2015–16 Buffalo Sabres season

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2015–16 Buffalo Sabres
Division 7th Atlantic
Conference 14th Eastern
2015–16 record 35–36–11
Home record 16–19–6
Road record 19–17–5
Goals for 201
Goals against 222
Team information
General Manager Tim Murray
Coach Dan Bylsma
Captain Brian Gionta
Alternate captains Tyler Ennis
Josh Gorges
Ryan O'Reilly
Arena First Niagara Center
Minor league affiliations Rochester Americans (AHL)
Team leaders
Goals Jack Eichel (24)
Assists Ryan O'Reilly (39)
Points Ryan O'Reilly (60)
Penalties in minutes Evander Kane (91)
Plus/minus (+): Jake McCabe (+6)
(–): Rasmus Ristolainen (–21)
Wins Chad Johnson (22)
Goals against average Chad Johnson (2.36)
<2014–15 2016–17>

The 2015–16 Buffalo Sabres season was the 46th season for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on May 22, 1970.[1] The season began its regular games on October 8, 2015 against the Ottawa Senators with a 3–1 loss.[2]

This was originally to be the final season in which Rick Jeanneret serves as the team's play-by-play announcer; he has been in that position since the team's second season in 1971. As in recent years, he will rotate with Dan Dunleavy in the position.[3] However, Jeanneret agreed to continue indefinitely as part-time announcer as long as his health allows it.[4]

Off-season

The Sabres fired head coach Ted Nolan on April 12, 2015, amid poor on-ice record and disagreements with general manager Tim Murray. The team then made overtures to Mike Babcock, the most prominent head coach on the free agent market; despite a record-setting offer, Babcock instead sought (and received) the head coaching position for the Sabres' division and regional rivals, the Toronto Maple Leafs. With the Sabres failing to land Babcock, the team's second choice, Dan Bylsma, was subsequently hired on May 28. Bylsma had spent the 2014-15 season out of professional hockey after spending the previous five seasons with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The Sabres held the second overall pick in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft after finishing last in the league in 2014-15 and losing the draft lottery to the Edmonton Oilers. The Sabres selected Jack Eichel with their pick.

The Sabres fired President Ted Black on July 27, 2015, and replaced him with Russ Brandon. Brandon also serves as President of the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League and will continue in that capacity in addition to his duties with the Sabres.

Training camp

As in previous years, the Sabres held a summer development camp from July 6–11, 2015. The highlight of the camp was the "blue and gold" scrimmage on July 10; the scrimmage, which pit a "gold" team led by 2015 second overall pick Jack Eichel against a "blue" team led by 2014 second overall pick Sam Reinhart, drew 17,115 paying fans, nearly double the crowd that attended the 2014 event.[5] An additional 1,500 fans attended the less-publicized 3-on-3 scrimmage, which closed out the camp on July 11.[6]

The Sabres did not participate in the Detroit Red Wings' annual prospect tournament in Traverse City, Michigan as they have in recent years and instead launched their own "Prospect Challenge" beginning this season. For the first year, the Sabres, New Jersey Devils and Boston Bruins prospects faced each other in a single round-robin mini-tournament.[7] Buffalo won both of their games and the tournament.[8]


Standings

Divisional standings

Atlantic Division
Pos Team GP W L OTL ROW GF GA GD Pts
1 y – Florida Panthers 82 47 26 9 40 239 203 +36 103
2 x – Tampa Bay Lightning 82 46 31 5 43 227 201 +26 97
3 x – Detroit Red Wings 82 41 30 11 39 211 224 −13 93
4 Boston Bruins 82 42 31 9 38 240 230 +10 93
5 Ottawa Senators 82 38 35 9 32 236 247 −11 85
6 Montreal Canadiens 82 38 38 6 33 221 236 −15 82
7 Buffalo Sabres 82 35 36 11 33 201 222 −21 81
8 Toronto Maple Leafs 82 29 42 11 23 198 246 −48 69
Source: National Hockey League
x – Clinched playoff spot; y – Clinched division.


Conference standings

Top 3 (Metropolitan Division)
Pos Team GP W L OTL ROW GF GA GD Pts
1 p – Washington Capitals 82 56 18 8 52 252 193 +59 120
2 x – Pittsburgh Penguins 82 48 26 8 44 245 203 +42 104
3 x – New York Rangers 82 46 27 9 43 236 217 +19 101
Source: National Hockey League
p – Clinched Presidents Trophy; x – Clinched playoff spot.
Top 3 (Atlantic Division)
Pos Team GP W L OTL ROW GF GA GD Pts
1 y – Florida Panthers 82 47 26 9 40 239 203 +36 103
2 x – Tampa Bay Lightning 82 46 31 5 43 227 201 +26 97
3 x – Detroit Red Wings 82 41 30 11 39 211 224 −13 93
Source: National Hockey League
x – Clinched playoff spot; y – Clinched division.
Eastern Conference Wild Card
Pos Div Team GP W L OTL ROW GF GA GD Pts
1 ME x – New York Islanders 82 45 27 10 40 232 216 +16 100
2 ME x – Philadelphia Flyers 82 41 27 14 38 214 218 −4 96
3 AT Boston Bruins 82 42 31 9 38 240 230 +10 93
4 ME Carolina Hurricanes 82 35 31 16 33 198 226 −28 86
5 AT Ottawa Senators 82 38 35 9 32 236 247 −11 85
6 ME New Jersey Devils 82 38 36 8 36 184 208 −24 84
7 AT Montreal Canadiens 82 38 38 6 33 221 236 −15 82
8 AT Buffalo Sabres 82 35 36 11 33 201 222 −21 81
9 ME Columbus Blue Jackets 82 34 40 8 28 219 252 −33 76
10 AT Toronto Maple Leafs 82 29 42 11 23 198 246 −48 69
Source: National Hockey League
x – Clinched playoff spot.

Schedule and results

Pre-season

Regular season

2015–16 Game Log[10]

Legend:       Win (2 points)       Loss (0 points)       Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)

Player stats

Final stats

Skaters

Goaltenders

Regular Season[12]
Player GP GS TOI W L OT GA GAA SA SV% SO G A PIM
Chad Johnson 45 40 2591:05 22 16 4 102 2.36 1270 .920 1 0 2 0
Robin Lehner 21 21 1164:05 5 9 5 48 2.47 634 .924 1 0 1 8
Linus Ullmark 20 20 1130:40 8 10 2 49 2.60 565 .913 0 0 0 0
Jason Kasdorf 1 1 60:00 0 1 0 4 4.00 30 .867 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.

Roster

Updated July 14, 2022[13][14]

# Nat Player Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace
41 United States Craig Anderson G L 42 2021 Park Ridge, Illinois
74 Sweden Rasmus Asplund C L 26 2016 Filipstad, Sweden
96 United States Anders Bjork LW L 27 2021 Mequon, Wisconsin
78 Canada Jacob Bryson D L 26 2017 London, Ontario
Canada Kale Clague D L 25 2022 Regina, Saskatchewan
Canada Eric Comrie G L 28 2022 Edmonton, Alberta
24 Canada Dylan Cozens C R 23 2019 Whitehorse, Yukon
26 Sweden Rasmus Dahlin D L 23 2018 Trollhattan, Sweden
Canada Jeremy Davies D L 27 2022 Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec
28 Latvia Zemgus Girgensons (A) C L 30 2012 Riga, Latvia
29 United States Vinnie Hinostroza RW R 29 2021 Melrose Park, Illinois
10 Finland Henri Jokiharju D R 24 2019 Oulu, Finland
Russia Ilya Lyubushkin D R 29 2022 Moscow, Russia
37 United States Casey Mittelstadt C L 25 2017 Eden Prairie, Minnesota
21 United States Kyle Okposo (A) RW R 35 2016 Saint Paul, Minnesota
71 Sweden Victor Olofsson LW L 28 2014 Ornskoldsvik, Sweden
25 Canada Owen Power D L 21 2021 Mississauga, Ontario
United States Chase Priskie D R 28 2022 Pembroke Pines, Florida
53 Canada Jeff Skinner LW L 31 2018 Markham, Ontario
47 Canada Malcolm Subban Injured Reserve G L 30 2021 Ontario, Canada
72 United States Tage Thompson C R 26 2018 Phoenix, Arizona
89 United States Alex Tuch RW R 27 2021 Syracuse, New York


Awards and honours

Awards

Milestones


Transactions

The Sabres have been involved in the following transactions during the 2015–16 season:

Trades

Date
Details
Ref
June 26, 2015 (2015-06-26) To Ottawa Senators
NYI's 1st-round pick in 2015
To Buffalo Sabres
Robin Lehner
David Legwand
[17]
June 26, 2015 (2015-06-26) To Colorado Avalanche
Nikita Zadorov
Mikhail Grigorenko
J. T. Compher
2nd-round pick in 2015
To Buffalo Sabres
Ryan O’Reilly
Jamie McGinn
[18]
February 23, 2016 (2016-02-23) To Washington Capitals
Mike Weber[Note 1]
To Buffalo Sabres
3rd-round pick in 2017
[19]
February 27, 2016 (2016-02-27) To Ottawa Senators
Philip Varone
Jason Akeson
Jerome Leduc
To Buffalo Sabres
Cole Schneider
Eric O'Dell
Alex Guptill
Michael Sdao
[20]
February 29, 2016 (2016-02-29) To Anaheim Ducks
Jamie McGinn
To Buffalo Sabres
conditional 3rd-round pick in 2016[Note 2]
[21]