# 2021–22 Buffalo Sabres season

The 2021–22 Buffalo Sabres season was the 52nd season for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on May 22, 1970. The Sabres failed to snap their ten-year playoff drought, having last qualified for the playoffs in the 2010–11 season.
The league returned to its normal October-to-April scheduling, a full 82-game regular season which began on October 12, 2021, but this was contingent on the COVID-19 pandemic and the Government of Canada reducing its COVID-19 cross-border travel restrictions. As a result, the Sabres rejoined the Atlantic Division after a one-season stint in the East Division due to realignment under the league's return to play protocols. On April 6, 2022, after the Washington Capitals defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Sabres were eliminated from playoff contention for the 11th straight season, setting an NHL record.

## Standings
### Divisional standings

Atlantic Division :
| Pos | Team v t e | GP | W | L | OTL | RW | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | p – Florida Panthers | 82 | 58 | 18 | 6 | 42 | 340 | 246 | +94 | 122 |
| 2 | x – Toronto Maple Leafs | 82 | 54 | 21 | 7 | 45 | 315 | 253 | +62 | 115 |
| 3 | x – Tampa Bay Lightning | 82 | 51 | 23 | 8 | 39 | 287 | 233 | +54 | 110 |
| 4 | x – Boston Bruins | 82 | 51 | 26 | 5 | 40 | 255 | 220 | +35 | 107 |
| 5 | e – Buffalo Sabres | 82 | 32 | 39 | 11 | 25 | 232 | 290 | −58 | 75 |
| 6 | e – Detroit Red Wings | 82 | 32 | 40 | 10 | 21 | 230 | 312 | −82 | 74 |
| 7 | e – Ottawa Senators | 82 | 33 | 42 | 7 | 26 | 227 | 266 | −39 | 73 |
| 8 | e – Montreal Canadiens | 82 | 22 | 49 | 11 | 16 | 221 | 319 | −98 | 55 |

### Eastern Conference

Eastern Conference Wild Card :
| Pos | Div | Team v t e | GP | W | L | OTL | RW | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | AT | x – Boston Bruins | 82 | 51 | 26 | 5 | 40 | 255 | 220 | +35 | 107 |
| 2 | ME | x – Washington Capitals | 82 | 44 | 26 | 12 | 35 | 275 | 245 | +30 | 100 |
| 3 | ME | e – New York Islanders | 82 | 37 | 35 | 10 | 34 | 231 | 237 | −6 | 84 |
| 4 | ME | e – Columbus Blue Jackets | 82 | 37 | 38 | 7 | 26 | 262 | 300 | −38 | 81 |
| 5 | AT | e – Buffalo Sabres | 82 | 32 | 39 | 11 | 25 | 232 | 290 | −58 | 75 |
| 6 | AT | e – Detroit Red Wings | 82 | 32 | 40 | 10 | 21 | 230 | 312 | −82 | 74 |
| 7 | AT | e – Ottawa Senators | 82 | 33 | 42 | 7 | 26 | 227 | 266 | −39 | 73 |
| 8 | ME | e – New Jersey Devils | 82 | 27 | 46 | 9 | 19 | 248 | 307 | −59 | 63 |
| 9 | ME | e – Philadelphia Flyers | 82 | 25 | 46 | 11 | 20 | 211 | 298 | −87 | 61 |
| 10 | AT | e – Montreal Canadiens | 82 | 22 | 49 | 11 | 16 | 221 | 319 | −98 | 55 |

## Schedule and results
### Regular season

The regular season schedule was published on July 22, 2021.
2021–22 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 |
| Tage Thompson | 78 | 38 | 30 | 68 | −17 | 37 |
| Jeff Skinner | 80 | 33 | 30 | 63 | −14 | 42 |
| Rasmus Dahlin | 80 | 13 | 40 | 53 | −22 | 68 |
| Victor Olofsson | 72 | 20 | 29 | 49 | −16 | 6 |
| Kyle Okposo | 74 | 21 | 24 | 45 | −15 | 43 |
| Dylan Cozens | 79 | 13 | 25 | 38 | −19 | 55 |
| Alex Tuch$^†$ | 50 | 12 | 26 | 38 | −3 | 14 |
| Rasmus Asplund | 80 | 8 | 19 | 27 | −5 | 10 |
| Vinnie Hinostroza | 62 | 13 | 12 | 25 | −11 | 24 |
| Peyton Krebs$^†$ | 48 | 7 | 15 | 22 | −20 | 20 |
| Casey Mittelstadt | 40 | 6 | 13 | 19 | −14 | 4 |
| Henri Jokiharju | 60 | 3 | 16 | 19 | −8 | 20 |
| Zemgus Girgensons | 56 | 10 | 8 | 18 | −7 | 27 |
| Colin Miller | 38 | 2 | 12 | 14 | −2 | 21 |
| Cody Eakin | 69 | 4 | 8 | 12 | −15 | 22 |
| Mark Pysyk | 68 | 3 | 9 | 12 | −4 | 16 |
| Jacob Bryson | 73 | 1 | 9 | 10 | −9 | 12 |
| Mattias Samuelsson | 42 | 0 | 10 | 10 | −10 | 16 |
| Anders Bjork | 58 | 5 | 3 | 8 | −14 | 10 |
| Will Butcher | 37 | 2 | 6 | 8 | −10 | 0 |
| Robert Hagg$^‡$ | 48 | 1 | 7 | 8 | −9 | 25 |
| Brett Murray | 19 | 2 | 4 | 6 | −3 | 23 |
| Casey Fitzgerald | 36 | 0 | 6 | 6 | −19 | 36 |
| Mark Jankowski | 19 | 2 | 3 | 5 | +2 | 4 |
| Drake Caggiula | 18 | 2 | 3 | 5 | −4 | 4 |
| John Hayden | 55 | 2 | 2 | 4 | −12 | 84 |
| Arttu Ruotsalainen | 18 | 2 | 2 | 4 | −1 | 6 |
| Owen Power | 8 | 2 | 1 | 3 | +3 | 2 |
| Jack Quinn | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Ethan Prow | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 0 |
| Ryan MacInnis | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Christian Wolanin$^‡$ | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −2 | 0 |
| Brandon Biro | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| JJ Peterka | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### Goaltenders

Regular season :
| Player | GP | GS | TOI | W | L | OT | GA | GAA | SA | SV% | SO | G | A | PIM |
| Craig Anderson | 31 | 31 | 1,867:15 | 17 | 12 | 2 | 97 | 3.12 | 945 | .897 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Dustin Tokarski | 29 | 28 | 1,671:26 | 10 | 12 | 5 | 91 | 3.27 | 900 | .899 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Michael Houser | 2 | 2 | 120:00 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2.00 | 77 | .948 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen | 9 | 9 | 503:04 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 23 | 2.74 | 277 | .917 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Aaron Dell | 12 | 9 | 565:23 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 38 | 4.03 | 354 | .893 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Malcolm Subban$^†$ | 4 | 3 | 210:28 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 17 | 4.85 | 132 | .871 | 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.

## Awards and honours
### Awards

Regular season :
| Player | Award | Awarded |

### Records
## Transactions

The Sabres have been involved in the following transactions during the 2021–22 season.

### Trades

| Date | Details | Details |
| July 23, 2021 (2021-07-23) | To Philadelphia FlyersRasmus Ristolainen | To Buffalo SabresRobert Hagg 1st-round pick in 2021 2nd-round pick in 2023 |
| July 24, 2021 (2021-07-24) | To Florida PanthersSam Reinhart | To Buffalo SabresDevon Levi 1st-round pick in 2022 |
| July 28, 2021 (2021-07-28) | To New Jersey Devils5th-round pick in 2022 | To Buffalo SabresWill Butcher |
| November 4, 2021 (2021-11-04) | To Vegas Golden KnightsJack Eichel Conditional 3rd-round pick in 2023 or 2024 | To Buffalo SabresPeyton Krebs Alex Tuch Conditional 1st-round pick in 2022 or 2023 Conditional 2nd-round pick in 2023 or 2024 |
| November 4, 2021 (2021-11-04) | To New York IslandersFuture considerations | To Buffalo SabresJohnny Boychuk |
| December 2, 2021 (2021-12-02) | To Chicago BlackhawksFuture considerations | To Buffalo SabresMalcolm Subban |
| March 20, 2022 (2022-03-20) | To Florida PanthersRobert Hagg | To Buffalo SabresCGY 6th-round pick in 2022 |
| June 10, 2022 (2022-06-10) | To Dallas StarsFuture considerations | To Buffalo SabresBen Bishop 7th-round pick in 2022 |

### Players acquired

| Date | Player | Former team | Term | Via |
| July 28, 2021 (2021-07-28) | Craig Anderson | Washington Capitals | 1-year | Free agency |
| July 28, 2021 (2021-07-28) | Aaron Dell | New Jersey Devils | 1-year | Free agency |
| July 28, 2021 (2021-07-28) | John Hayden | Arizona Coyotes | 1-year | Free agency |
| July 28, 2021 (2021-07-28) | Vinnie Hinostroza | Chicago Blackhawks | 1-year | Free agency |
| July 28, 2021 (2021-07-28) | Sean Malone | Nashville Predators | 1-year | Free agency |
| July 28, 2021 (2021-07-28) | Ethan Prow | Florida Panthers | 1-year | Free agency |
| July 28, 2021 (2021-07-28) | Mark Pysyk | Dallas Stars | 1-year | Free agency |
| July 28, 2021 (2021-07-28) | Jimmy Schuldt | Vegas Golden Knights | 1-year | Free agency |
| July 30, 2021 (2021-07-30) | Ryan MacInnis | Columbus Blue Jackets | 1-year | Free agency |
| October 4, 2021 (2021-10-04) | Axel Jonsson-Fjallby | Washington Capitals | | Waivers |
| October 16, 2021 (2021-10-16) | Christian Wolanin | Los Angeles Kings | | Waivers |
| January 12, 2022 (2022-01-12) | Michael Houser | Rochester Americans (AHL) | 1-year | Free agency |

### Players lost

| Date | Player | New team | Term | Via |
| July 21, 2021 (2021-07-21) | William Borgen | Seattle Kraken | | Expansion draft |
| July 28, 2021 (2021-07-28) | Jean-Sebastien Dea | Montreal Canadiens | 1-year | Free agency |
| July 28, 2021 (2021-07-28) | Matt Irwin | Washington Capitals | 1-year | Free agency |
| July 28, 2021 (2021-07-28) | Steven Fogarty | Boston Bruins | 1-year | Free agency |
| July 28, 2021 (2021-07-28) | Carter Hutton | Arizona Coyotes | 1-year | Free agency |
| July 28, 2021 (2021-07-28) | Jake McCabe | Chicago Blackhawks | 4-year | Free agency |
| July 28, 2021 (2021-07-28) | C. J. Smith | Carolina Hurricanes | 1-year | Free agency |
| July 28, 2021 (2021-07-28) | Linus Ullmark | Boston Bruins | 4-year | Free agency |
| July 29, 2021 (2021-07-29) | Stefanos Lekkas | Fort Wayne Komets (ECHL) | Unknown | Free agency |
| August 5, 2021 (2021-08-05) | Michael Houser | Rochester Americans (AHL) | 1-year | Free agency |
| September 1, 2021 (2021-09-01) | Riley Sheahan | Seattle Kraken | 1-year | Free agency |
| October 11, 2021 (2021-10-11) | Axel Jonsson-Fjallby | Washington Capitals | | Waivers |
| October 15, 2021 (2021-10-15) | Tobias Rieder | Växjö Lakers (SHL) | 1-year | Free agency |

### Signings

| Date | Player | Term | Contract type |
| July 27, 2021 (2021-07-27) | Drake Caggiula | 1-year | Re-signing |
| July 28, 2021 (2021-07-28) | Brandon Davidson | 1-year | Re-signing |
| July 30, 2021 (2021-07-30) | Rasmus Asplund | 2-year | Re-signing |
| August 13, 2021 (2021-08-13) | Casey Fitzgerald | 2-year | Re-signing |
| September 2, 2021 (2021-09-02) | Henri Jokiharju | 3-year | Re-signing |
| September 2, 2021 (2021-09-02) | Casey Mittelstadt | 3-year | Re-signing |
| September 22, 2021 (2021-09-22) | Rasmus Dahlin | 3-year | Re-signing |
| April 8, 2022 (2022-04-08) | Owen Power | 3-year | Entry-level |
| April 18, 2022 (2022-04-18) | Josh Bloom | 3-year | Entry-level |
| May 11, 2022 (2022-05-11) | Aleksandr Kisakov | 3-year | Entry-level |
| May 22, 2022 (2022-05-22) | Olivier Nadeau | 3-year | Entry-level |
| May 31, 2022 (2022-05-31) | Isak Rosen | 3-year | Entry-level |
| June 13, 2022 (2022-06-13) | Filip Cederqvist | 2-year | Entry-level |
| June 29, 2022 (2022-06-29) | Sean Malone | 1-year | Extension |
| June 30, 2022 (2022-06-30) | Craig Anderson | 1-year | Extension |

## Draft picks

Below are the Buffalo Sabres selections at the 2021 NHL Entry Draft, which was held on July 23 and 24, 2021, virtually via video conference call from the NHL Network studios in Secaucus, New Jersey, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
| Round | # | Player | Pos | Nationality | College/Junior/Club team (League) |
| 1 | 1 | Owen Power | D | Canada | University of Michigan (Big Ten) |
| 1 | 14$^1$ | Isak Rosen | RW | Sweden | Leksands IF (SHL) |
| 2 | 33 | Prokhor Poltapov | RW | Russia | HC CSKA Moscow (KHL) |
| 2 | 53$^2$ | Aleksandr Kisakov | LW | Russia | MHC Dynamo Moscow (MHL) |
| 3 | 88$^3$ | Stiven Sardarian | RW | Russia | Krasnaya Armiya (MHL) |
| 3 | 95$^4$ | Joshua Bloom | LW | Canada | Saginaw Spirit (OHL) |
| 4 | 97 | Olivier Nadeau | RW | Canada | Shawinigan Cataractes (QMJHL) |
| 5 | 159$^4$ | Viljami Marjala | LW | Finland | Quebec Remparts (QMJHL) |
| 6 | 161 | William von Barnekow-Lofberg | C | Sweden | Malmo Redhwaks U20 (J20 SuperElit) |
| 6 | 188$^5$ | Nikita Novikov | D | Russia | Dynamo Moscow (MHL) |
| 7 | 193 | Tyson Kozak | C | Canada | Portland Winterhawks (WHL) |
Notes:
* The Philadelphia Flyers' first-round pick went to the Buffalo Sabres as the result of a trade on July 23, 2021, that sent Rasmus Ristolainen to Philadelphia in exchange for Robert Hagg, a second-round pick in 2023 and this pick.
* The Boston Bruins' second-round pick went to the Buffalo Sabres as the result of a trade on April 11, 2021, that sent Taylor Hall and Curtis Lazar to Boston in exchange for Anders Bjork and this pick.
* The Florida Panthers' third-round pick went to the Buffalo Sabres as the result of a trade on April 10, 2021, that sent Brandon Montour to Florida in exchange for this pick.
* The Montreal Canadiens' third- and fifth-round picks went to the Buffalo Sabres as the result of a trade on March 26, 2021, that sent Eric Staal to Montreal in exchange for these picks.
* The Colorado Avalanche's sixth-round pick went to the Buffalo Sabres as the result of a trade on March 20, 2021, that sent Jonas Johansson to Colorado in exchange for this pick.