The Buffalo Sabres are facing a massive amount of pressure to end their 14-year Stanley Cup playoff drought next season. But if they're to do so, they're going to need to win the majority of series they play against every NHL team. And that includes taking on top-tier teams like the Central Division-champion Winnipeg Jets.
The Jets were the NHL's best regular-season team last year, and Winnipeg won their first playoff round before falling to the Dallas Stars in Round 2. But how will the Jets do against the Sabres next season? Read on below, and you'll find out THN.com's best guess to answer that question as we continue our "Know Your Enemy" series.
BUFFALO SABRES VS. WINNIPEG JETS
NEW JETS PLAYERS: Jonathan Toews, C; Gustav Nyquist, LW; Tanner Pearson, LW; Cole Koepke, LW
2024-25 SERIES: Sabres 1-0-1, Jets 1-1-0
2025-26 GAMES AGAINST EACH OTHER: December 1 at Buffalo; December 5 at Winnipeg
CAN THE SABRES BEAT THIS TEAM? The Jets made a significant number of additions this summer — most notably, signing former Chicago Blackhawks superstar center Jonathan Toews. Granted, Toews is now 37 years old and hasn't played hockey since 2022-23, but if he can come in and give Winnipeg solid minutes as their second-line center, the Jets are going to be extremely difficult to beat for any team, the Sabres included.
That said, Winnipeg showed they weren't a perfect team in the second round against Dallas, and it was easy to see why. For one thing, star goalie Connor Hellebuyck posted sub-par playoff statistics for the third straight season, posting an .866 save percentage last spring. And the Jets' special teams were also a significant letdown.
Thus, Buffalo needs to be pushing the envelope in Winnipeg's defensive zone — and the Sabres also need to strike the Jets repeatedly in the span of four days at the start of December. Playing Winnipeg twice in that span — with another game against the Philadelphia Flyers in-between those two games — is going to be rather taxing on the Sabres. But the way they respond will help dictate where Buffalo winds up in the Atlantic Division standings next season.
Certainly, splitting their two games last season — with the Sabres avoiding losing in regulation-time in their one overtime loss to the Jets — has to make Buffalo feel confident they can hang with Winnipeg. But in addition to Toews, the Jets have also added veterans in greybeard winger Gustav Nyquist and depth scorer Tanner Pearson. And although losing departed winger Nikolaj Ehlers on the free-agent market will hurt the Jets' offensive potency, replacing his offense with the contributions of Toews, Nyquist and Pearson will soften the blow.
Getting their games with Winnipeg out of the way early next year is probably in Buffalo's best interest. Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff currently has $3.9-million in salary cap space to improve his roster with, but it's not likely that he spends to the cap ceiling until later in the season, when he can address issues that arise during the year.
The good news for the Sabres in this rivalry is that it's not probable that they see Hellebuyck in both regular-season games. Instead, Buffalo may get backup netminder Eric Comrie for one of the games, and Comrie's individual numbers — including a .914 SP and 2.39 goals-against average — make him a bit more human than Hellebuyck looks to be, at least, in the regular-season.
In any case, beating the Jets twice may be too much of an ask for Buffalo, as is the case for any other team. But doing what the Sabres did last year against Winnipeg — winning one game, and getting the "loser point" in the other game — is not asking too much of Buffalo. The Jets are a very good team that looks to have improved this summer, but the Sabres also are a different team, and one that should be coming out of the gate with a sense of urgency that may not be there for Winnipeg early on.
If the Sabres are able to hang with the Jets in their two games next season, it could be an indication Buffalo is going to silence their doubters and play post-season hockey after a stretch of failure that has stunned even the Sabres' most fervent supporters. Buffalo has a chance to send a blunt message to Winnipeg by beating them more than once, and doing so could prove to be the difference between the Sabres making or missing the playoffs.
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