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 a 4–3 overtime loss to the Philadelphia Flyers 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.
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.
==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===
==Schedule and results==
===Regular season===
The regular season schedule was published on December 23, 2020.
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January: 4–4–2 (Home: 2–3–1 ; Road: 2–1–1)	January: 4–4–2 (Home: 2–3–1 ; Road: 2–1–1)	January: 4–4–2 (Home: 2–3–1 ; Road: 2–1–1)	January: 4–4–2 (Home: 2–3–1 ; Road: 2–1–1)	January: 4–4–2 (Home: 2–3–1 ; Road: 2–1–1)	January: 4–4–2 (Home: 2–3–1 ; Road: 2–1–1)	January: 4–4–2 (Home: 2–3–1 ; Road: 2–1–1)	January: 4–4–2 (Home: 2–3–1 ; Road: 2–1–1)	January: 4–4–2 (Home: 2–3–1 ; Road: 2–1–1)	January: 4–4–2 (Home: 2–3–1 ; Road: 2–1–1)	January: 4–4–2 (Home: 2–3–1 ; Road: 2–1–1)
# 	Date 	Visitor 	Score 	Home 	OT 	Decision 	Attendance 	Record 	Pts 	Recap
1 	January 14 	Washington 	6–4 	Buffalo 	 	Hutton 	0 	0–1–0 	0 	Recap
2 	January 15 	Washington 	2–1 	Buffalo 	 	Ullmark 	0 	0–2–0 	0 	Recap
3 	January 18 	Buffalo 	6–1 	Philadelphia 	 	Hutton 	0 	1–2–0 	2 	Recap
4 	January 19 	Buffalo 	0–3 	Philadelphia 	 	Hutton 	0 	1–3–0 	2 	Recap
5 	January 22 	Buffalo 	3–4 	Washington 	SO 	Ullmark 	0 	1–3–1 	3 	Recap
6 	January 24 	Buffalo 	4–3 	Washington 	SO 	Ullmark 	0 	2–3–1 	5 	Recap
7 	January 26 	NY Rangers 	2–3 	Buffalo 	 	Ullmark 	0 	3–3–1 	7 	Recap
8 	January 28 	NY Rangers 	3–2 	Buffalo 	OT 	Ullmark 	0 	3–3–2 	8 	Recap
9 	January 30 	New Jersey 	3–4 	Buffalo 	SO 	Ullmark 	0 	4–3–2 	10 	Recap
10 	January 31 	New Jersey 	5–3 	Buffalo 	 	Hutton 	0 	4–4–2 	10 	Recap
==Player statistics==
===Skaters===
Regular season
Player	 	 	 	 	 	
 	54	25	15	40	−28	10
 	56	13	19	32	−23	6
 	56	5 	18	23	−36	26
 	41	10	12	22	−10	10
‡ 	37	2 	17	19	−21	24
 	49	4 	14	18	−18	36
 	21	2 	16	18	−9 	6
 	38	8 	6 	14	−6 	17
 	53	7 	7 	14	−11	14
‡ 	38	5 	9 	14	−13	24
 	53	4 	9 	13	−8 	8
 	41	4 	9 	13	−15	16
 	35	2 	11	13	−1 	0
 	48	4 	8 	12	−20	27
 	28	7 	4 	11	+1 	0
‡ 	32	3 	7 	10	−20	8
‡ 	33	5 	4 	9 	−4 	0
 	38	1 	8 	9 	−1 	12
 	46	3 	5 	8 	−11	4
 	44	5 	2 	7 	−9 	2
 	46	3 	4 	7 	−9 	14
 	17	5 	1 	6 	−9 	8
† 	15	3 	3 	6 	−5 	4
† 	11	2 	1 	3 	−5 	4
 	13	1 	2 	3 	+2 	9
 	9 	1 	2 	3 	+2 	8
 	12	0 	2 	2 	−8 	4
 	24	0 	2 	2 	−10	19
 	10	0 	0 	0 	−4 	4
 	6 	0 	0 	0 	−4 	4
 	1 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	1 	0 	0 	0 	−1 	2
 	2 	0 	0 	0 	+1 	0
===Goaltenders===
Regular season
Player	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	20	20	1,117:05	9	6 	3	49	2.63	591	.917	0	0	0	0
 	13	10	729:26 	2	8 	2	43	3.54	447	.904	0	0	1	0
 	4 	4 	243:02 	2	2 	0	14	3.46	141	.901	0	0	0	0
 	4 	4 	216:42 	1	3 	0	14	3.88	149	.906	0	0	0	0
 	13	12	674:43 	1	10	1	39	3.47	341	.886	0	0	0	0
‡ 	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 	Ref
 	To Minnesota WildMarcus Johansson 	To Buffalo SabresEric Staal 	
 	To San Jose Sharks2nd-round pick in 20204th-round pick in 2020	To Buffalo Sabres2nd-round pick in 2020 	
 	To Colorado AvalancheJonas Johansson 	To Buffalo Sabres6th-round pick in 2021 	
 	To Montreal CanadiensEric Staal 	To Buffalo Sabres3rd-round pick in 20215th-round pick in 2021	
 	To Florida PanthersBrandon Montour 	To Buffalo Sabres3rd-round pick in 2021 	
 	To Boston BruinsTaylor HallCurtis Lazar 	To Buffalo SabresAnders Bjork2nd-round pick in 2021 	
===Waivers===
Date	Player 	Team 	Ref
 	Drake Caggiula	from Arizona Coyotes	
===Free Agents===
===Signings===
==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 	 	Ottawa 67s (OHL)
2 	341 	John-Jason Peterka	LW 	 	EHC Red Bull Munchen (DEL)
5 	131 	Matteo Costantini 	C 	 	Buffalo Jr. Sabres (OJHL)
7 	193 	Albert Lyckasen 	D 	 	Vita Hasten (HockeyAllsvenskan)
7 	2162	Jakub Konecny 	C 	 	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.
==References==
Buffalo Sabres
Category:Buffalo Sabres seasons