The 2016–17

Buffalo Sabres The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team was established in 1970, along w ...

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

was the 47th season for the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

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 LECOM Harborcenter is an American mixed-use development in Buffalo, New York developed by Pegula Sports and Entertainment. The building occupies a full 1.7 acre city block formerly known as the Webster Block, directly across from and connected ...

. The Sabres reprised their hosting of a prospect tournament for 2016, after the success of the first event in 2015. The

New Jersey Devils The New Jersey Devils are a professional sports, professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey. The Devils compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern ...

and

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making t ...

returned for the tournament, which ran September 16–19, partially opposite the

2016 World Cup of Hockey The 2016 World Cup of Hockey (abbreviated WCH2016) was an international ice hockey tournament. It was the third installment of the National Hockey League (NHL)-sanctioned competition, 12 years after the second World Cup of Hockey in 2004. It was ...

; 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 John Robert Eichel (born October 28, 1996) is an American professional ice hockey center for the Vegas Golden Knights of the National Hockey League (NHL). Eichel was selected second overall in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft by the Buffalo Sabres. Befo ...

for

Team North America The term Team North America is used in a number of sports to designate a unified team of North American countries in several sports competitions and sports tournaments. Competitions featuring a North American team :''Note that in the above spo ...

Ryan O'Reilly Ryan O'Reilly (born February 7, 1991) is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre and captain of the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League (NHL). He has previously played for the Colorado Avalanche and Buffalo Sabres. O'Reilly was dra ...

for Canada, and

Rasmus Ristolainen Rasmus Ristolainen (born 27 October 1994) is a Finnish professional ice hockey defenceman for the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected eighth overall by the Buffalo Sabres in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft. Playing ...

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 Naming rights are a financial transaction and form of advertising or memorialization whereby a corporation, person, or other entity purchases the right to name a facility, object, location, program, or event, typically for a defined period of t ...

to their home arena will change. Due to

First Niagara Financial Group First Niagara Bank was a Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation-insured regional banking corporation headquartered in Buffalo, New York. Its parent company, First Niagara Financial Group, Inc. was the 44th-largest bank in the United States with a ...

, the arena's previous rights holder, being subsumed into

KeyBank KeyBank, the primary subsidiary of KeyCorp, is a regional bank headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, and is the only major bank based in Cleveland. KeyBank is one of the largest banks in the United States. Key's customer base spans retail, small b ...

, the team's arena was renamed

KeyBank Center KeyBank Center is a multipurpose indoor arena located in Buffalo, New York. Originally known as Marine Midland Arena, the venue has since been named HSBC Arena and First Niagara Center. Home to the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey Leagu ...

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 HSBC Holdings plc is a British multinational universal bank and financial services holding company. It is the largest bank in Europe by total assets ahead of BNP Paribas, with US$2.953 trillion as of December 2021. In 2021, HSBC had $10.8 tri ...

Arena and

Marine Midland Marine Midland Bank was an American bank formerly headquartered in Buffalo, New York, with several hundred branches throughout the state of New York. In 1998, branches extended to Pennsylvania. It was acquired by HSBC in 1980, and changed its ...

Arena, through its 20-year history.

Standings

Schedule and results

Pre-season

Regular season

Player stats

As of April 9, 2017

Skaters

Goaltenders

^†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

;Notes

Free agents acquired

Free agents lost

Claimed via waivers

Lost via waivers

Lost via retirement

Players released

Player signings

Draft picks

Below are the Buffalo Sabres' selections at the

2016 NHL Entry Draft The 2016 NHL Entry Draft was the 54th NHL Entry Draft. The draft was held on June 24–25, 2016 at the First Niagara Center in Buffalo, New York. The first three selections were Auston Matthews going to the Toronto Maple Leafs, Patrik Laine go ...

, held on June 24–25, 2016 at the

First Niagara Center KeyBank Center is a multipurpose indoor arena located in Buffalo, New York. Originally known as Marine Midland Arena, the venue has since been named HSBC Arena and First Niagara Center. Home to the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League ...

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

. ;Notes * The

Vancouver Canucks The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference, and play their home games at Rogers Arena. Bruce B ...

' second-round pick went to the

as the result of a trade on June 25, 2016 that sent

Mark Pysyk Mark Alexander Terrance Pysyk (born January 11, 1992) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman and forward for the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League (NHL). Pysyk was originally selected in the first round, 23rd overall, i ...

, 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 Erik Donald Stanley Gudbranson (born January 7, 1992) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenseman who is currently playing under contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected third overall by t ...

and the Islanders fifth-round pick in 2016 to Vancouver in exchange for

Jared McCann Jared McCann (born May 31, 1996) is a Canadian professional ice hockey forward currently playing for the Seattle Kraken of the National Hockey League (NHL). McCann was selected by the Vancouver Canucks in the first round (24th overall) of the 2 ...

, a fourth-round pick in 2016 and this pick. * The

' second-round pick went to the

Florida Panthers The Florida Panthers are a professional ice hockey team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern ...

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

, St. Louis' third-round pick in 2016 (89th overall) and this pick. * The

Dallas Stars The Dallas Stars are a professional ice hockey team based in Dallas. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference, and were founde ...

' third-round pick went to the

as the result of a trade on February 11, 2015 that sent

Jhonas Enroth Jhonas Erik Enroth (born 25 June 1988), a Swedish professional ice hockey goaltender, who is currently playing with Örebro HK of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). He played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Buffalo Sabres, Dallas Stars ...

to Dallas in exchange for

Anders Lindback Anders is a male name in Scandinavian languages and Fering North Frisian, an equivalent of the Greek Andreas ("manly") and the English Andrew. It originated from Andres via metathesis. In Sweden, Anders has been one of the most common names fo ...

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 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

– was converted on April 6, 2015 when the Stars were eliminated from playoff contention. * The

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...

' fifth-round pick will go to the

as the result of a trade on March 2, 2015 that sent

Brian Flynn Brian Flynn may refer to: * Brian Flynn (footballer) (born 1955), Welsh football manager * Brian Flynn (baseball) (born 1990), American baseball player * Brian Flynn (cricketer) (1929-1986), Australian cricketer * Brian Flynn (ice hockey) Brian ...

to Montreal in exchange for this pick. * The

' seventh-round pick went to the

as the result of a trade on March 2, 2015 that sent

Torrey Mitchell Torrey Charles Mitchell (born January 30, 1985) is a former Canadian professional ice hockey centerman. He spent 12 years playing professional hockey with the San Jose Sharks, the Minnesota Wild, the Buffalo Sabres, the Montreal Canadiens and th ...

to Montreal in exchange for Jack Nevins and this pick.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2016-17 Buffalo Sabres Season Buffalo Sabres seasons

Buffalo Buffalo