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.http://sabres.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=722300 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.http://www.wgrz.com/story/sports/nhl/sabres/2014/07/15/sabres-white-beats-blue-5-1-in-scrimmage/12713649/
The Sabres also sent a team to the Traverse City Prospects Tournament in September.http://sabrenoise.com/2014/06/23/buffalo-sabres-prospects-participate-traverse-city-tournament/
===Training camp===
The Sabres played in six pre-season exhibition games before the start of the 2014–15 regular season.http://espn.go.com/nhl/team/schedule/_/name/buf/buffalo-sabres
==Regular season==
==Standings==
===Divisional standings===
===Conference standings===
=== 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==
===Pre-season===
2014 Pre-Season Game Log: 2–3–1 (Home: 2–1–0 ; Road: 0–2–1)	2014 Pre-Season Game Log: 2–3–1 (Home: 2–1–0 ; Road: 0–2–1)	2014 Pre-Season Game Log: 2–3–1 (Home: 2–1–0 ; Road: 0–2–1)	2014 Pre-Season Game Log: 2–3–1 (Home: 2–1–0 ; Road: 0–2–1)	2014 Pre-Season Game Log: 2–3–1 (Home: 2–1–0 ; Road: 0–2–1)	2014 Pre-Season Game Log: 2–3–1 (Home: 2–1–0 ; Road: 0–2–1)	2014 Pre-Season Game Log: 2–3–1 (Home: 2–1–0 ; Road: 0–2–1)	2014 Pre-Season Game Log: 2–3–1 (Home: 2–1–0 ; Road: 0–2–1)	2014 Pre-Season Game Log: 2–3–1 (Home: 2–1–0 ; Road: 0–2–1)	2014 Pre-Season Game Log: 2–3–1 (Home: 2–1–0 ; Road: 0–2–1)
# 	Date 	Visitor 	Score 	Home 	OT 	Decision 	Attendance 	Record 	Recap
1 	September 21 	Buffalo 	0–1 	Washington 	 	Lieuwen 	16,707 	0–1–0 	Recap
2 	September 23 	Carolina 	0–2 	Buffalo 	 	Enroth 	18,546 	1–1–0 	Recap
3 	September 26 	Toronto 	6–4 	Buffalo 	 	Neuvirth 	18,942 	1–2–0 	Recap
4 	September 28 	Buffalo 	2–3 	Toronto 	SO 	Makarov 	17,249 	1–2–1 	Recap
5 	October 1 	Washington 	1–6 	Buffalo 	 	Enroth 	18,228 	2–2–1 	Recap
6 	October 3 	Buffalo 	1–5 	Carolina 	 	Neuvirth 	7,890 	2–3–1 	Recap
===Regular season===
2014–15 Game LogRecord: 23–49–8 (Home: 14–21–5 ; Road: 9–28–3)	2014–15 Game LogRecord: 23–49–8 (Home: 14–21–5 ; Road: 9–28–3)	2014–15 Game LogRecord: 23–49–8 (Home: 14–21–5 ; Road: 9–28–3)	2014–15 Game LogRecord: 23–49–8 (Home: 14–21–5 ; Road: 9–28–3)	2014–15 Game LogRecord: 23–49–8 (Home: 14–21–5 ; Road: 9–28–3)	2014–15 Game LogRecord: 23–49–8 (Home: 14–21–5 ; Road: 9–28–3)	2014–15 Game LogRecord: 23–49–8 (Home: 14–21–5 ; Road: 9–28–3)	2014–15 Game LogRecord: 23–49–8 (Home: 14–21–5 ; Road: 9–28–3)	2014–15 Game LogRecord: 23–49–8 (Home: 14–21–5 ; Road: 9–28–3)	2014–15 Game LogRecord: 23–49–8 (Home: 14–21–5 ; Road: 9–28–3)	2014–15 Game LogRecord: 23–49–8 (Home: 14–21–5 ; Road: 9–28–3)
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October: 2–8–1 (Home: 0–4–1 ; Road: 2–4–0) 	October: 2–8–1 (Home: 0–4–1 ; Road: 2–4–0) 	October: 2–8–1 (Home: 0–4–1 ; Road: 2–4–0) 	October: 2–8–1 (Home: 0–4–1 ; Road: 2–4–0) 	October: 2–8–1 (Home: 0–4–1 ; Road: 2–4–0) 	October: 2–8–1 (Home: 0–4–1 ; Road: 2–4–0) 	October: 2–8–1 (Home: 0–4–1 ; Road: 2–4–0) 	October: 2–8–1 (Home: 0–4–1 ; Road: 2–4–0) 	October: 2–8–1 (Home: 0–4–1 ; Road: 2–4–0) 	October: 2–8–1 (Home: 0–4–1 ; Road: 2–4–0) 	October: 2–8–1 (Home: 0–4–1 ; Road: 2–4–0)
# 	Date 	Visitor 	Score 	Home 	OT 	Decision 	Attendance 	Record 	Pts 	Recap
1 	October 9 	Columbus 	3–1 	Buffalo 	 	Enroth 	18,215 	0–1–0 	0 	Recap
2 	October 11 	Buffalo 	2–6 	Chicago 	 	Enroth 	22,012 	0–2–0 	0 	Recap
3 	October 13 	Anaheim 	5–1 	Buffalo 	 	Neuvirth 	18,912 	0–3–0 	0 	Recap
4 	October 14 	Buffalo 	4–3 	Carolina 	SO 	Enroth 	14,930 	1–3–0 	2 	Recap
5 	October 17 	Florida 	1–0 	Buffalo 	 	Enroth 	17,864 	1–4–0 	2 	Recap
6 	October 18 	Boston 	4–0 	Buffalo 	 	Enroth 	18,685 	1–5–0 	2 	Recap
7 	October 22 	Buffalo 	1–4 	Anaheim 	 	Neuvirth 	16,067 	1–6–0 	2 	Recap
8 	October 23 	Buffalo 	0–2 	Los Angeles 	 	Enroth 	18,230 	1–7–0 	2 	Recap
9 	October 25 	Buffalo 	2–1 	San Jose 	 	Neuvirth 	17,370 	2–7–0 	4 	Recap
10 	October 28 	Buffalo 	0–4 	Toronto 	 	Neuvirth 	18,898 	2–8–0 	4 	Recap
11 	October 30 	Boston 	3–2 	Buffalo 	OT 	Enroth 	17,477 	2–8–1 	5 	Recap
== Player stats ==
Final stats
;Skaters
 Regular Season
Player	 	 	 	 	 	
 	78	20	26	46	−19	37
 	77	13	28	41	−11	4
 	69	13	22	35	−13	18
 	61	15	15	30	−16	25
‡ 	61	11	14	25	−30	63
‡ 	50	9 	15	24	−18	39
 	57	8 	12	20	−5 	50
 	78	8 	12	20	−32	26
‡ 	54	5 	12	17	−3 	8
 	39	6 	10	16	0 	12
 	82	5 	10	15	−24	71
 	60	3 	12	15	−10	51
 	60	7 	7 	14	−13	36
 	78	6 	7 	13	−28	12
‡ 	51	6 	7 	13	−6 	26
‡ 	47	4 	9 	13	−15	61
 	59	1 	8 	9 	−19	20
 	64	1 	6 	7 	−22	68
† 	21	0 	7 	7 	−7 	38
 	46	0 	6 	6 	−28	16
 	25	3 	3 	6 	−10	2
 	46	0 	5 	5 	−30	44
 	28	3 	2 	5 	−14	10
 	33	1 	3 	4 	−9 	40
 	42	0 	3 	3 	−11	36
 	21	1 	2 	3 	−11	4
 	7 	2 	1 	3 	4 	2
 	39	1 	1 	2 	−12	4
 	18	1 	1 	2 	−5 	2
 	4 	0 	1 	1 	3 	0
 	9 	0 	1 	1 	−1 	2
 	9 	0 	0 	0 	−4 	2
 	2 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
‡ 	1 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
;Goaltenders
 Regular Season
Player	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
‡ 	37	35	2204	13	21	2	120	3.27	1237	0.903	1	0	0	0
‡ 	27	27	1544	6 	17	3	77 	2.99	941 	0.918	0	0	0	0
† 	16	15	891 	4 	8 	2	41 	2.76	542 	0.924	0	0	0	4
 	5 	4 	250 	0 	4 	1	18 	4.32	155 	0.884	0	0	0	0
 	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
 	NHL First Star of the Week 	December 15, 2014
 	NHL All-Star game selection	January 10, 2015
=== Milestones ===
 Regular Season
Player 	Milestone 	Reached
 	1st Career NHL Game 	October 9, 2014
 	400th Career NHL Game 	October 13, 2014
S. Reinhart	1st Career NHL Assist1st Career NHL Point	October 25, 2014
 	100th Career NHL Assist 	November 5, 2014
 	400th Career NHL Game 	November 13, 2014
 	100th Career NHL Assist 	November 18, 2014
 	600th Career NHL Game 	November 22, 2014
 	800th Career NHL Game 	November 29, 2014
 	1st Career NHL Game 	November 29, 2014
 	100th Career NHL Game 	December 11, 2014
 	100th Career NHL Point 	December 11, 2014
 	100th Career NHL Game 	December 13, 2014
 	300th Career NHL Game 	December 20, 2014
 	1st Career NHL Goal 	December 20, 2014
 	1st Career NHL Goal1st Career NHL Point 	December 21, 2014
 	1st Career NHL Game 	December 23, 2014
 	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
 	400th Career NHL Game 	February 26, 2015
 	100th Career NHL Game 	March 3, 2015
T. Ennis 	200th Career NHL Point 	March 6, 2015
 	100th Career NHL Game 	March 16, 2015
 	100th Career NHL Game 	March 17, 2015
 	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 20143rd-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 MyersDrew StaffordBrendan LemieuxJoel Armia1st-round pick in 2015	To Buffalo Sabres
---- Evander KaneZach BogosianJason Kasdorf	
February 11, 2015	To Dallas Stars
----Jhonas Enroth	To Buffalo Sabres
----Anders Lindbackconditional 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 Johnson3rd-round pick in 2016	
March 2, 2015 	To Montreal Canadiens
----Torrey Mitchell	To Buffalo Sabres
----Jack Nevins7th-round pick in 2016	
March 2, 2015 	To Minnesota Wild
----Chris Stewart	To Buffalo Sabres
----2nd-round pick in 2017	
===Free agents acquired===
Date 	Player 	Former team 	Contract terms(in U.S. dollars)	Ref
July 1, 2014 	Andrej Meszaros	Boston Bruins 	1-year, $4.125 million 	MESZAROS JOINS THE SABRES
July 1, 2014 	Cody McCormick 	Minnesota Wild 	3-years, $4.5 million 	McCORMICK RETURNS TO BUFFALO
July 1, 2014 	Brian Gionta 	Montreal Canadiens 	3-years, $12.75 million 	GIONTA SIGNS THREE-YEAR CONTRACT
July 1, 2014 	Matt Moulson 	Minnesota Wild 	5-years, $25 million 	MOULSON SIGNS MULTI-YEAR DEAL
July 1, 2014 	Tyson Strachan 	Washington Capitals 	1-year, $650,000 	SABRES SIGN DEFENSEMAN TYSON STRACHAN
July 13, 2014 	Zac Dalpe 	Vancouver Canucks 	1-year, $700,000 	Sabres sign forward Dalpe to one-year contract
July 23, 2014 	Andre Benoit 	Colorado Avalanche 	1-year, $800,000 	SABRES SIGN BENOIT TO 1-YEAR DEAL
November 28, 2014	Jean Dupuy 	Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds	3-years, entry-level contract 	SABRES SIGN DUPUY TO ENTRY-LEVEL CONTRACT
April 22, 2015 	Evan Rodrigues 	Boston University 	2-years, entry-level contract 	SABRES SIGN FORWARD EVAN RODRIGUES
===Free agents lost===
Date 	Player 	New team 	Contract terms(in U.S. dollars)	Ref
July 1, 2014 	Alexander Sulzer 	Kölner Haie 	5 years 	Former Sabre Alexander Sulzer signs 5-year deal in native Germany. Olean Times Herald. Retrieved July 1, 2014.
July 1, 2014 	Christian Ehrhoff	Pittsburgh Penguins 	1 year, $4 million 	Penguins Sign Defenseman Christian Ehrhoff
July 1, 2014 	Kevin Porter 	Detroit Red Wings 	1 year, $600,000 	Wings add forward, Michigan native Porter
July 1, 2014 	Cory Conacher 	New York Islanders 	1 year, $600,000 	Conacher Agrees To Terms
July 1, 2014 	John Scott 	San Jose Sharks 	1 year, $750,000 	Sharks Sign Forward John Scott
July 18, 2014 	Matt D'Agostini 	Geneve-Servette HC 	undisclosed 	D’Agostini signs one-year deal with Swiss club
August 6, 2014 	Connor Knapp 	Lehigh Valley Phantoms	undisclosed 	Wednesday's sports transactions (2014-08-06)
January 30, 2015	Zenon Konopka 	Sanok Hockey Club 	1 year, undisclosed 	Potrecz, Bill (June 3, 2015). A man for all seasons. St. Catharines Standard. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
===Claimed via waivers===
Player	Previous team	Date
===Lost via waivers===
Player	New team	Date
===Lost via retirement===
Player
===Players released===
Date 	Player 	Via 	Ref
June 18, 2014	Ville Leino 	Compliance buyout	http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=722919
June 29, 2014	Christian Ehrhoff	Compliance buyout	http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=724490
===Player signings===
Date 	Player 	Contract terms(in U.S. dollars) 	Ref
July 1, 2014 	Marcus Foligno 	2 years, $3.75 million 	FOLIGNO INKED TO NEW DEAL
July 5, 2014 	Matt Hackett 	1 year, $750,750, two-way contract 	Hoppe, Bill (July 5, 2014). Report: Sabres re-sign goalie Matt Hackett. Olean Times Herald. Retrieved July 8, 2014.
July 12, 2014 	Sam Reinhart 	3 years, $2.775 million, entry-level contract	SABRES SIGN REINHART
July 12, 2014 	Jordan Samuels-Thomas	1 year, $640,000, entry-level contract 	SABRES SIGN SAMUELS-THOMAS TO ENTRY-LEVEL CONTRACT
July 16, 2014 	Chad Ruhwedel 	2 years, $1.3 million 	SABRES SIGN RUHWEDEL TO 2-YEAR CONTRACT
July 17, 2014 	Tyler Ennis 	5 years, $23 million 	SABRES SIGN ENNIS TO MULTI-YEAR CONTRACT
July 27, 2014 	Luke Adam 	1 year, $650,000, two-way contract 	SABRES RE-SIGN ADAM
November 2, 2014 	Justin Bailey 	3 years, entry-level contract 	Hamilton, Paul. The Sabres ink a local second-round pick . WGR. Retrieved November 2, 2014.
November 18, 2014	Arturs Irbe 	1 day, emergency contract 	Hoppe, Bill (November 19, 2014). Brian Gionta's first goals lead Sabres past Sharks. Olean Times Herald. Retrieved November 19, 2014.
=== Coaching changes ===
Name 	Date 	Details
Bryan TrottierSABRES ADD FOUR TO NOLAN'S COACHING STAFF	August 4, 2014	Named as Assistant Coach
Danny Flynn 	August 4, 2014	Named as Assistant Coach
Tom Coolen 	August 4, 2014	Named as Assistant Coach
Arturs Irbe 	August 4, 2014	Named 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.http://sports.nationalpost.com/2014/04/15/florida-panthers-win-nhl-draft-lottery-as-buffalo-sabres-drop-to-no-2/
Round	# 	Player 	Pos	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team (League)
1 	2 	Sam Reinhart 	C 	 	Kootenay Ice (WHL)
2 	31 	Brendan Lemieux 	LW 	 	Barrie Colts (OHL)
2 	44 	Eric Cornel 	C 	 	Peterborough Petes (OHL)
2 	49 	Vaclav Karabacek 	RW 	 	Gatineau Olympiques (QMJHL)
3 	61 	Jonas Johansson 	G 	 	Brynas IF (J20 SuperElit)
3 	74 	Brycen Martin 	D 	 	Swift Current Broncos (WHL)
5 	121	Maxwell Willman 	C 	 	Williston Northampton Wildcats (NEPSAC)
6 	151	Christopher Brown	C 	 	Cranbrook Kingswood
7 	181	Victor Olofsson 	RW 	 	MODO Hockey (SHL)
;Draft notes
* 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.
* 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.
==References==
Buffalo
Buffalo Sabres season, 2014-15