# 2014–15 Buffalo Sabres season

The 2014–15 Buffalo Sabres season was the 45th season for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on May 22, 1970. The team finished last place overall in the league with 54 points and did not qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

## Off-season
### Summer sessions

The Sabres held their annual Summer Development Camp for the team's prospects and young players from July 14–18, 2014. The highlight of the camp was the annual Blue-White Game, held on July 15, which drew a crowd of over 8,000 spectators to the First Niagara Center.
The Sabres also sent a team to the Traverse City Prospects Tournament in September.

### Training camp

The Sabres played in six pre-season exhibition games before the start of the 2014–15 regular season.

## Standings

Atlantic Division :
| Pos | Team v t e | GP | W | L | OTL | ROW | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | y – Montreal Canadiens | 82 | 50 | 22 | 10 | 43 | 221 | 189 | +32 | 110 |
| 2 | x – Tampa Bay Lightning | 82 | 50 | 24 | 8 | 47 | 262 | 211 | +51 | 108 |
| 3 | x – Detroit Red Wings | 82 | 43 | 25 | 14 | 39 | 235 | 221 | +14 | 100 |
| 4 | x – Ottawa Senators | 82 | 43 | 26 | 13 | 37 | 238 | 215 | +23 | 99 |
| 5 | Boston Bruins | 82 | 41 | 27 | 14 | 37 | 213 | 211 | +2 | 96 |
| 6 | Florida Panthers | 82 | 38 | 29 | 15 | 30 | 206 | 223 | −17 | 91 |
| 7 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 82 | 30 | 44 | 8 | 25 | 211 | 262 | −51 | 68 |
| 8 | Buffalo Sabres | 82 | 23 | 51 | 8 | 15 | 161 | 274 | −113 | 54 |
Eastern Conference Wild Card :
| Pos | Div | Team v t e | GP | W | L | OTL | ROW | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | AT | x – Ottawa Senators | 82 | 43 | 26 | 13 | 37 | 238 | 215 | +23 | 99 |
| 2 | ME | x – Pittsburgh Penguins | 82 | 43 | 27 | 12 | 39 | 221 | 210 | +11 | 98 |
| 3 | AT | Boston Bruins | 82 | 41 | 27 | 14 | 37 | 213 | 211 | +2 | 96 |
| 4 | AT | Florida Panthers | 82 | 38 | 29 | 15 | 30 | 206 | 223 | −17 | 91 |
| 5 | ME | Columbus Blue Jackets | 82 | 42 | 35 | 5 | 33 | 236 | 250 | −14 | 89 |
| 6 | ME | Philadelphia Flyers | 82 | 33 | 31 | 18 | 30 | 215 | 234 | −19 | 84 |
| 7 | ME | New Jersey Devils | 82 | 32 | 36 | 14 | 27 | 181 | 216 | −35 | 78 |
| 8 | ME | Carolina Hurricanes | 82 | 30 | 41 | 11 | 25 | 188 | 226 | −38 | 71 |
| 9 | AT | Toronto Maple Leafs | 82 | 30 | 44 | 8 | 25 | 211 | 262 | −51 | 68 |
| 10 | AT | Buffalo Sabres | 82 | 23 | 51 | 8 | 15 | 161 | 274 | −113 | 54 |

## Suspensions/fines

| Player | Explanation | Length | Salary | Date issued |
| Michal Neuvirth | Diving/Embellishment during NHL Game No. 886 in Nashville on Sunday, February 22, 2015, at 2:23 of the second period. | – | $2,000.00 | February 25, 2015 |

## Schedule and results
### Regular season

2014–15 Game Log Record: 23–51–8 (Home: 14–22–5; Road: 9–29–3) :
Legend:
  Win (2 points)
  Loss (0 points)
  Overtime/shootout loss (1 point) :

## Player stats

Final stats

### Skaters

Regular Season :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM |
| Tyler Ennis | 78 | 20 | 26 | 46 | −19 | 37 |
| Matt Moulson | 77 | 13 | 28 | 41 | −11 | 4 |
| Brian Gionta | 69 | 13 | 22 | 35 | −13 | 18 |
| Zemgus Girgensons | 61 | 15 | 15 | 30 | −16 | 25 |
| Chris Stewart$^‡$ | 61 | 11 | 14 | 25 | −30 | 63 |
| Drew Stafford$^‡$ | 50 | 9 | 15 | 24 | −18 | 39 |
| Marcus Foligno | 57 | 8 | 12 | 20 | −5 | 50 |
| Rasmus Ristolainen | 78 | 8 | 12 | 20 | −32 | 26 |
| Brian Flynn$^‡$ | 54 | 5 | 12 | 17 | −3 | 8 |
| Johan Larsson | 39 | 6 | 10 | 16 | 0 | 12 |
| Nicolas Deslauriers | 82 | 5 | 10 | 15 | −24 | 71 |
| Nikita Zadorov | 60 | 3 | 12 | 15 | −10 | 51 |
| Andrej Meszaros | 60 | 7 | 7 | 14 | −13 | 36 |
| Cody Hodgson | 78 | 6 | 7 | 13 | −28 | 12 |
| Torrey Mitchell$^‡$ | 51 | 6 | 7 | 13 | −6 | 26 |
| Tyler Myers$^‡$ | 47 | 4 | 9 | 13 | −15 | 61 |
| Andre Benoit | 59 | 1 | 8 | 9 | −19 | 20 |
| Mike Weber | 64 | 1 | 6 | 7 | −22 | 68 |
| Zach Bogosian$^†$ | 21 | 0 | 7 | 7 | −7 | 38 |
| Mikhail Grigorenko | 25 | 3 | 3 | 6 | −10 | 2 |
| Josh Gorges | 46 | 0 | 6 | 6 | −28 | 16 |
| Phil Varone | 28 | 3 | 2 | 5 | −14 | 10 |
| Tyson Strachan | 46 | 0 | 5 | 5 | −30 | 44 |
| Cody McCormick | 33 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −9 | 40 |
| Mark Pysyk | 7 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 |
| Zac Dalpe | 21 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −11 | 4 |
| Patrick Kaleta | 42 | 0 | 3 | 3 | −11 | 36 |
| Matt Ellis | 39 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −12 | 4 |
| Tim Schaller | 18 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −5 | 2 |
| Chad Ruhwedel | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| Sam Reinhart | 9 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −1 | 2 |
| Jerry D'Amigo | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −4 | 2 |
| Jake McCabe | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Joel Armia$^‡$ | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### Goaltenders

Regular Season :
| Player | GP | GS | TOI | W | L | OT | GA | GAA | SA | SV% | SO | G | A | PIM |
| Jhonas Enroth$^‡$ | 37 | 35 | 2204 | 13 | 21 | 2 | 120 | 3.27 | 1237 | 0.903 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Michal Neuvirth$^‡$ | 27 | 27 | 1544 | 6 | 17 | 3 | 77 | 2.99 | 941 | 0.918 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Anders Lindback$^†$ | 16 | 15 | 891 | 4 | 8 | 2 | 41 | 2.76 | 542 | 0.924 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Matt Hackett | 5 | 4 | 250 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 18 | 4.32 | 155 | 0.884 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Andrey Makarov | 1 | 1 | 60 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3.00 | 36 | 0.917 | 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.

## Notable achievements
### Awards

Regular Season :
| Player | Award | Awarded |
| T. Ennis | NHL First Star of the Week | December 15, 2014 |
| Z. Girgensons | NHL All-Star game selection | January 10, 2015 |

### Milestones

Regular Season :
| Player | Milestone | Reached |
| S. Reinhart | 1st Career NHL Game | October 9, 2014 |
| M. Moulson | 400th Career NHL Game | October 13, 2014 |
| S. Reinhart | 1st Career NHL Assist 1st Career NHL Point | October 25, 2014 |
| T. Ennis | 100th Career NHL Assist | November 5, 2014 |
| C. Stewart | 400th Career NHL Game | November 13, 2014 |
| T. Myers | 100th Career NHL Assist | November 18, 2014 |
| A. Meszaros | 600th Career NHL Game | November 22, 2014 |
| B. Gionta | 800th Career NHL Game | November 29, 2014 |
| T. Schaller | 1st Career NHL Game | November 29, 2014 |
| J. Enroth | 100th Career NHL Game | December 11, 2014 |
| J. Gorges | 100th Career NHL Point | December 11, 2014 |
| Z. Girgensons | 100th Career NHL Game | December 13, 2014 |
| T. Ennis | 300th Career NHL Game | December 20, 2014 |
| J. Larsson | 1st Career NHL Goal | December 20, 2014 |
| T. Schaller | 1st Career NHL Goal 1st Career NHL Point | December 21, 2014 |
| J. Armia | 1st Career NHL Game | December 23, 2014 |
| C. McCormick | 400th Career NHL Game | December 31, 2014 |
| J. Gorges | 600th Career NHL Game | January 29, 2015 |
| B. Gionta | 500th Career NHL Point | February 20, 2015 |
| M. Moulson | 300th Career NHL Point | February 22, 2015 |
| Z. Bogosian | 400th Career NHL Game | February 26, 2015 |
| Z. Dalpe | 100th Career NHL Game | March 3, 2015 |
| T. Ennis | 200th Career NHL Point | March 6, 2015 |
| A. Lindback | 100th Career NHL Game | March 16, 2015 |
| R. Ristolainen | 100th Career NHL Game | March 17, 2015 |
| M. Weber | 300th Career NHL Game | March 20, 2015 |

## Transactions

The Sabres have been involved in the following transactions during the 2014–15 season:

### Trades

| June 28, 2014 | To Washington Capitals 2nd-round pick in 2014 | To Buffalo Sabres 2nd-round pick in 2014 3rd-round pick in 2014 |
| July 1, 2014 | To Montreal Canadiens MIN's 2nd-round pick in 2016 | To Buffalo Sabres Josh Gorges |
| July 9, 2014 | To Winnipeg Jets Conditional 7th-round pick in 2015 | To Buffalo Sabres Jordan Samuels-Thomas |
| December 16, 2014 | To Columbus Blue Jackets Luke Adam | To Buffalo Sabres Jerry D'Amigo |
| February 11, 2015 | To Winnipeg Jets Tyler Myers Drew Stafford Brendan Lemieux Joel Armia 1st-round pick in 2015 | To Buffalo Sabres Evander Kane Zach Bogosian Jason Kasdorf |
| February 11, 2015 | To Dallas Stars Jhonas Enroth | To Buffalo Sabres Anders Lindback conditional 3rd-round pick in 2016 |
| March 2, 2015 | To Montreal Canadiens Brian Flynn | To Buffalo Sabres 5th-round pick in 2016 |
| March 2, 2015 | To New York Islanders Michal Neuvirth | To Buffalo Sabres Chad Johnson 3rd-round pick in 2016 |
| March 2, 2015 | To Montreal Canadiens Torrey Mitchell | To Buffalo Sabres Jack Nevins 7th-round pick in 2016 |
| March 2, 2015 | To Minnesota Wild Chris Stewart | To Buffalo Sabres 2nd-round pick in 2017 |
Player signings
DatePlayerContract terms (in U.S. dollars)Ref
July 1, 2014Marcus Foligno2 years, $3.75 million
July 5, 2014Matt Hackett1 year, $750,750, two-way contract
July 12, 2014Sam Reinhart3 years, $2.775 million, entry-level contract
July 12, 2014Jordan Samuels-Thomas1 year, $640,000, entry-level contract
July 16, 2014Chad Ruhwedel2 years, $1.3 million
July 17, 2014Tyler Ennis5 years, $23 million
July 27, 2014Luke Adam1 year, $650,000, two-way contract
November 2, 2014Justin Bailey3 years, entry-level contract
November 18, 2014Arturs Irbe1 day, emergency contract
Coaching changes
Name
Date
Details
Bryan TrottierAugust 4, 2014Named as Assistant Coach
Danny FlynnAugust 4, 2014Named as Assistant Coach
Tom CoolenAugust 4, 2014Named as Assistant Coach
Arturs IrbeAugust 4, 2014Named as Goaltending Coach :

## Draft picks

The 2014 NHL Entry Draft was held on June 27–28, 2014 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Buffalo finished with the league's worst record, but on April 15, 2014, the Florida Panthers won the draft lottery to jump ahead of the Sabres and secure the first overall pick.
| Round | # | Player | Pos | Nationality | College/Junior/Club team (League) |
| 1 | 2 | Sam Reinhart | C | Canada | Kootenay Ice (WHL) |
| 2 | 31 | Brendan Lemieux | LW | Canada | Barrie Colts (OHL) |
| 2 | 44 | Eric Cornel | C | Canada | Peterborough Petes (OHL) |
| 2 | 49 | Vaclav Karabacek | RW | Czech Republic | Gatineau Olympiques (QMJHL) |
| 3 | 61 | Jonas Johansson | G | Sweden | Brynas IF (J20 SuperElit) |
| 3 | 74 | Brycen Martin | D | Canada | Swift Current Broncos (WHL) |
| 5 | 121 | Max Willman | C | United States | Williston Northampton Wildcats (NEPSAC) |
| 6 | 151 | Christopher Brown | C | United States | Cranbrook Kingswood |
| 7 | 181 | Victor Olofsson | RW | Sweden | MODO Hockey (SHL) |

### Draft notes

* $^a$ Winnipeg's second-round pick will go to Buffalo as the result of a trade on March 5, 2014 that sent Matt Moulson and Cody McCormick to Minnesota, in exchange for Torrey Mitchell, a second-round pick in 2016 and this pick.
* $^b$ Minnesota's second-round pick will go to Buffalo as the result of trade on April 3, 2013 that sent Jason Pominville and a fourth-round pick in 2014 to Minnesota, in exchange for Matt Hackett, Johan Larsson, a first-round pick in 2013 and this pick.
* Buffalo's fourth-round pick will go to the Edmonton Oilers as the result of a trade on March 4, 2014 that sent Ilya Bryzgalov to Minnesota, in exchange for this pick.
* Buffalo's sixth-round pick will not go to the Edmonton Oilers as the result of a trade on December 19, 2013 that sent Linus Omark to Buffalo in exchange for this pick (being conditional at the time of the trade). Omark did not play enough games for the Sabres, so the pick was never traded.