Bowen Byram and Rasmus Dahlin: The Sabers have all the makings of a talented blue line for years to come. The key talents are Byram, who they acquired from the Colorado Avalanche at the 2024 NHL trade deadline for Casey Mittelstadt, and Dahlin. Byram and Dahlin have had their ups and downs since the trade, but Byram is a long-term decision. Not only is he a talented defenseman offensively, but he’s a player who knows what it takes to win – having won the Stanley Cup with the Avalanche in 2022 – and that’s something the Sabers need in their changing room.
Young talent: There are certainly questions in Buffalo, especially in a season that was expected to finally end the team’s playoff drought, but there is no doubt that the Sabers are among the teams with the best collection of young talent in the NHL. Between defenders Dahlin, 23, Mattias Samuelsson, 24, and Owen Power, 21, forwards Jack Quinn, 22, JJ Peterka, 22, and Zach Benson, 18, and goalkeepers Devon Levi, 22 and Luukkonen, along with the talent assembled at the American Hockey League level, this team should be a powerhouse in the making. This may require a little more patience from Sabers fans, who have had to be patient for a long time.
