2022–23 Buffalo Sabres season
{{Short description|National Hockey League season}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{Infobox ice hockey team season
| League = NHL
| Season = 2022–23
| year = 2022
| Team = Buffalo Sabres
| Division = Atlantic
| DivisionRank = 5th
| Conference = Eastern
| ConferenceRank = 10th
| Record = 42–33–7
| HomeRecord = 17–20–4
| RoadRecord = 25–13–3
| GoalsFor = 296
| GoalsAgainst = 300
| GeneralManager = Kevyn Adams
| Coach = Don Granato
| Captain = Kyle Okposo
| AltCaptain = Rasmus Dahlin
Zemgus Girgensons
| Arena = KeyBank Center
| MinorLeague = Rochester Americans (AHL)
Cincinnati Cyclones (ECHL)
| GoalsLeader = Tage Thompson (47)
| AssistsLeader = Rasmus Dahlin (58)
| PointsLeader = Tage Thompson (94)
| PlusMinusLeader = Jeff Skinner (+15)
| PIMLeader = Rasmus Dahlin (92)
| WinsLeader = Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (17)
| GAALeader = Devon Levi (2.94)
}}
The 2022–23 Buffalo Sabres season was the 53rd season for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on May 22, 1970.{{cite book |last=National Hockey League|title=The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book/2011|year=2010 |publisher=Triumph Books |page=27|isbn=978-1-60078-422-4}} This was the first season since the inaugural season in 1970–71 in which Rick Jeanneret did not call games. With a win against the Detroit Red Wings on April 5, they clinched their first winning season since 2010–11. Despite this, the Sabres missed the playoffs for the 12th consecutive season, finishing one point short of qualifying for a playoff spot as the second wild-card. The Sabres continued the longest playoffs drought in NHL history, as they were eliminated from playoff contention after a loss to the New Jersey Devils on April 11, 2023.{{cite web |last1=Lane |first1=Jon |title=Devils defeat Sabres, keep pace in Metro, clinch home ice in 1st round |url=https://www.nhl.com/news/buffalo-sabres-new-jersey-devils-game-recap/c-343156608 |website=NHL.com |access-date=April 11, 2023 |date=April 11, 2023}}
Standings
=Divisional standings=
{{2022–23 NHL standings|Atlantic|showteam=BUF}}
=Eastern Conference=
{{2022–23 NHL standings|Eastern Conference Wild Card|showteam=BUF}}
Schedule and results
=Regular season=
The regular season schedule was published on July 6, 2022.{{cite web |title=Sabres announce 2022-23 regular-season schedule|url=https://www.nhl.com/sabres/news/sabres-announce-2022-23-regular-season-schedule-nhl/c-334823980 |website=NHL.com |access-date=September 7, 2022 |date=July 6, 2022}}
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Legend:
{{legend2|#cfc|Win (2 points)|border=1px solid #ccffcc}}
{{legend2|#fcc|Loss (0 points)|border=1px solid #ffcccc}}
{{legend2|#ffc|Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)|border=1px solid #AAAAAA}}
|}
Player statistics
=Skaters=
class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;"
|+ style="background:#FFFFFF; border-top:#003087 5px solid; border-bottom:#FFB81C 5px solid;"|Regular season{{cite web |title=2022–23 Buffalo Sabres Stats – Skaters |url=https://www.nhl.com/stats/skaters?reportType=season&seasonFrom=20222023&seasonTo=20222023&gameType=2&playerPlayedFor=franchise.19&filter=gamesPlayed,gte,1&sort=points,goals,assists |website=NHL.com |accessdate=April 15, 2023}} ! Player ! {{abbr|GP|Games played}} ! {{abbr|G|Goals}} ! {{abbr|A|Assists}} ! {{abbr|Pts|Points}} ! data-sort-type="number"|{{abbr|+/−|Plus/minus}} ! {{abbr|PIM|Penalty minutes}} | ||||||
{{sortname|Tage|Thompson}} | 78 | 47 | 47 | 94 | +4 | 39 |
{{sortname|Jeff|Skinner}} | 79 | 35 | 47 | 82 | +15 | 39 |
{{sortname|Alex|Tuch}} | 74 | 36 | 43 | 79 | +14 | 20 |
{{sortname|Rasmus|Dahlin}} | 78 | 15 | 58 | 73 | +12 | 92 |
{{sortname|Dylan|Cozens|dab=ice hockey}} | 81 | 31 | 37 | 68 | −3 | 41 |
{{sortname|Casey|Mittelstadt}} | 82 | 15 | 44 | 59 | −8 | 22 |
{{sortname|Victor|Olofsson}} | 75 | 28 | 12 | 40 | −23 | 4 |
{{sortname|Jack|Quinn|dab=ice hockey}} | 75 | 14 | 23 | 37 | −7 | 15 |
{{sortname|Owen|Power}} | 79 | 4 | 31 | 35 | +10 | 24 |
{{sortname|JJ|Peterka}} | 77 | 12 | 20 | 32 | −15 | 26 |
{{sortname|Kyle|Okposo}} | 75 | 11 | 17 | 28 | −7 | 34 |
{{sortname|Peyton|Krebs}} | 74 | 9 | 17 | 26 | −8 | 50 |
{{sortname|Tyson|Jost}}† | 59 | 7 | 15 | 22 | −9 | 23 |
{{sortname|Zemgus|Girgensons}} | 80 | 10 | 8 | 18 | −5 | 14 |
{{sortname|Ilya|Lyubushkin}} | 68 | 2 | 12 | 14 | −2 | 38 |
{{sortname|Henri|Jokiharju}} | 60 | 3 | 10 | 13 | −12 | 30 |
{{sortname|Vinnie|Hinostroza}} | 26 | 2 | 9 | 11 | −1 | 6 |
{{sortname|Mattias|Samuelsson}} | 55 | 2 | 8 | 10 | +14 | 20 |
{{sortname|Jacob|Bryson}} | 59 | 1 | 8 | 9 | −24 | 8 |
{{sortname|Rasmus|Asplund}}‡ | 27 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 0 |
{{sortname|Jordan|Greenway}}† | 17 | 4 | 0 | 4 | −3 | 0 |
{{sortname|Kale|Clague}} | 33 | 0 | 4 | 4 | −3 | 24 |
{{sortname|Lawrence|Pilut}} | 17 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −4 | 0 |
{{sortname|Riley|Stillman}}† | 18 | 1 | 2 | 3 | +1 | 13 |
{{sortname|Casey|Fitzgerald|dab=ice hockey}}‡ | 23 | 0 | 3 | 3 | −1 | 4 |
{{sortname|Lukas|Rousek|Lukáš Rousek}} | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | +1 | 0 |
{{sortname|Jeremy|Davies|Jérémy Davies}} | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
{{sortname|Anders|Bjork|dab=ice hockey}}‡ | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
{{sortname|Riley|Sheahan}} | 2 | 0 | | 0 | 0 | −2 | 4 |
=Goaltenders=
class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;"
|+ style="background:#FFFFFF; border-top:#003087 5px solid; border-bottom:#FFB81C 5px solid;"|Regular season{{cite web |title=2022–23 Buffalo Sabres Stats – Goalies |url=http://www.nhl.com/stats/goalies?reportType=season&seasonFrom=20212022&seasonTo=20212022&gameType=2&playerPlayedFor=franchise.19&filter=gamesPlayed,gte,1&sort=wins,savePct |website=NHL.com |accessdate=April 15, 2023}} ! Player ! {{abbr|GP|Games played}} ! {{abbr|GS|Games started}} ! {{abbr|TOI|Time on ice}} ! {{abbr|W|Win}} ! {{abbr|L|Loss}} ! {{abbr|OT|Overtime loss}} ! {{abbr|GA|Goals against}} ! {{abbr|GAA|Goals against average}} ! {{abbr|SA|Shots against}} ! {{abbr|SV%|Save percentage}} ! {{abbr|SO|Shutouts}} ! {{abbr|G|Goals}} ! {{abbr|A|Assists}} ! {{abbr|PIM|Penalty minutes}} | ||||||||||||||
{{sortname|Ukko-Pekka|Luukkonen}} | 33 | 32 | 1,910:13 | 17 | 11 | 4 | 115 | 3.61 | 1,054 | .892 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
{{sortname|Craig|Anderson|dab=ice hockey}} | 26 | 24 | 1,392:52 | 11 | 11 | 2 | 76 | 3.06 | 823 | .908 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
{{sortname|Eric|Comrie}} | 19 | 19 | 1,111:59 | 9 | 9 | 1 | 68 | 3.67 | 594 | .886 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
{{sortname|Devon|Levi}} | 7 | 7 | 429:01 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 21 | 2.94 | 222 | .905 | 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
The Sabres have been involved in the following transactions during the 2022–23 season.
Key:
{{Color box|#f8f9fa|{{dagger}}|border=darkgray}} Contract is entry-level.
{{Color box|#f8f9fa|{{double-dagger}}|border=darkgray}} Contract initially takes effect in the 2023–24 season.
=Trades=
class="wikitable" | ||
style="width: 10em;"|Date | colspan=2 |Details | style="width: 2.5em;"|Ref |
---|---|---|
{{start date|2022|12|15}}
| style="width: 25em;" valign="top"| To Dallas Stars Oskari Laaksonen | style="width: 25em;" valign="top"| To Buffalo Sabres Joseph Cecconi | ||
bgcolor="eeeeee"
| {{start date|2023|02|27}} | style="width: 25em;" valign="top"| To Vancouver Canucks Josh Bloom | style="width: 25em;" valign="top"| To Buffalo Sabres Riley Stillman | ||
{{start date|2023|03|01}}
| style="width: 25em;" valign="top"| To Los Angeles Kings Erik Portillo | style="width: 25em;" valign="top"| To Buffalo Sabres 3rd-round pick in 2023 | ||
bgcolor="eeeeee"
| {{start date|2023|03|02}} | style="width: 25em;" valign="top"| To Chicago Blackhawks Anders Bjork | style="width: 25em;" valign="top"| To Buffalo Sabres Future considerations | ||
{{start date|2023|03|03}}
| style="width: 25em;" valign="top"| To Anaheim Ducks Chase Priskie | style="width: 25em;" valign="top"| To Buffalo Sabres Austin Strand | ||
bgcolor="eeeeee"
| {{start date|2023|03|03}} | style="width: 25em;" valign="top"| To Minnesota Wild 2nd-round pick in 2023 4th-round pick in 2024 | style="width: 25em;" valign="top"| To Buffalo Sabres Jordan Greenway | ||
{{start date|2023|03|03}}
| style="width: 25em;" valign="top"| To Nashville Predators Rasmus Asplund | style="width: 25em;" valign="top"| To Buffalo Sabres 7th-round pick in 2025 |
=Players acquired=
=Players lost=
=Signings=
Draft Picks
{{See also|List of Buffalo Sabres draft picks}}
Below are the Buffalo Sabres' selections at the 2022 NHL Entry Draft, which was held on July 7 to 8, 2022, at Bell Centre in Montreal.
class="wikitable" |
Round
! # ! Player ! Pos. ! Nationality ! Team (League) |
---|
rowspan=3 & style="text-align:center;"|1
| style="text-align:center;"|9 | C | {{flagu|Canada}} | Winnipeg Ice (WHL) |
style="text-align:center;"|16
| C | {{flagu|Sweden}} |
style="text-align:center;"|28
| C | {{flagu|Czech Republic}} |
style="text-align:center;"|2
| style="text-align:center;"|41 | G | {{flagu|Finland}} | JYP (U20 SM-sarja) |
style="text-align:center;"|3
| style="text-align:center;"|74 | LW | {{flagu|Russia}} |
style="text-align:center;"|4
| style="text-align:center;"|106 | D | {{flagu|Canada}} | Kamloops Blazers (WHL) |
style="text-align:center;"|5
| style="text-align:center;"|134 | D | {{flagu|Russia}} | Quebec Remparts (QMJHL) |
rowspan=2 & style="text-align:center;"|6
| style="text-align:center;"|170 | RW | {{flagu|USA}} |
style="text-align:center;"|187
| C | {{flagu|Sweden}} | Örebro HK (J20 Nationell) |
rowspan=2 & style="text-align:center;"|7
| style="text-align:center;"|202 | RW | {{flagu|Sweden}} |
style="text-align:center;"|211
| C | {{flagu|Sweden}} |
References
{{reflist}}
{{Buffalo Sabres}}
{{Buffalo Sabres seasons}}
{{2022–23 NHL season by team}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:2022-23 Buffalo Sabres season}}