2016–17 Buffalo Sabres season

2016–17 Buffalo Sabres
Division	8th Atlantic
Conference	15th Eastern
2016–17 record	33–37–12
Home record	20–15–6
Road record	13–22–6
Goals for	201
Goals against	237
Team information
General Manager	Tim Murray
Coach	Dan Bylsma
Captain	Brian Gionta
Alternate captains	Josh Gorges Ryan O'Reilly
Arena	KeyBank Center
Minor league affiliations	Rochester Americans (AHL) Elmira Jackals (ECHL)
Team leaders
Goals	Evander Kane (28)
Assists	Rasmus Ristolainen (39)
Points	Jack Eichel (57)
Penalties in minutes	Evander Kane (113)
Plus/minus	Taylor Fedun (+3)
Wins	Robin Lehner (23)
Goals against average	Anders Nilsson (2.67)
<2015–16	2017–18>

The 2016–17 Buffalo Sabres season was the 47th season for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on May 22, 1970. Buffalo missed the playoffs for the sixth consecutive season.

Off-season

The Sabres held their annual development camp during the second weekend of July. After the previous two seasons in which the Sabres held the tournament in the First Niagara Center, this edition was held at HarborCenter.

The Sabres reprised their hosting of a prospect tournament for 2016, after the success of the first event in 2015. The New Jersey Devils and Boston Bruins returned for the tournament, which ran September 16–19, partially opposite the 2016 World Cup of Hockey; in contrast to the previous season, the Sabres lost both prospect tournament games and finished in third place. The Sabres contributed three players to the World Cup: Jack Eichel for Team North America, Ryan O'Reilly for Canada, and Rasmus Ristolainen for Finland.

On July 16, 2016, the Sabres hired Tom Ward as an assistant coach. Ward had spent the previous 18 seasons as the head coach for the Minnesota High School boys prep team.

The Sabres also announced that the naming rights to their home arena will change. Due to First Niagara Financial Group, the arena's previous rights holder, being subsumed into KeyBank, the team's arena was renamed KeyBank Center for the 2016–17 season. The arena naming rights have passed through a succession of regional banks, having been known as First Niagara Center, HSBC Arena and Marine Midland Arena, through its 20-year history.

Standings

Divisional standings

Atlantic Division

Pos Team GP W L OTL ROW GF GA GD Pts 1 y – Montreal Canadiens 82 47 26 9 44 226 200 +26 103 2 x – Ottawa Senators 82 44 28 10 38 212 214 −2 98 3 x – Boston Bruins 82 44 31 7 42 234 212 +22 95 4 x – Toronto Maple Leafs 82 40 27 15 39 251 242 +9 95 5 Tampa Bay Lightning 82 42 30 10 38 234 227 +7 94 6 Florida Panthers 82 35 36 11 30 210 237 −27 81 7 Detroit Red Wings 82 33 36 13 24 207 244 −37 79 8 Buffalo Sabres 82 33 37 12 31 201 237 −36 78

Schedule and results

Pre-season

2016 Pre-season Game Log: 4–2–1 (Home: 2–2–0 ; Road: 2–0–1)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Recap
1	September 26	Minnesota	2–1	Buffalo		Ullmark	—	0–1–0	Recap
2	September 27	Ottawa	2–3	Buffalo	OT	Lehner	17,868	1–1–0	Recap
3	September 29	Buffalo	1–0	Toronto	SO	Nilsson	—	2–1–0	Recap
4	September 30	Toronto	8–1	Buffalo		Kasdorf	17,866	2-2-0	Recap
5	October 4	Carolina	0–2	Buffalo		Lehner	—	3–2–0	Recap
6	October 5	Buffalo	2–3	Carolina	SO	Ullmark	—	3–2–1	Recap
7	October 7	Buffalo	4–2	Ottawa		Lehner	14,216	4–2–1	Recap

Regular season

2016–17 Game Log
October: 3–3–2 (Home: 1–2–0 ; Road: 2–1–2) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 1 October 13 Montreal 4–1 Buffalo Lehner 19,070 0–1–0 0 Recap 2 October 16 Buffalo 6–2 Edmonton Lehner 18,347 1–1–0 2 Recap 3 October 18 Buffalo 3–4 Calgary OT Lehner 19,289 1–1–1 3 Recap 4 October 20 Buffalo 1–2 Vancouver Lehner 17,809 1–2–1 3 Recap 5 October 25 Buffalo 3–4 Philadelphia SO Nilsson 19,209 1–2–2 4 Recap 6 October 27 Minnesota 4–0 Buffalo Nilsson 18,122 1–3–2 4 Recap 7 October 29 Florida 0–3 Buffalo Nilsson 18,261 2–3–2 6 Recap 8 October 30 Buffalo 3–1 Winnipeg Lehner 15,294 3–3–2 8 Recap
November: 5–6–3 (Home: 2–2–3 ; Road: 3–4–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 9 November 1 Buffalo 2–1 Minnesota Lehner 18,864 4–3–2 10 Recap 10 November 3 Toronto 2–1 Buffalo Lehner 18,183 4–4–2 10 Recap 11 November 5 Buffalo 2–1 Ottawa Lehner 16,225 5–4–2 12 Recap 12 November 7 Buffalo 0–4 Boston Lehner 17,565 5–5–2 12 Recap 13 November 9 Ottawa 2–1 Buffalo SO Lehner 17,884 5–5–3 13 Recap 14 November 11 New Jersey 2–1 Buffalo OT Nilsson 18,301 5–5–4 14 Recap 15 November 12 Buffalo 2–4 New Jersey Lehner 16,514 5–6–4 14 Recap 16 November 15 Buffalo 1–4 St. Louis Lehner 16,884 5–7–4 14 Recap 17 November 17 Tampa Bay 4–1 Buffalo Lehner 17,870 5–8–4 14 Recap 18 November 19 Pittsburgh 1–2 Buffalo SO Nilsson 18,817 6–8–4 16 Recap 19 November 21 Calgary 2–4 Buffalo Lehner 17,526 7–8–4 18 Recap 20 November 23 Detroit 2–1 Buffalo SO Lehner 18,360 7–8–5 19 Recap 21 November 25 Buffalo 1–3 Washington Nilsson 18,506 7–9–5 19 Recap 22 November 29 Buffalo 5–4 Ottawa Nilsson 14,259 8–9–5 21 Recap
December: 5–6–3 (Home: 4–4–0 ; Road: 1–2–3) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 23 December 1 NY Rangers 3–4 Buffalo Nilsson 18,047 9–9–5 23 Recap 24 December 3 Boston 2–1 Buffalo Lehner 19,070 9–10–5 23 Recap 25 December 5 Buffalo 2–3 Washington OT Lehner 18,506 9–10–6 24 Recap 26 December 6 Edmonton 3–4 Buffalo OT Nilsson 18,149 10–10–6 26 Recap 27 December 9 Washington 4–1 Buffalo Lehner 18,234 10–11–6 26 Recap 28 December 13 Los Angeles 3–6 Buffalo Lehner 18,375 11–11–6 28 Recap 29 December 16 NY Islanders 2–3 Buffalo OT Lehner 18,903 12–11–6 30 Recap 30 December 17 Buffalo 1–2 Carolina SO Nilsson 11,682 12–11–7 31 Recap 31 December 20 Buffalo 3–4 Florida SO Lehner 14,265 12–11–8 32 Recap 32 December 22 Carolina 3–1 Buffalo Lehner 18,863 12–12–8 32 Recap 33 December 23 Buffalo 1–5 NY Islanders Nilsson 13,852 12–13–8 32 Recap 34 December 27 Buffalo 4–3 Detroit Lehner 20,027 13–13–8 34 Recap 35 December 29 Boston 4–2 Buffalo Lehner 19,070 13–14–8 34 Recap 36 December 31 Buffalo 1–3 Boston Lehner 17,565 13–15–8 34 Recap
January: 7–5–1 (Home: 4–0–0 ; Road: 3–5–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 37 January 3 Buffalo 4–1 NY Rangers Nilsson 18,006 14–15–8 36 Recap 38 January 5 Buffalo 3–4 Chicago OT Nilsson 21,824 14–15–9 37 Recap 39 January 7 Winnipeg 3–4 Buffalo Lehner 19,070 15–15–9 39 Recap 40 January 10 Philadelphia 1–4 Buffalo Nilsson 18,920 16–15–9 41 Recap 41 January 12 Buffalo 2–4 Tampa Bay Nilsson 19,092 16–16–9 41 Recap 42 January 13 Buffalo 2–5 Carolina Nilsson 11,992 16–17–9 41 Recap 43 January 16 Dallas 1–4 Buffalo Lehner 19,070 17–17–9 43 Recap 44 January 17 Buffalo 3–4 Toronto Nilsson 19,122 17–18–9 43 Recap 45 January 20 Detroit 2–3 Buffalo OT Nilsson 18,842 18–18–9 45 Recap 46 January 21 Buffalo 3–2 Montreal OT Lehner 21,288 19–18–9 47 Recap 47 January 24 Buffalo 5–4 Nashville OT Lehner 17,113 20–18–9 49 Recap 48 January 26 Buffalo 3–4 Dallas Nilsson 17,856 20–19–9 49 Recap January 27–29 All-Star Break in Los Angeles 49 January 31 Buffalo 2–5 Montreal Lehner 21,288 20–20–9 49 Recap
February: 6–6–2 (Home: 4–3–2 ; Road: 2–3–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 50 February 2 NY Rangers 2–1 Buffalo OT Lehner 18,941 20–20–10 50 Recap 51 February 4 Ottawa 0–4 Buffalo Lehner 19,070 21–20–10 52 Recap 52 February 6 Buffalo 1–2 New Jersey Lehner 12,105 21–21–10 52 Recap 53 February 7 San Jose 4–5 Buffalo OT Nilsson 18,462 22–21–10 54 Recap 54 February 9 Anaheim 5–2 Buffalo Lehner 18,027 22–22–10 54 Recap 55 February 11 Buffalo 3–1 Toronto Lehner 19,427 23–22–10 56 Recap 56 February 12 Vancouver 4–2 Buffalo Lehner 18,876 23–23–10 56 Recap 57 February 14 Buffalo 3–2 Ottawa Lehner 16,832 24–23–10 58 Recap 58 February 16 Colorado 0–2 Buffalo Lehner 18,335 25–23–10 60 Recap 59 February 18 St. Louis 2–3 Buffalo Lehner 19,070 26–23–10 62 Recap 60 February 19 Chicago 5–1 Buffalo Lehner 19,070 26–24–10 62 Recap 61 February 25 Buffalo 3–5 Colorado Lehner 15,362 26–25–10 62 Recap 62 February 26 Buffalo 2–3 Arizona Nilsson 13,432 26–26–10 62 Recap 63 February 28 Nashville 5–4 Buffalo OT Lehner 18,634 26–26–11 63 Recap
March: 6–7–1 (Home: 4–2–1 ; Road: 3–4–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 64 March 2 Arizona 3–6 Buffalo Lehner 18,116 27–26–11 65 Recap 65 March 4 Tampa Bay 2–1 Buffalo SO Lehner 18,935 27–26–12 66 Recap 66 March 5 Buffalo 3–4 Pittsburgh Nilsson 18,653 27–27–12 66 Recap 67 March 7 Philadelphia 6–3 Buffalo Lehner 18,233 27–28–12 66 Recap 68 March 10 Buffalo 3–4 Columbus Lehner 17,530 27–29–12 66 Recap 69 March 11 Columbus 3–5 Buffalo Nilsson 18,744 28–29–12 68 Recap 70 March 14 Buffalo 1–4 San Jose Lehner 17,386 28–30–12 68 Recap 71 March 16 Buffalo 0–2 Los Angeles Lehner 18,230 28–31–12 68 Recap 72 March 17 Buffalo 2–1 Anaheim SO Nilsson 14,556 29–31–12 70 Recap 73 March 20 Buffalo 2–1 Detroit Lehner 20,027 30–31–12 72 Recap 74 March 21 Pittsburgh 3–1 Buffalo Lehner 18,313 30–32–12 72 Recap 75 March 25 Toronto 2–5 Buffalo Lehner 19,070 31–32–12 74 Recap 76 March 27 Florida 2–4 Buffalo Lehner 18,564 32–32–12 76 Recap 77 March 28 Buffalo 1–3 Columbus Nilsson 14,533 32–33–12 76 Recap
April: 1–4–0 (Home: 1–2–0 ; Road: 0–2–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 78 April 2 NY Islanders 4–2 Buffalo Lehner 19,070 32–34–12 76 Recap 79 April 3 Toronto 4–2 Buffalo Lehner 18,829 32–35–12 76 Recap 80 April 5 Montreal 1–2 Buffalo Lehner 18,815 33–35–12 78 Recap 81 April 8 Buffalo 0–3 Florida Lehner 17,235 33–36–12 78 Recap 82 April 9 Buffalo 2–4 Tampa Bay Ullmark 19,092 33–37–12 78 Recap
Legend:       Win (2 points)       Loss (0 points)       Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)

Player stats

As of April 9, 2017

Skaters

Regular season

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/−	PIM
Jack Eichel	61	24	33	57	–13	22
Ryan O'Reilly	72	20	35	55	–1	10
Sam Reinhart	79	17	30	47	−11	8
Kyle Okposo	65	19	26	45	–7	24
Rasmus Ristolainen	79	6	39	45	−9	58
Evander Kane	70	28	15	43	–17	113
Brian Gionta	82	15	20	35	–11	22
Matt Moulson	81	14	18	32	–4	10
Marcus Foligno	80	13	10	23	–1	73
Jake McCabe	76	3	17	20	–7	26
Cody Franson	68	3	16	19	–5	34
Zemgus Girgensons	75	7	9	16	−7	18
Tyler Ennis	51	5	8	13	−10	12
Johan Larsson	36	6	5	11	−7	20
Zach Bogosian	56	2	9	11	−17	46
William Carrier	41	5	3	8	–1	21
Justin Falk	52	0	8	8	–3	29
Taylor Fedun	27	0	7	7	3	16
Evan Rodrigues	30	4	2	6	–7	4
Josh Gorges	66	1	5	6	–3	50
Dmitry Kulikov	47	2	3	5	−26	26
Nicholas Baptiste	14	3	1	4	1	6
Justin Bailey	32	2	2	4	0	4
Derek Grant‡†	40	0	3	3	−3	19
Nicolas Deslauriers	42	0	2	2	−6	38
Hudson Fasching	10	0	1	1	−1	2
Alexander Nylander	4	0	1	1	–2	0
Cal O'Reilly	11	0	1	1	−6	0
Cole Schneider	4	0	1	1	2	0
C. J. Smith	2	0	1	1	–1	0
Brady Austin	5	0	0	0	0	4
Erik Burgdoerfer	2	0	0	0	−1	0
Brendan Guhle	3	0	0	0	1	0
Sean Malone	1	0	0	0	0	0
Casey Nelson	11	0	0	0	−3	4

Goaltenders

Regular season

Player	GP	GS	TOI	W	L	OT	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO	G	A	PIM
Robin Lehner	59	58	3405:28	23	26	8	152	2.68	1,910	.920	2	0	1	6
Anders Nilsson	26	23	1484:15	10	10	4	66	2.67	857	.923	1	0	0	0
Linus Ullmark	1	1	58:44	0	1	0	3	3.05	36	.917	0	0	0	0

^†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining the Sabres. Stats reflect time with the Sabres only.
^‡Denotes player was traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with the Sabres only.
Bold/italics denotes franchise record.

Transactions

The Sabres have been involved in the following transactions during the 2016–17 season:

Trades

Date	Details		Ref
June 25, 2016 (2016-06-25)	To Florida Panthers Mark Pysyk 2nd-round pick in 2016 STL's 3rd-round pick in 2016	To Buffalo Sabres Dmitry Kulikov VAN's 2nd-round pick in 2016
July 2, 2016 (2016-07-02)	To St. Louis Blues 5th-round pick in 2017	To Buffalo Sabres Anders Nilsson
February 28, 2017 (2017-02-28)	To New York Rangers Daniel Catenacci	To Buffalo Sabres Mat Bodie

Notes

Free agents acquired

Date	Player	Former team	Contract terms (in U.S. dollars)	Ref
July 1, 2016	Kyle Okposo	New York Islanders	7 years, $42 million contract
July 1, 2016	Taylor Fedun	Utica Comets	1 year, $600,000 two-way contract
July 1, 2016	Justin Falk	Columbus Blue Jackets	1 year, $650,000, two-way contract
July 2, 2016	Derek Grant	Stockton Heat	1 year, $650,000, two-way contract
July 21, 2016	Erik Burgdoerfer	Hershey Bears	1 year, $575,000 two-way contract
March 30, 2017	C. J. Smith	UMass Lowell	2 years, $1.85 million entry-level contract
May 25, 2017	Victor Antipin	Metallurg Magnitogorsk	1 year, $1.775 million entry-level contract

Free agents lost

Date	Player	New team	Contract terms (in U.S. dollars)	Ref
July 1, 2016	Chad Johnson	Calgary Flames	1 year, $1.7 million
July 1, 2016	Chad Ruhwedel	Pittsburgh Penguins	1 year, $575,000
July 1, 2016	Tim Schaller	Boston Bruins	1 year, $600,000
July 19, 2016	Nathan Lieuwen	San Antonio Rampage	1 year, amount undisclosed

Claimed via waivers

Player	Previous team	Date claimed off waivers	Ref
Derek Grant	Nashville Predators	February 6, 2017

Lost via waivers

Player	New team	Date claimed off waivers	Ref
Derek Grant	Nashville Predators	January 11, 2017

Lost via retirement

Player	Ref
Matt Ellis

Players released

Date

Player

Via

Ref

Player signings

Date	Player	Contract terms (in U.S. dollars)	Ref
June 29, 2016 (2016-06-29)	Casey Nelson	2 years, $1.3 million
June 30, 2016 (2016-06-30)	Jake McCabe	3 years, $4.8 million
June 30, 2016 (2016-06-30)	Cole Schneider	1 year, $600,000
July 14, 2016 (2016-07-14)	Marcus Foligno	1 year, $2.25 million
July 15, 2016 (2016-07-15)	Alexander Nylander	3 years, entry-level contract
July 16, 2016 (2016-07-16)	Dan Catenacci	1 year, $575,000, two-way contract
July 17, 2016 (2016-07-17)	Jason Kasdorf	2 years, $1.15 million, two-way contract
September 1, 2016 (2016-09-01)	Zemgus Girgensons	1 year, $1.15 million
October 11, 2016 (2016-10-11)	Rasmus Ristolainen	6 years, $32.4 million
February 6, 2017 (2017-02-06)	Justin Falk	1 year, $650,000 contract extension
April 8, 2017 (2017-04-08)	Sean Malone	2 years, $1.85 million entry-level contract
April 26, 2017 (2017-04-26)	Devante Stephens	3 years, $2.3 million entry-level contract
May 31, 2017 (2017-05-31)	Jonas Johansson	3 years, $2.775 million entry-level contract
June 13, 2017 (2017-06-13)	Linus Ullmark	2 years, $1.5 million

Draft picks

See also: List of Buffalo Sabres draft picks

Below are the Buffalo Sabres' selections at the 2016 NHL Entry Draft, held on June 24–25, 2016 at the First Niagara Center in Buffalo, New York.

Round	#	Player	Pos	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team (League)
1	8	Alexander Nylander	LW	Sweden	Mississauga Steelheads (OHL)
2	33	Rasmus Asplund	C	Sweden	Farjestad BK (SHL)
3	69	Cliff Pu	C	Canada	London Knights (OHL)
3	86	Casey Fitzgerald	D	United States	Boston College Eagles (HE)
4	99	Brett Murray	LW	Canada	Carleton Place Canadians (CCHL)
5	129	Philip Nyberg	D	Sweden	Linköpings HC (SHL)
5	130	Vojtech Budik	D	Czech Republic	Prince Albert Raiders (WHL)
6	159	Brandon Hagel	LW	Canada	Red Deer Rebels (WHL)
7	189	Austin Osmanski	D	United States	Mississauga Steelheads (OHL)
7	190	Vasily Glotov	C	Russia	Lvy St. Petersburg (MHL)

Notes

• The Vancouver Canucks' second-round pick went to the Buffalo Sabres as the result of a trade on June 25, 2016 that sent Mark Pysyk, a second-round pick and St. Louis' third-round pick both in 2016 (38th and 89th overall) to Florida in exchange for Dmitry Kulikov and this pick.

Florida previously acquired this pick as the result of a trade on May 25, 2016 that sent Erik Gudbranson and the Islanders fifth-round pick in 2016 to Vancouver in exchange for Jared McCann, a fourth-round pick in 2016 and this pick.

• The Buffalo Sabres' second-round pick went to the Florida Panthers as the result of a trade on June 25, 2016 that sent Dmitri Kulikov and Vancouver's second-round pick in 2016 (33rd overall) to Buffalo in exchange for Mark Pysyk, St. Louis' third-round pick in 2016 (89th overall) and this pick.
• The Dallas Stars' third-round pick went to the Buffalo Sabres as the result of a trade on February 11, 2015 that sent Jhonas Enroth to Dallas in exchange for Anders Lindback and this pick (being conditional at the time of the trade). The condition – Buffalo will receive a third-round pick in 2016 if Enroth wins fewer than four playoff games for the Stars in 2015 – was converted on April 6, 2015 when the Stars were eliminated from playoff contention.
• The Montreal Canadiens' fifth-round pick will go to the Buffalo Sabres as the result of a trade on March 2, 2015 that sent Brian Flynn to Montreal in exchange for this pick.
• The Montreal Canadiens' seventh-round pick went to the Buffalo Sabres as the result of a trade on March 2, 2015 that sent Torrey Mitchell to Montreal in exchange for Jack Nevins and this pick.

References