The Buffalo Sabres are set to try and build on their mostly-excellent 2025-26 season, in which they won the highly-competitive Atlantic Division in the regular-season, beat the Boston Bruins in Round 1 of their Stanley Cup playoff series before losing to the Montreal Canadiens in the second round..
And here at TheHockeyNews.com, we’re breaking down the Sabres’ Eastern Conference opponents in an online series we call “Know Your Enemy”. In this series, we’re breaking down how Buffalo played against every East team, and how they’re likely to fare against each team in the East this season. And in this file, we’re focusing on the Philadelphia Flyers.
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The Flyers are still in the midst of a full roster rebuild, but they took a major step forward last season by finishing third in the Metropolitan Division and winning their first-round playoff series against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Here’s this columnist’s view on how the Sabres should fare against the Flyers this season:
NEW FLYERS PLAYERS: Joseph Woll (G), Noel Acciari (RW), Simon Benoit (D)
2025-26 SERIES: Sabres 2-1-0, Flyers 1-2-0
2026-27 GAMES AGAINST EACH OTHER: October 21 at Buffalo; November 17 at Philadelphia; February 24 at Philadelphia
CAN THE SABRES BEAT THIS TEAM? There’s always been a healthy level of dislike between the Sabres and Flyers, but last season, Buffalo took two out of three games against Philadelphia, and there’s really no reason why the Sabres should lose the season series to Philly this season.
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Now, it’s true the Flyers have improved this summer with the addition of goalie Woll from the Toronto Maple Leafs. If Woll is healthy – and that’s a very big ‘if’ – he can give his team a chance to win every night. But the Woll/Dan Vladar tandem won’t be regarded as one of the better duos in the game until both of them prove they can handle the rigors, mentally and physically, on a consistent basis.
The other thing the Flyers have going for them is the coaching of Rick Tocchet, who always finds ways to motivate his charges. And he’s also got a nice veteran addition in Acciari, who is a solid complementary piece and will make Philadelphia tougher to play against.
But make no mistake – this Flyers team is still transitioning to a new era, and they’re the kind of young, unproven team the Sabres had been until they took that next competitive step forward in 2025-26. So while Buffalo is going to have its hands full in their three regular-season games, the Sabres absolutely should take at least two of their three games against Philly this season.
The Sabres could wind up playing the Flyers in the playoffs next spring, so sending a message and setting the tone in their two early-season games will be important for Buffalo. Both teams could be significantly different between their second showdown in November and their final tilt in February, but to start the season, the Sabres need to hunker down and show the Flyers how far they have to go before they’re on the same level as Buffalo.
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