The 2018–19 Buffalo Sabres season was the 49th season for the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

franchise that was established on May 22, 1970. After experiencing a ten-game winning streak in November that put them atop the NHL standings, the Sabres regressed sharply the rest of the season and were officially eliminated from playoff contention on March 23, 2019, after suffering a 7–4 loss to the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal Canadiens (), officially ' ( Canadian Hockey Club) and colloquially known as the Habs, are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal. The Canadiens compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic D ...

, joining the 2016–17 Philadelphia Flyers as the only teams in NHL history to win 10 consecutive games and be eliminated from playoff contention. With the

Carolina Hurricanes The Carolina Hurricanes (colloquially known as the Canes) are a professional ice hockey team based in Raleigh, North Carolina. The Hurricanes compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Con ...

clinching a playoff berth in the 2019 Stanley Cup playoffs, the Sabres became the team with the longest active postseason appearance drought in the NHL at eight consecutive seasons, about 1.5 years after their football counterparts, the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

, ended what was the longest active postseason appearance drought in the NFL at 17 consecutive seasons. On April 7, 2019, the Sabres fired Phil Housley, who became the fifth head coach to be fired since the Pegulas bought the team from Tom Golisano in February 2011.

Standings

Schedule and results

Preseason

The preseason schedule was published on June 15, 2018.

Regular season

The regular season schedule was released on June 21, 2018.

Player statistics

As of April 6, 2019

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 2018–19 season.

Trades

Free agents

Waivers

Contract terminations

Retirement

Signings

Draft picks

Below are the Buffalo Sabres' selections at the 2018 NHL entry draft, which was held on June 22 and 23, 2018, at the

American Airlines Center The American Airlines Center (AAC) is a multi-purpose List of indoor arenas, indoor arena located in the Victory Park, Dallas, Victory Park neighborhood in downtown Dallas, Texas. The arena serves as the home of the Dallas Stars of the National ...

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

. Notes: # The

Minnesota Wild The Minnesota Wild are a professional ice hockey team based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The Wild compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Confer ...

's fourth-round pick went to the

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 (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Con ...

as the result of a trade on June 30, 2017 that sent Tyler Ennis, Marcus Foligno and a third-round pick to Minnesota in exchange for Jason Pominville, Marco Scandella and this pick.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2018-19 Buffalo Sabres Season Buffalo Sabres seasons

Buffalo Buffalo