BUFFALO, N.Y. — Typically, a quarter of the NHL schedule is enough to get a decent idea about the identity and quality of any given team.

But the Buffalo Sabres’ 2025-26 season has been a bit more confusing than that. For starters, the team has been dealing with injuries since the start of training camp and still isn’t at full health. The Sabres are top five in the NHL in man games lost, according to NHL Injury Viz, which is significant considering that injuries are up around the NHL this season.

Five of the team’s top nine forwards at the start of training camp have missed significant time due to injuries, and three of those players (Josh Norris, Jiri Kulich and Justin Danforth) are still out. Michael Kesselring, a major offseason acquisition, has played just nine games because of two separate injuries. And Rasmus Dahlin missed three games due to a weeklong leave of absence.

Given all of that, it makes sense that the Sabres’ start has been as confusing as it has been. Just last week, they lost 6-2 to the last-place Flames and then bounced back with a 9-3 win over the Blackhawks and a 4-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes, one of the best teams in the NHL. They have a .500 points percentage through 22 games and have managed to hang around on the fringe of the postseason picture.

With a quarter of the season in the books, it’s a good time to take stock of what we’re seeing from this team heading into a pivotal stretch of games.

1. Josh Norris is getting closer to a return. At practice on Tuesday, he skated on a line with Zach Benson and Noah Östlund. He also rotated with Benson on Buffalo’s first power-play unit. Lindy Ruff said Norris will not play when the Sabres visit the Penguins on Wednesday, but he has a chance to play this weekend.

The Sabres have a 4 p.m. home game against the Devils on Friday before traveling to Minnesota for a Saturday night game against the Wild. They return home to play the Jets on Monday. Norris got injured in the first game of the season, and his absence dramatically alters the team’s lineup construction. Here are the lines the Sabres had at practice on Tuesday.

Josh Doan – Tage Thompson – Alex Tuch
Zach Benson – Josh Norris – Noah Östlund
Jason Zucker – Ryan McLeod – Jack Quinn
Peyton Krebs – Tyson Kozak – Beck Malenstyn

That’s a forward group that could work. Norris had some chemistry with Benson during the preseason, and Östlund has the skating and hockey IQ to keep up with those players. Norris is mostly just eager to get back to playing and said, “I’m not picky who I play with. I’ll play with whoever.”

When Norris is healthy, he has the potential to be Buffalo’s most complete forward. He’s one of the team’s fastest skaters and has the shooting touch that helped him score 35 goals as a 22-year-old in 2021-22. If the Sabres are going to make a push up the standings, a healthy Norris will be a key part of that.

2. Beck Malenstyn is 15th in the NHL in hits with 70. And among players with at least 200 minutes of total ice time, Malenstyn is seventh in the league in hits per 60. Those numbers won’t surprise anyone who has watched the Sabres play this season.

Malenstyn isn’t just the Sabres’ most consistently physical player; he also might be their fastest skater. According to NHL Edge tracking data, Malenstyn’s top speed of 23.84 is the fastest among Sabres skaters this season and tied for fourth fastest in the NHL this season. He happens to have two of the three fastest skating bursts on the team, with Tyson Kozak owning the other. That’s part of what makes him an ace on Buffalo’s penalty kill, which leads the league right now. This is only his third full NHL season, and he seems to be finding his identity.

3. Speaking of shot blocking, the Sabres have three of the top 20 players in shots blocked per 60 minutes of ice time. Conor Timmins is 10th, Mattias Samuelsson is 14th and Malenstyn is 19th. As a team, the Sabres are second in the NHL in blocked shots per 60, trailing only the Boston Bruins.

Of course, part of this can be attributed to other teams getting a lot of shots off against them, which isn’t necessarily a good sign. The Sabres are allowing the most shot attempts per game at all strengths, the second most shot attempts at five-on-five and the fourth most unblocked shot attempts per game at five-on-five.

But the willingness to block shots still stands out because the team finished last season 25th in the NHL in shot blocks per game despite allowing the 16th most shot attempts per game. Considering the Sabres’ goaltending has been up and down this season, the ability to block shots can make the difference in some games. Sustaining a trend like this one isn’t easy over the course of a season, but it could be the type of win on the margins that makes a difference.

Josh Doan has been getting an opportunity to play higher in Buffalo’s lineup. (James Guillory / Imagn Images)

4. Josh Doan leads the NHL in takeaways per 60 minutes at all strengths this season. When the Sabres acquired him, Greg Powers, his coach at Arizona State, told me, “Can’t get the puck from him once he has it, and he’s so good at getting it back. He has the best stick of anybody I’ve ever coached for sure.”

That’s showing up now that Doan is getting an increased opportunity. He has 15 points in 22 games and has already matched his career high in goals with seven. JJ Peterka, who went the other way in that trade, has 16 points in 22 games for Utah. But what Doan brings defensively and on the forecheck is what sets him apart. His 59.32 percent expected goal share at five-on-five is the best on the Sabres through 22 games by a decent margin.

Lately, Doan has been playing left wing on the top line with Thompson and Tuch, and he fits right in. He looks like a promising building block for this team. I’d be pushing to get him signed as soon as possible, because his price is probably only going up.

5. Timmins, Samuelsson, Kozak and Benson are the Sabres who have faced the toughest quality of offensive players on average this season, according to Hockey Stat Cards. That’s a hint about which players Ruff trusts the most. The emergence of Timmins and Samuelsson has been one of the early stories of the season.

Samuelsson, in particular, has been arguably the team’s MVP to this point. He’s played in 20 of 22 games and has a 55 percent on-ice expected goal share at five-on-five. He also has the team’s highest average game score, according to Hockey Stat Cards. That he’s doing it against the toughest competition and while playing a big role on Buffalo’s league-leading penalty kill adds to his impressive start. It doesn’t hurt that he’s already chipped in a career-high five goals, too.