024-03-08) | To San Jose SharksDevin Cooley | To Buffalo SabresWSH 7th-round pick in 2025 |
Notes:
* The pick will become a 5th-round pick if Florida wins the Stanley Cup.

### Players acquired

| Date | Player | Former team | Term | Via |
| July 1, 2023 (2023-07-01) | Connor Clifton | Boston Bruins | 3-year | Free agency |
| July 1, 2023 (2023-07-01) | Devin Cooley | Nashville Predators | 1-year | Free agency |
| July 1, 2023 (2023-07-01) | Erik Johnson | Colorado Avalanche | 1-year | Free agency |
| July 1, 2023 (2023-07-01) | Justin Richards | Columbus Blue Jackets | 1-year | Free agency |
| July 1, 2023 (2023-07-01) | Dustin Tokarski | Pittsburgh Penguins | 1-year | Free agency |

### Players lost

| Date | Player | New team | Term | Via |
| July 1, 2023 (2023-07-01) | Malcolm Subban | St. Louis Blues | 1-year | Free agency |
| July 7, 2023 (2023-07-07) | Vinnie Hinostroza | Pittsburgh Penguins | 1-year | Free agency |
| July 7, 2023 (2023-07-07) | Michael Houser | Rochester Americans (AHL) | 1-year | Free agency |
| July 18, 2023 (2023-07-18) | Austin Strand | Chicago Wolves (AHL) | 1-year | Free agency |
| August 2, 2023 (2023-08-02) | Sean Malone | SCL Tigers (NL) | 2-year | Free agency |
| August 7, 2023 (2023-08-07) | Matej Pekar | Hartford Wolf Pack (AHL) | 1-year | Free agency |

### Signings

| Date | Player | Term |
| July 1, 2023 (2023-07-01) | Tyson Jost | 1-year |
| July 4, 2023 (2023-07-04) | Kale Clague | 1-year |
| July 14, 2023 (2023-07-14) | Brett Murray | 1-year |
| July 14, 2023 (2023-07-14) | Anton Wahlberg | 3-year† |
| July 17, 2023 (2023-07-17) | Linus Weissbach | 1-year |
| July 28, 2023 (2023-07-28) | Zach Benson | 3-year† |
| October 9, 2023 (2023-10-09) | Rasmus Dahlin | 8-year‡ |
| October 11, 2023 (2023-10-11) | Owen Power | 7-year‡ |

## Draft picks

Below are the Buffalo Sabres selections at the 2023 NHL Entry Draft, which will be held on June 28 and 29, 2023, at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. With their first selection, the Sabres selected Zach Benson from the Winnipeg Ice of the WHL.
| Round | # | Player | Pos | Nationality | College/Junior/Club team (League) |
| 1 | 13 | Zach Benson | LW | Canada | Winnipeg Ice (WHL) |
| 2 | 39 | Anton Wahlberg | C | Sweden | Malmö Redhawks (SHL) |
| 2 | 45 | Maxim Strbak | D | Slovakia | Sioux Falls Stampede (USHL) |
| 3 | 86 | Gavin McCarthy | D | United States | Muskegon Lumberjacks (USHL) |
| 4 | 109 | Ethan Miedema | LW | Canada | Kingston Frontenacs (OHL) |
| 5 | 141 | Scott Ratzlaff | G | Canada | Seattle Thunderbirds (WHL) |
| 6 | 173 | Sean Keohane | D | United States | Dexter Dex (USHS-MA) |
| 7 | 205 | Norwin Panocha | D | Germany | Eisbären Berlin (DNL U20) |