2018–19 Buffalo Sabres season

2018–19 Buffalo Sabres
2018–19 Buffalo Sabres
Division	Atlantic
Conference	Eastern
2018–19 record	0–0–0
Home record	0–0–0
Road record	0–0–0
Goals for	0
Goals against	0
Team information
General manager	Jason Botterill
Coach	Phil Housley
Captain	TBD
Arena	KeyBank Center
Minor league affiliate(s)	Rochester Americans (AHL); Cincinnati Cyclones (ECHL)
	← 2017–18 2019–20 →

The 2018–19 Buffalo Sabres season will be the 49th season for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on May 22, 1970.^[1]

Schedule and results

Preseason

The preseason schedule was published on June 15, 2018.^[2]

2018 preseason game log: 0–0–0 (Home: 0–0–0 ; Road: 0–0–0)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Recap
1	September 17	Buffalo	–	Columbus
2	September 18	Pittsburgh	–	Buffalo
3	September 21	Buffalo	–	Toronto
4	September 22	Toronto	–	Buffalo
5^[a]	September 25	Columbus	–	Buffalo
6	September 26	Buffalo	–	Pittsburgh
7^[b]	September 28	Buffalo	–	NY Islanders
Notes: ^a Game will be played at Clinton Arena in Clinton, New York. ^b Game will be played at Tribute Communities Centre in Oshawa, Ontario.

Regular season

The regular season schedule was released on June 21, 2018.

2018–19 game log

October: 0–0–0 (Home: 0–0–0 ; Road: 0–0–0)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts	Recap
1	October 4	Boston	–	Buffalo
2	October 6	Boston	–	Buffalo
3	October 8	Vegas	–	Buffalo
4	October 11	Colorado	–	Buffalo
5	October 13	Buffalo	–	Arizona
6	October 16	Buffalo	–	Vegas
7	October 18	Buffalo	–	San Jose
8	October 20	Buffalo	–	Los Angeles
9	October 21	Buffalo	–	Anaheim
10	October 25	Montreal	–	Buffalo
11	October 27	Buffalo	–	Columbus
12	October 30	Calgary	–	Buffalo

November: 0–0–0 (Home: 0–0–0 ; Road: 0–0–0)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts	Recap
13	November 1	Buffalo	–	Ottawa
14	November 3	Ottawa	–	Buffalo
15	November 4	Buffalo	–	NY Rangers
16	November 8	Buffalo	–	Montreal
17	November 10	Vancouver	–	Buffalo
18	November 13	Tampa Bay	–	Buffalo
19	November 16	Buffalo	–	Winnipeg
20	November 17	Buffalo	–	Minnesota
21	November 19	Buffalo	–	Pittsburgh
22	November 21	Philadelphia	–	Buffalo
23	November 23	Montreal	–	Buffalo
24	November 24	Buffalo	–	Detroit
25	November 27	San Jose	–	Buffalo
26	November 29	Buffalo	–	Tampa Bay

December: 0–0–0 (Home: 0–0–0 ; Road: 0–0–0)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts	Recap
27	December 3	Buffalo	–	Nashville
28	December 4	Toronto	–	Buffalo
29	December 8	Philadelphia	–	Buffalo
30	December 11	Los Angeles	–	Buffalo
31	December 13	Arizona	–	Buffalo
32	December 15	Buffalo	–	Washington
33	December 16	Buffalo	–	Boston
34	December 18	Florida	–	Buffalo
35	December 21	Buffalo	–	Washington
36	December 22	Anaheim	–	Buffalo
37	December 27	Buffalo	–	St. Louis
38	December 29	Boston	–	Buffalo
39	December 31	NY Islanders	–	Buffalo

January: 0–0–0 (Home: 0–0–0 ; Road: 0–0–0)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts	Recap
40	January 3	Florida	–	Buffalo
41	January 5	Buffalo	–	Boston
42	January 8	New Jersey	–	Buffalo
43	January 11	Buffalo	–	Carolina
44	January 12	Tampa Bay	–	Buffalo
45	January 14	Buffalo	–	Edmonton
46	January 16	Buffalo	–	Calgary
47	January 18	Buffalo	–	Vancouver
48	January 29	Buffalo	–	Columbus
49	January 30	Buffalo	–	Dallas

February: 0–0–0 (Home: 0–0–0 ; Road: 0–0–0)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts	Recap
50	February 1	Chicago	–	Buffalo
51	February 5	Minnesota	–	Buffalo
52	February 7	Carolina	–	Buffalo
53	February 9	Detroit	–	Buffalo
54	February 10	Winnipeg	–	Buffalo
55	February 12	NY Islanders	–	Buffalo
56	February 15	NY Ranger	–	Buffalo
57	February 17	Buffalo	–	New Jersey
58	February 19	Buffalo	–	Florida
59	February 21	Buffalo	–	TBD
60	February 23	Washington	–	Buffalo
61	February 25	Buffalo	–	Toronto
62	February 26	Buffalo	–	Philadelphia

March: 0–0–0 (Home: 0–0–0 ; Road: 0–0–0)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts	Recap
63	March 1	Pittsburgh	–	Buffalo
65	March 2	Buffalo	–	TBD
66	March 4	Edmonton	–	Buffalo
67	March 7	Buffalo	–	Chicago
68	March 9	Buffalo	–	Colorado
69	March 12	Dallas	–	Buffalo
70	March 14	Pittsburgh	–	Buffalo
71	March 16	Buffalo	–	Carolina
72	March 17	St. Louis	–	Buffalo
73	March 20	Toronto	–	Buffalo
74	March 23	Buffalo	–	Montreal
75	March 25	Buffalo	–	New Jersey
76	March 26	Buffalo	–	Ottawa
77	March 28	Detroit	–	Buffalo
78	March 30	Buffalo	–	NY Islanders
79	March 31	Columbus	–	Buffalo

April: 0–0–0 (Home: 0–0–0 ; Road: 0–0–0)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts	Recap
80	April 2	Nashville	–	Buffalo
81	April 4	Ottawa	–	Buffalo
82	April 6	Buffalo	–	Detroit

Legend: Win (2 points) Loss (0 points) Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)

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Roster

Updated July 24, 2024^[3]^[4]


No.	Player	Pos	S/G	Age	Acquired	Birthplace
96	Nicolas Aube-Kubel	RW	R	28	2024	Slave Lake, Alberta
9	Zach Benson	LW	L	19	2023	Langley, British Columbia
78	Jacob Bryson	D	L	26	2017	London, Ontario
4	Bowen Byram	D	L	23	2024	Cranbrook, British Columbia
38	Kale Clague	D	L	26	2022	Regina, Saskatchewan
75	Connor Clifton	D	R	29	2023	Long Branch, New Jersey
24	Dylan Cozens	C	R	23	2019	Whitehorse, Yukon
26	Rasmus Dahlin (A)	D	L	24	2018	Trollhättan, Sweden
8	Dennis Gilbert	D	L	27	2024	Buffalo, New York
12	Jordan Greenway	LW	L	27	2023	Canton, New York
10	Henri Jokiharju	D	R	25	2019	Oulu, Finland
19	Peyton Krebs (RFA)	C	L	23	2021	Okotoks, Alberta
81	Sam Lafferty	C	R	29	2024	Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania
1	Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen	G	L	25	2017	Espoo, Finland
29	Beck Malenstyn	LW	L	26	2024	Delta, British Columbia
71	Ryan McLeod	C	L	24	2024	Mississauga, Ontario
77	JJ Peterka	LW	L	22	2020	Munich, Germany
25	Owen Power	D	L	21	2021	Mississauga, Ontario
22	Jack Quinn	RW	R	22	2020	Ottawa, Ontario
47	James Reimer	G	L	36	2024	Morweena, Manitoba
23	Mattias Samuelsson	D	L	24	2018	Voorhees, New Jersey
72	Tage Thompson	C	R	26	2018	Phoenix, Arizona
89	Alex Tuch	RW	R	28	2021	Syracuse, New York
17	Jason Zucker	LW	L	32	2024	Newport Beach, California

Transactions

The Sabres have been involved in the following transactions during the 2018–19 season.

Trades

Date	Details		Ref
June 23, 2018 (2018-06-23)	To Toronto Maple Leafs 6th-round pick in 2018 — Pontus Holmberg	To Buffalo Sabres 6th-round pick in 2019	^[5]
June 27, 2018 (2018-06-27)	To Pittsburgh Penguins Conditional 4th-round pick in 2019	To Buffalo Sabres Conor Sheary Matt Hunwick	^[6]
July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01)	To St. Louis Blues Ryan O'Reilly	To Buffalo Sabres Patrik Berglund Vladimir Sobotka Tage Thompson 1st-round pick in 2019 2nd-round pick in 2021	^[7]

Free agents acquired

Date	Player	Former team	Contract terms (in U.S. dollars)	Ref
July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01)	Carter Hutton	St. Louis Blues	3-year, $8.25 million	^[8]
July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01)	Scott Wedgewood	Los Angeles Kings	1-year, $700,000	^[9]

Free agents lost

Date	Player	New team	Contract terms (in U.S. dollars)	Ref
April 27, 2018 (2018-04-27)	Jacob Josefson	Djurgårdens IF (SHL)	4-year	^[10]
June 13, 2018 (2018-06-13)	Zach Redmond	Rochester Americans (AHL)	2-year	^[11]
June 26, 2018 (2018-06-26)	Adam Wilcox	Rochester Americans (AHL)	1-year	^[12]
July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01)	Seth Griffith	Winnipeg Jets	1-year, $650,000	^[13]
July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01)	Chad Johnson	St. Louis Blues	1-year, $1.75 million	^[14]

Claimed via waivers

Player	Previous team	Date	Ref

Lost via waivers

Player	New team	Date	Ref

Players released

Date	Player	Via	Ref

Lost via retirement

Date	Player	Ref

Player signings

Date	Player	Contract terms (in U.S. dollars)	Ref
July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01)	Brandon Hickey	2-year, $1.85 million entry-level contract	^[15]
July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01)	Scott Wilson	2-year, $2.1 million	^[16]

Draft picks

Below are the Buffalo Sabres' selections at the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, which will be held on June 22 and 23, 2018, at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.

Round	#	Player	Pos	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team (League)
1	1	Rasmus Dahlin	D	Sweden	Frolunda HC (SHL)
2	32	Mattias Samuelsson	D	United States	U.S. NTDP (USHL)
4	94	Matej Pekar	C	Czech Republic	Muskegon Lumberjacks (USHL)
4	117¹	Linus Lindstrand Cronholm	D	Sweden	Malmo Redhawks J20 (SuperElit)
5	125	Miska Kukkonen	D	Finland	Ilves U20 (Nuorten SM-liiga)
7	187	William Worge Kreu	D	Sweden	Linkopings HC J20 (SuperElit)

Notes:

The Minnesota Wild's fourth-round pick went to the Buffalo Sabres as the result of a trade on June 30, 2017, that sent Tyler Ennis, Marcus Foligno, and a third-round pick to Minnesota in exchange for Jason Pominville, Marco Scandella, and this pick.^[17]

References

^ National Hockey League (2010). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book/2011. Triumph Books. p. 27. ISBN 978-1-60078-422-4.
^ "Sabres announce 2018 preseason schedule". NHL.com. June 15, 2018. Retrieved June 21, 2018.
^ "Buffalo Sabres Roster". National Hockey League. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
^ "Buffalo Sabres Hockey Transactions". The Sports Network. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
^ "2018 NHL Draft Notes". NHL.com. June 23, 2018. Retrieved June 25, 2018.
^ "Sabres acquire Sheary, Hunwick from Penguins". NHL.com. June 27, 2018. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
^ "Sabres acquire Thompson, Berglund, Sobotka, 2 picks from Blues". NHL.com. July 1, 2018. Retrieved July 2, 2018.
^ "Sabres, Hutton agree to 3-year deal". nhl.com. Retrieved July 1, 2018.
^ "Sabres agree to terms with Wedgewood". nhl.com. Retrieved July 1, 2018.
^ "Jacob Josefson är klar för Djurgården". difhockey.se (in Swedish). Retrieved June 10, 2018.
^ "REDMOND RETURNS ON TWO-YEAR AHL CONTRACT". amerks.com. Retrieved June 13, 2018.
^ "AMERKS AGREE TO TERMS WITH WILCOX". amerks.com. Retrieved June 26, 2018.
^ "Jets sign three players". nhl.com. Retrieved July 1, 2018.
^ "Blues sign goalie Chad Johnson to one-year deal". nhl.com. Retrieved July 1, 2018.
^ "Sabres ink Hickey to entry-level contract". nhl.com. Retrieved July 2, 2018.
^ "Sabres, Wilson agree to 2-year contract". nhl.com. Retrieved July 2, 2018.
^ Myers, Dan (June 30, 2017). "Wild Continues Re-Shuffle in Trade with Sabres". NHL.com. Retrieved June 7, 2018.

[1] National Hockey League (2010). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book/2011. Triumph Books. p. 27. ISBN 978-1-60078-422-4.

[2] "Sabres announce 2018 preseason schedule". NHL.com. June 15, 2018. Retrieved June 21, 2018.

[3] "Buffalo Sabres Roster". National Hockey League. Retrieved July 24, 2024.

[4] "Buffalo Sabres Hockey Transactions". The Sports Network. Retrieved July 24, 2024.

[2018Day2trades-5] "2018 NHL Draft Notes". NHL.com. June 23, 2018. Retrieved June 25, 2018.

[6] "Sabres acquire Sheary, Hunwick from Penguins". NHL.com. June 27, 2018. Retrieved June 29, 2018.

[7] "Sabres acquire Thompson, Berglund, Sobotka, 2 picks from Blues". NHL.com. July 1, 2018. Retrieved July 2, 2018.

[8] "Sabres, Hutton agree to 3-year deal". nhl.com. Retrieved July 1, 2018.

[9] "Sabres agree to terms with Wedgewood". nhl.com. Retrieved July 1, 2018.

[10] "Jacob Josefson är klar för Djurgården". difhockey.se (in Swedish). Retrieved June 10, 2018.

[11] "REDMOND RETURNS ON TWO-YEAR AHL CONTRACT". amerks.com. Retrieved June 13, 2018.

[12] "AMERKS AGREE TO TERMS WITH WILCOX". amerks.com. Retrieved June 26, 2018.

[13] "Jets sign three players". nhl.com. Retrieved July 1, 2018.

[14] "Blues sign goalie Chad Johnson to one-year deal". nhl.com. Retrieved July 1, 2018.

[15] "Sabres ink Hickey to entry-level contract". nhl.com. Retrieved July 2, 2018.

[16] "Sabres, Wilson agree to 2-year contract". nhl.com. Retrieved July 2, 2018.

[17] Myers, Dan (June 30, 2017). "Wild Continues Re-Shuffle in Trade with Sabres". NHL.com. Retrieved June 7, 2018.

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