# 2020–21 Buffalo Sabres season

The 2020–21 Buffalo Sabres season was the 51st season for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on May 22, 1970.
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 played this season in the East Division and only played games against the other teams in their new division during the regular season.
With an 18th consecutive loss on March 29, 2021, the Sabres equalled the NHL record for the longest losing streak in a season, tied with the 2003–04 Pittsburgh Penguins. In that game, the Sabres blew a 3–0 lead and lost 4–3 in overtime.
On April 17, the Sabres were eliminated from playoff contention after a 3–2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins, extending their playoff drought to ten seasons, tying an NHL record.
In the Sabres' 18-game losing streak, they were 0–15–3 (two overtime losses and one shootout loss). In the first 34 games, they were 6–23–5 for 17 points. In their final 22 games, they were 9–11–2, ultimately finishing with a 15–34–7 record for 37 points. For the fourth time in eight seasons, the Sabres finished with the worst record in the whole NHL.

## Off-season

The Sabres introduced three new jerseys for the season. On August 11, 2020, the Sabres revealed their new uniforms, which was an updated version of the team's original jerseys. The team reintroduced their original royal blue, gold, and white colors, which was worn by the team from 1970 to 1996. On November 16, 2020, the NHL introduced Adidas "Reverse Retro" jerseys for all 31 teams, which feature throwback uniforms with a modern twist. The Sabres' Reverse Retro jersey is a modern update to the team's first third jersey worn in 2000, with the exception being that it was done in the team's current colors on a white template.

## Standings
### Divisional standings

East Division :
| Pos | Team v t e | GP | W | L | OTL | RW | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | y – Pittsburgh Penguins | 56 | 37 | 16 | 3 | 29 | 196 | 156 | +40 | 77 |
| 2 | x – Washington Capitals | 56 | 36 | 15 | 5 | 29 | 191 | 163 | +28 | 77 |
| 3 | x – Boston Bruins | 56 | 33 | 16 | 7 | 25 | 168 | 136 | +32 | 73 |
| 4 | x – New York Islanders | 56 | 32 | 17 | 7 | 24 | 156 | 128 | +28 | 71 |
| 5 | e – New York Rangers | 56 | 27 | 23 | 6 | 24 | 177 | 157 | +20 | 60 |
| 6 | e – Philadelphia Flyers | 56 | 25 | 23 | 8 | 17 | 163 | 201 | −38 | 58 |
| 7 | e – New Jersey Devils | 56 | 19 | 30 | 7 | 15 | 145 | 194 | −49 | 45 |
| 8 | e – Buffalo Sabres | 56 | 15 | 34 | 7 | 11 | 138 | 199 | −61 | 37 |

## Schedule and results
### Regular season

The regular season schedule was published on December 23, 2020.
2020–21 game log :
Legend:
  Win (2 points)
  Loss (0 points)
  Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)
  Postponement :

## Player statistics
### Skaters

Regular season :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM |
| Sam Reinhart | 54 | 25 | 15 | 40 | −28 | 10 |
| Victor Olofsson | 56 | 13 | 19 | 32 | −23 | 6 |
| Rasmus Dahlin | 56 | 5 | 18 | 23 | −36 | 26 |
| Casey Mittelstadt | 41 | 10 | 12 | 22 | −10 | 10 |
| Taylor Hall$^‡$ | 37 | 2 | 17 | 19 | −21 | 24 |
| Rasmus Ristolainen | 49 | 4 | 14 | 18 | −18 | 36 |
| Jack Eichel | 21 | 2 | 16 | 18 | −9 | 6 |
| Tage Thompson | 38 | 8 | 6 | 14 | −6 | 17 |
| Jeff Skinner | 53 | 7 | 7 | 14 | −11 | 14 |
| Brandon Montour$^‡$ | 38 | 5 | 9 | 14 | −13 | 24 |
| Riley Sheahan | 53 | 4 | 9 | 13 | −8 | 8 |
| Dylan Cozens | 41 | 4 | 9 | 13 | −15 | 16 |
| Kyle Okposo | 35 | 2 | 11 | 13 | −1 | 0 |
| Colin Miller | 48 | 4 | 8 | 12 | −20 | 27 |
| Rasmus Asplund | 28 | 7 | 4 | 11 | +1 | 0 |
| Eric Staal$^‡$ | 32 | 3 | 7 | 10 | −20 | 8 |
| Curtis Lazar$^‡$ | 33 | 5 | 4 | 9 | −4 | 0 |
| Jacob Bryson | 38 | 1 | 8 | 9 | −1 | 12 |
| Henri Jokiharju | 46 | 3 | 5 | 8 | −11 | 4 |
| Tobias Rieder | 44 | 5 | 2 | 7 | −9 | 2 |
| Cody Eakin | 46 | 3 | 4 | 7 | −9 | 14 |
| Arttu Ruotsalainen | 17 | 5 | 1 | 6 | −9 | 8 |
| Anders Bjork$^†$ | 15 | 3 | 3 | 6 | −5 | 4 |
| Drake Caggiula$^†$ | 11 | 2 | 1 | 3 | −5 | 4 |
| Jake McCabe | 13 | 1 | 2 | 3 | +2 | 9 |
| Steven Fogarty | 9 | 1 | 2 | 3 | +2 | 8 |
| Mattias Samuelsson | 12 | 0 | 2 | 2 | −8 | 4 |
| Matt Irwin | 24 | 0 | 2 | 2 | −10 | 19 |
| Will Borgen | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −4 | 4 |
| Brandon Davidson | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −4 | 4 |
| C. J. Smith | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jean-Sebastien Dea | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 2 |
| Brett Murray | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +1 | 0 |

### Goaltenders

Regular season :
| Player | GP | GS | TOI | W | L | OT | GA | GAA | SA | SV% | SO | G | A | PIM |
| Linus Ullmark | 20 | 20 | 1,117:05 | 9 | 6 | 3 | 49 | 2.63 | 591 | .917 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dustin Tokarski | 13 | 10 | 729:26 | 2 | 8 | 2 | 43 | 3.54 | 447 | .904 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Michael Houser | 4 | 4 | 243:02 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 14 | 3.46 | 141 | .901 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen | 4 | 4 | 216:42 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 14 | 3.88 | 149 | .906 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Carter Hutton | 13 | 12 | 674:43 | 1 | 10 | 1 | 39 | 3.47 | 341 | .886 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jonas Johansson$^‡$ | 7 | 6 | 379:53 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 24 | 3.79 | 207 | .884 | 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
### Trades

| Date | Details | Details |
| September 16, 2020 (2020-09-16) | To Minnesota WildMarcus Johansson | To Buffalo SabresEric Staal |
| October 7, 2020 (2020-10-07) | To San Jose Sharks2nd-round pick in 2020 4th-round pick in 2020 | To Buffalo Sabres2nd-round pick in 2020 |
| March 20, 2021 (2021-03-20) | To Colorado AvalancheJonas Johansson | To Buffalo Sabres6th-round pick in 2021 |
| March 26, 2021 (2021-03-26) | To Montreal CanadiensEric Staal | To Buffalo Sabres3rd-round pick in 2021 5th-round pick in 2021 |
| April 10, 2021 (2021-04-10) | To Florida PanthersBrandon Montour | To Buffalo Sabres3rd-round pick in 2021 |
| April 12, 2021 (2021-04-12) | To Boston BruinsTaylor Hall Curtis Lazar | To Buffalo SabresAnders Bjork 2nd-round pick in 2021 |

### Waivers

| Date | Player | Team | Ref |
| April 9, 2021 (2021-04-09) | Drake Caggiula | from Arizona Coyotes | |

## 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, 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 | 34$^1$ | 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 | 216$^2$ | Jakub Konečný | C | Czech Republic | Sparta Jr. (U20 Extraliga) |
Notes:
* 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.
* 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). 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 – was converted on January 17, 2019.