Sabres Lack Of Offensive Punch A Growing Concern For Ruff

The Buffalo Sabres puzzlingly made no moves of consequence to replace the offensive firepower lost when winger Alex Tuch and defenseman Bowen Byram departed last summer. Tuch scored more than 30 goals in three of Buffalo's last four seasons and 33 last season. Byram scored a career-high 11 goals, third in defensive scoring behind Rasmus Dahlin and Mattias Samuelsson. 

GM Jarmo Kekalainen opted to rely almost exclusively on internal growth from the club’s young forward group to make up the offensive gap, but through 10 games, the Sabres who finished 5th in the NHL with 288 goals last season (3.51 goals per game), are 20th in the NHL with 28 goals (2.8 goals per game). The club has trailed by two or more goals in nine of their 10 games, and still have a record of 4-4-2. 

Playoff standout Zach Benson, who scored 13 goals in the regular season, is without a goal, while forwards Josh Doan (25 goals), Ryan McLeod (14 goals), Peyton Krebs (12 goals), Jiri Kulich, and Konsta Helenius have one. The Sabres welcomed back veteran winger Jason Zucker, who scored 24 goals last season, and he scored their only goal in a 3-1 loss to Philadelphia on Wednesday, but the lack of production is something that is beginning to concern head coach Lindy Ruff. 

Other Sabres Stories

Mrtka Looking To Take The Next Step Towards The NHL  

"We  talked  about  missed  nets,  missed  opportunities.  I  think  we're  31st  or  32nd  in  terms  of  missed  nets.  I  thought  we  had  some  great  looks  in  the  first  period.  Some  good  looks  in  the  second  period  too.  I  still  think  we  miss  the  net  too  often," Ruff said. mentioned. " Our  guys  got  frustrated.... and  then  we  turned  into  trying  to  get  a  little  bit  too  fancy  when  we  hit  the  line.  We  had  to  get  it  below  the  line,  win  some  battles.  Those  battles  got  to  turn  into  opportunities.”

Other than Tage Thompson and Jack Quinn (each with five goals), Buffalo’s forwards have not been able to cash in on their chances. Kekalainen did not add a forward in a trade or via free agency over the summer to provide some secondary offense. A couple, Stanley Cup winner Vladimir Tarasenko and former 40-goal scorer Patrik Laine, are still on the market.  

With Zucker back, the Sabres have to hope that their anemic power play will begin to produce, but more than that, they will need more than just Thompson and one or two others to begin hitting the back of the net.

Follow Michael on X, Instagram @MikeInBuffalo