Buffalo Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff is the second-oldest coach in the NHL. The 65-year-old native of Warburg, Alberta, knows the duration of his second Sabres coaching stint depends on one- thing. Can he lead the Sabres to a return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs?
Buffalo has spent the last 14 seasons out of the postseason mix. Odds say that, one way or another, this is Ruff’s final head coaching stop. So much rides on the chase for a playoff spot in 2025-26. Ruff and the entire hockey ops brass face pressure to take a major step forward this season.
It’s a daunting task. JJ Peterka is gone. Meanwhile, the Buffalo goaltending has major question marks. Consequently, the club needs a lot of other things to go just right to accumulate enough points for a wildcard spot in the East.
Sabres to depend heavily on Norris
Josh Norris is perhaps the most important semi-recent addition to the Sabres lineup. Buffalo acquired him in a trade with the Ottawa Senators on March 7th in exchange for Dylan Cozens.
Technically, Norris isn’t a “new” addition. However, due to a lingering injury, Norris only appeared in three games for Buffalo last season. Consequently, he hasn’t had a chance to show what he can bring to the lineup. He’s essentially a new — and significant — addition.
“I think we will get an opportunity now to see the real Norris.A guy that’s trained all summer, is healthy. It’s his first [offseason] of training for several years because of what he had been dealing with, ” Ruff said.
Ruff and the Sabres want a commitment to strong two-way play. The Cozens-for-Norris swap took a step in that strategic direction. Norris must help to solidify the club’s 200-foot play. Meanwhile, he had to help fill the scoring gap left by Peterka’s departure.
Norris, when healthy is a multi-faceted center of first-line caliber. The Sabres need every aspect of his game to shine.
“We know that he’s an elite player. You can recover some of the goals there. At the same time we’ve got a guy that’s a real good two-way player. A 200-foot player, who can play well defensively,” Ruff added.
“He’s a guy we’re going to look at in almost every situation.”
The Sabres head coach and staff have a lot riding on this player. They need him healthy and productive on both sides of the puck.
Sabres blank Blue Jackets
Buffalo opened its preseason schedule with a 4-0 shutout victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday. Early preseason games don’t provide much info on teams or players. However, the Sabres had to be encouraged by the fact that Alexandar Georgiev stopped all 16 shots he faced in two periods of action.
Meanwhile, the Sabres received goals from Bowen Byram, Beck Malenstyn, Jack Quinn (ENG) and Konsta Helenius. Byram skated on a defensive pair with 2025 first-round pick Radim Mrtka.
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