2018–19 Buffalo Sabres season

2018–19 Buffalo Sabres
Division6th Atlantic
Conference13th Eastern
2018–19 record33–39–10
Home record21–15–5
Road record12–24–5
Goals for226
Goals against271
Team information
General managerJason Botterill
CoachPhil Housley
CaptainJack Eichel
Alternate captainsZach Bogosian
Kyle Okposo
ArenaKeyBank Center
Average attendance17,908[1]
Minor league affiliate(s)Rochester Americans (AHL)
Cincinnati Cyclones (ECHL)
Team leaders
GoalsJeff Skinner (40)
AssistsJack Eichel (54)
PointsJack Eichel (82)
Penalty minutesZach Bogosian (52)
Plus/minus4 tied (+1)
WinsCarter Hutton (18)
Goals against averageCarter Hutton (3.00)

The 2018–19 Buffalo Sabres season was the 49th season for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on May 22, 1970.[2]

After experiencing a ten-game winning streak in November that put them atop the NHL standings, the Sabres regressed sharply the rest of the season and were officially eliminated from playoff contention on March 23, 2019, after suffering a 7–4 loss to the Montreal Canadiens,[3] joining the 2016–17 Philadelphia Flyers as the only teams in NHL history to win 10 consecutive games and be eliminated from playoff contention.[citation needed]

With the Carolina Hurricanes clinching a playoff berth in the 2019 Stanley Cup playoffs, the Sabres became the team with the longest active postseason appearance drought in the NHL at eight consecutive seasons,[4] about 1.5 years after their football counterparts, the Buffalo Bills, ended what was the longest active postseason appearance drought in the NFL at 17 consecutive seasons.[5][6] On April 7, 2019, the Sabres fired Phil Housley,[7] who became the fifth head coach to be fired since the Pegulas bought the team from Tom Golisano in February 2011.[8][9]

Standings

[edit]
Atlantic Division
Pos Team GP W L OTL ROW GF GA GD Pts
1 p – Tampa Bay Lightning 82 62 16 4 56 325 222 +103 128
2 x – Boston Bruins 82 49 24 9 47 259 215 +44 107
3 x – Toronto Maple Leafs 82 46 28 8 46 286 251 +35 100
4 Montreal Canadiens 82 44 30 8 41 249 236 +13 96
5 Florida Panthers 82 36 32 14 33 267 280 −13 86
6 Buffalo Sabres 82 33 39 10 28 226 271 −45 76
7 Detroit Red Wings 82 32 40 10 29 227 277 −50 74
8 Ottawa Senators 82 29 47 6 29 242 302 −60 64
Source: National Hockey League[10]
p – Clinched Presidents' Trophy; x – Clinched playoff spot
Eastern Conference Wild Card
Pos Div Team GP W L OTL ROW GF GA GD Pts
1 ME x – Carolina Hurricanes 82 46 29 7 44 245 223 +22 99
2 ME x – Columbus Blue Jackets 82 47 31 4 45 258 232 +26 98
3 AT Montreal Canadiens 82 44 30 8 41 249 236 +13 96
4 AT Florida Panthers 82 36 32 14 33 267 280 −13 86
5 ME Philadelphia Flyers 82 37 37 8 34 244 281 −37 82
6 ME New York Rangers 82 32 36 14 26 227 272 −45 78
7 AT Buffalo Sabres 82 33 39 10 28 226 271 −45 76
8 AT Detroit Red Wings 82 32 40 10 29 227 277 −50 74
9 ME New Jersey Devils 82 31 41 10 28 222 275 −53 72
10 AT Ottawa Senators 82 29 47 6 29 242 302 −60 64
Source: National Hockey League[11]
x – Clinched playoff spot

Schedule and results

[edit]

Preseason

[edit]

The preseason schedule was published on June 15, 2018.[12]

Regular season

[edit]

The regular season schedule was released on June 21, 2018.[13]

2018–19 game log

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

Player statistics

[edit]

As of April 6, 2019[14]

Skaters

[edit]
Regular season
Player GP G A Pts +/− PIM
Jack Eichel 77 28 54 82 −11 26
Sam Reinhart 82 22 43 65 −10 16
Jeff Skinner 82 40 23 63 0 36
Rasmus Dahlin 82 9 35 44 −13 34
Rasmus Ristolainen 78 5 38 43 −41 38
Conor Sheary 78 14 20 34 −18 12
Jason Pominville 73 16 15 31 −4 4
Kyle Okposo 78 14 15 29 −9 41
Evan Rodrigues 74 9 20 29 −7 25
Casey Mittelstadt 77 12 13 25 −19 10
Zach Bogosian 65 3 16 19 −5 52
Zemgus Girgensons 72 5 13 18 −11 17
Johan Larsson 73 6 8 14 −8 37
Jake McCabe 59 4 10 14 −4 35
Marco Scandella 63 6 7 13 −13 26
Vladimir Sobotka 69 5 8 13 −20 26
Tage Thompson 65 7 5 12 −22 20
Brandon Montour 20 3 7 10 −4 16
Nathan Beaulieu 30 3 4 7 +1 32
Lawrence Pilut 33 1 5 6 −8 20
Casey Nelson 38 1 5 6 +1 13
Victor Olofsson 6 2 2 4 +1 2
Alexander Nylander 12 2 2 4 −4 4
Patrik Berglund 23 2 2 4 −5 6
Scott Wilson 15 0 3 3 −8 4
C. J. Smith 11 2 0 2 0 0
Matt Hunwick 14 0 2 2 −7 4
Remi Elie 16 0 1 1 −3 2
Danny O'Regan 1 0 0 0 0 0
Brendan Guhle 2 0 0 0 +1 2
William Borgen 4 0 0 0 −5 0
Matt Tennyson 4 0 0 0 −4 0

Goaltenders

[edit]
Regular season
Player GP GS TOI W L OT GA GAA SA SV% SO G A PIM
Carter Hutton 50 48 2,839 18 25 5 142 3.00 1541 .908 0 0 1 2
Linus Ullmark 37 34 2,102 15 14 5 109 3.11 1146 .905 2 0 1 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

[edit]

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

Trades

[edit]
Date Details Ref
June 23, 2018 (2018-06-23) To Toronto Maple Leafs
6th-round pick in 2018
To Buffalo Sabres
6th-round pick in 2019
[15]
June 27, 2018 (2018-06-27) To Pittsburgh Penguins
Conditional 4th-round pick in 2019
To Buffalo Sabres
Conor Sheary
Matt Hunwick
[16]
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
[17]
August 2, 2018 (2018-08-02) To Carolina Hurricanes
Cliff Pu
2nd-round pick in 2019
3rd-round pick in 2020
6th-round pick in 2020
To Buffalo Sabres
Jeff Skinner
[18]
October 1, 2018 (2018-10-01) To Nashville Predators
Nicholas Baptiste
To Buffalo Sabres
Jack Dougherty
[19]
November 10, 2018 (2018-11-10) To Dallas Stars
Taylor Fedun
To Buffalo Sabres
Conditional 7th-round pick in 2020
[20]
January 17, 2019 (2019-01-17) To Philadelphia Flyers
Justin Bailey
To Buffalo Sabres
Taylor Leier
[21]
February 24, 2019 (2019-02-24) To Anaheim Ducks
Brendan Guhle
Conditional 1st-round pick in 2019
To Buffalo Sabres
Brandon Montour
[22]
February 25, 2019 (2019-02-25) To Winnipeg Jets
Nathan Beaulieu
To Buffalo Sabres
6th-round pick in 2019
[23]

Free agents

[edit]
Date Player Team Contract term Ref
June 26, 2018 (2018-06-26) Adam Wilcox to Rochester Americans (AHL) 1-year [24]
July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01) Seth Griffith to Winnipeg Jets 1-year [25]
July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01) Carter Hutton from St. Louis Blues 3-year [26]
July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01) Chad Johnson to St. Louis Blues 1-year [27]
July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01) Scott Wedgewood from Los Angeles Kings 1-year [28]
July 2, 2018 (2018-07-02) Viktor Antipin to Metallurg Magnitogorsk (KHL) 3-year [29]
July 2, 2018 (2018-07-02) Mike Sislo to New York Islanders 1-year [30]
July 5, 2018 (2018-07-05) Jordan Nolan to St. Louis Blues 1-year [31]
February 24, 2019 (2019-02-24) Adam Wilcox from Rochester Americans (AHL) 1-year [32]
May 8, 2019 (2019-05-08) Arttu Ruotsalainen from Ilves (Liiga) 3-year [33]

Waivers

[edit]
Date Player Team Ref
October 2, 2018 (2018-10-02) Remi Elie from Dallas Stars [34]

Signings

[edit]
Date Player Contract term Ref
July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01) Brandon Hickey 2-year [38]
July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01) Scott Wilson 2-year [39]
July 9, 2018 (2018-07-09) Rasmus Dahlin 3-year [40]
July 12, 2018 (2018-07-12) Sean Malone 1-year [41]
July 15, 2018 (2018-07-15) Justin Bailey 1-year [42]
July 15, 2018 (2018-07-15) Nicholas Baptiste 1-year [43]
July 15, 2018 (2018-07-15) Danny O'Regan 1-year [43]
July 16, 2018 (2018-07-16) C. J. Smith 1-year [44]
September 19, 2018 (2018-09-19) Sam Reinhart 2-year [45]
October 17, 2018 (2018-10-17) Matej Pekar 3-year [46]
March 26, 2019 (2019-03-26) Casey Fitzgerald 2-year [47]
April 15, 2019 (2019-04-15) Jacob Bryson 3-year [48]
June 7, 2019 (2019-06-07) Jeff Skinner 8-year [49]

Draft picks

[edit]

Below are the Buffalo Sabres' selections at the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, which was 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 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:

  1. 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.[50]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "2018-2019 NHL Attendance". ESPN.com. Retrieved November 7, 2021.
  2. ^ National Hockey League (2010). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book/2011. Triumph Books. p. 27. ISBN 978-1-60078-422-4.
  3. ^ Farrell, Sean (March 23, 2019). "Canadiens defeat Sabres, pad lead for second wild card in East". NHL.com. Retrieved March 27, 2019. Sam Reinhart, Alexander Nylander, Marco Scandella and Jack Eichel scored for Buffalo (31-34-9), which was eliminated from playoff contention.
  4. ^ Kaplan, Emily (April 5, 2019). "Canes clinch playoff berth, snap 10-year drought". ESPN.com. Retrieved April 9, 2019. The Buffalo Sabres now hold the NHL's longest postseason drought. The Sabres have not made the playoffs since the 2010-11 season.
  5. ^ Wine, Steven (December 31, 2017). "Buffalo Bills' 17-year playoff drought ends in dramatic fashion". The Denver Post. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
  6. ^ "With NFL's longest playoff drought over, rest is gravy for Bills". ESPN.com. December 31, 2017. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
  7. ^ Blackburn, Pete (April 7, 2019). "Buffalo Sabres fire coach Phil Housley one day after he said he expected to be back with team". CBSSports.com. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
  8. ^ Filipowski, Nick (April 7, 2019). "Four Coaches To Replace Phil Housley". WIVB. Archived from the original on April 9, 2019. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
  9. ^ Fink, James (February 21, 2011). "Pegula set to take ownership of Sabres". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
  10. ^ "2018-2019 NHL Hockey Standings". NHL.com.
  11. ^ "2018-2019 NHL Hockey Standings". NHL.com.
  12. ^ "Sabres announce 2018 preseason schedule". NHL.com. June 15, 2018. Retrieved June 21, 2018.
  13. ^ "Sabres announce 2018-19 regular-season schedule". NHL.com. June 21, 2018. Retrieved October 1, 2018.
  14. ^ "Buffalo Sabres Stats - 2018-2019". NHL.com. Retrieved December 23, 2018.
  15. ^ "2018 NHL Draft Notes". NHL.com. June 23, 2018. Retrieved June 25, 2018.
  16. ^ "Sabres acquire Sheary, Hunwick from Penguins". NHL.com. June 27, 2018. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
  17. ^ "Sabres acquire Thompson, Berglund, Sobotka, 2 picks from Blues". NHL.com. July 1, 2018. Retrieved July 2, 2018.
  18. ^ "Skinner traded to Sabres by Hurricanes". NHL.com. August 2, 2018. Retrieved August 2, 2018.
  19. ^ "Sabres acquire Dougherty from Predators". NHL.com. October 1, 2018. Retrieved October 2, 2018.
  20. ^ "Sabres acquire draft pick from Stars". NHL.com. November 10, 2018. Retrieved November 12, 2018.
  21. ^ "Sabres acquire forward Leier". NHL.com. January 17, 2019. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
  22. ^ "Sabres acquire Montour from Ducks". NHL.com. February 24, 2019. Retrieved February 24, 2019.
  23. ^ "Sabres acquire pick from Jets". NHL.com. February 25, 2019. Retrieved February 26, 2019.
  24. ^ "AMERKS AGREE TO TERMS WITH WILCOX". amerks.com. Archived from the original on June 27, 2018. Retrieved June 26, 2018.
  25. ^ "Jets sign three players". nhl.com. Retrieved July 1, 2018.
  26. ^ "Sabres, Hutton agree to 3-year deal". nhl.com. Retrieved July 1, 2018.
  27. ^ "Blues sign goalie Chad Johnson to one-year deal". nhl.com. Retrieved July 1, 2018.
  28. ^ "Sabres agree to terms with Wedgewood". nhl.com. Retrieved July 1, 2018.
  29. ^ ""Металлург" подписал контракт с Виктором Антипиным". NHL.com (in Russian). July 2, 2018. Retrieved July 4, 2018.
  30. ^ "Sislo Agrees to Terms on a One-Year Contract". NHL.com. July 2, 2018. Retrieved July 3, 2018.
  31. ^ "Blues sign Nolan to one-year, two-way deal". nhl.com. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
  32. ^ "Sabres sign Wilcox to 1-year contract". NHL.com. February 24, 2019. Retrieved February 24, 2019.
  33. ^ "Sabres agree to entry-level deal with Ruotsalainen". NHL.com. May 8, 2019. Retrieved May 9, 2019.
  34. ^ Harrington, Mike (October 2, 2018). "Sabres claim forward Remi Elie on waivers from Dallas". buffalonews.com. Retrieved October 2, 2018.
  35. ^ "Vaclav Karabacek: Waived by Sabres". CBSSports.com. September 20, 2018. Retrieved October 25, 2018.
  36. ^ Wawrow, John (September 20, 2018). "Reinhart eagerly rejoins Sabres with new contract signed". AP News. Retrieved October 2, 2018.
  37. ^ "Patrik Berglund placed on waivers". NHL.com. December 19, 2018. Retrieved December 20, 2018.
  38. ^ "Sabres ink Hickey to entry-level contract". nhl.com. Retrieved July 2, 2018.
  39. ^ "Sabres, Wilson agree to 2-year contract". nhl.com. Retrieved July 2, 2018.
  40. ^ "Sabres sign Dahlin to entry-level contract". nhl.com. Retrieved July 10, 2018.
  41. ^ "Sabres sign Malone to 1-year contract". nhl.com. Retrieved July 14, 2018.
  42. ^ "Sabres ink Bailey to 1-year deal". nhl.com. Retrieved July 15, 2018.
  43. ^ a b "O'Regan, Baptiste sign 1-year deals". nhl.com. Retrieved July 15, 2018.
  44. ^ "Sabres sign Smith to 1-year contract". nhl.com. Retrieved July 16, 2018.
  45. ^ "Sabres sign Reinhart to 2-year deal". NHL.com. September 19, 2018. Retrieved September 20, 2018.
  46. ^ "Sabres ink Pekar to entry-level contract". NHL.com. October 17, 2018. Retrieved October 23, 2018.
  47. ^ "Sabres sign Fitzgerald to entry-level contract". NHL.com. March 26, 2019. Retrieved March 27, 2019.
  48. ^ "Sabres, Bryson agree to entry-level deal". NHL.com. April 15, 2019. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
  49. ^ "Sabres sign Skinner to 8-year contract". NHL.com. June 7, 2019. Retrieved June 11, 2019.
  50. ^ Myers, Dan (June 30, 2017). "Wild Continues Re-Shuffle in Trade with Sabres". NHL.com. Retrieved June 7, 2018.