NHL's Top Issues Facing the Buffalo Sabres: Ruff's Return, Thompson's Resurgence and Goaltending Tandem

 

Every team has their own unique topics of discussion that could affect both themselves, as well as the rest of the NHL. This new team-by-team series addresses those issues. 

We kicked off the series earlier this week by examining the Anaheim Ducks and Boston Bruins – and today, we’re asking three key questions for the Buffalo Sabres. (And all financial data in this series comes via THN’s new roster and salary cap site, THN Lineups.)

These are the main questions the Sabres have entering the 2024-25 regular season.

1. What will Lindy Ruff, Version 2.0 look like behind the Sabres’ bench?

Many eyebrows arched when Sabres GM Kevyn Adams brought back Ruff for a second tour of duty as Buffalo’s coach, especially so soon after the New Jersey Devils let him go last season. But sometimes, the devil you know (pardon the pun) is better than the devil you don’t, and now, Ruff takes the reins of a Sabres team that has somehow been less than the sum of its parts.

Adams used his cap space to (a) jettison longtime Sabres sniper Jeff Skinner via a buyout, (b) sign winger Jason Zucker to ostensibly replace Skinner’s offense at a $4-million discount from what Skinner was being paid, and (c) add some snarl in veteran forwards Sam Lafferty and Nicolas Aube-Kubel. 

That said, the newcomers are secondary parts, and it’s really Buffalo’s young talents that will determine if the Sabres shake off their 13-straight seasons without a playoff appearance. Ruff knows the market and its angst, and his experience will leave no excuses as to the Sabres being underwhelming once again. It’s playoffs-or-bust for this group, and Ruff has to steer them to the post-season or feel the wrath of Buffalo’s long-suffering fans.

2. Can Tage Thompson bounce back?

From the 2021-22 to the 2022-23 season, Thompson was a revelation for the Sabres, combining in those two seasons for 85 goals and 162 points. But last season, the 26-year-old didn’t do nearly as well, posting just 29 goals and 56 points in 71 games. Those aren’t terrible numbers, of course, but when you’re the team’s No. 1 forward, much more is expected. And Thompson needs to lead the way to take pressure off of Buffalo’s secondary point producers.

Thompson’s $7.14-million average annual salary was a huge bargain when he was thriving, but now he’s got to rebound and show the league he’s still got his prime seasons in front of him. Thompson and the Sabres can’t afford a mediocre season from him, and Sabres fans will let him hear it if he doesn’t revert to his form from a couple of seasons ago. If he can get back to scoring 40 or so goals and around 80 points, Thompson will once again be a fan favorite, and really, there’s no good reason he can’t do so.

3. Are Devon Levi and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen a good enough goaltending tandem?

Luukkonen just signed a five-year, $23.75-milliion contract extension this summer, cementing him as one of Buffalo’s two netminders. Adams brought in journeyman James Reimer as goaltending insurance, but in an ideal world for the Sabres, the 22-year-old Levi will step up and form a tandem with Luukkonen this season. Levi has only 30 games of NHL experience, and last season, in 23 appearances, his individual numbers (including a 3.10 goals-against average and .899 save percentage) were not where the team hoped they’d be.

Goalies tend to mature a little later than forwards or defensemen do, so Levi has a good deal of landing strip to try and establish himself as an NHL difference-maker. But Reimer’s presence is going to increase the pressure on Levi to either show immediate improvement or spend another year in the American League. His AHL numbers (.927 SP and 2.42 G.A.A.) were much better, but it’s now on Levi to demonstrate he’s an NHL talent. Either way, Levi will be in the spotlight in 2024-25, and he needs to improve in short order if he wants to remain on the NHL roster.