Over the summer, the Buffalo Sabres made relatively few moves but saw several players leave, either through trades or free agency departures. Now, at roughly the halfway point of the season, it is worth taking a look at some of the players who left and how they are doing on their new teams.

JJ Peterka

The most notable move was the Sabres trading JJ Peterka to the Utah Mammoth for Josh Doan and Michael Kesselring. Unfortunately, Kesselring has struggled with injuries and hasn’t really made the impact many expected.

The good news though is that Josh Doan has been better than expected and been one of the Sabres’ best players this season with 24 points. The impressive part is that Doan has almost matched Peterka’s production with Utah this season as he has 14 goals and 13 assists in 39 games.

When comparing the two players in terms of points per game, Doan is actually slightly behind Peterka at 0.67 points per game who is at 0.69 points per game. If Kesselring is able to stay healthy and produce with Doan remaining at his level of production, this is a trade the Sabres could easily win.

Jacob Bernard-Docker

Jacob Bernard-Docker’s time with the Buffalo Sabres was short-lived as he played only 15 games with the team last season. He joined Buffalo alongside Josh Norris as part of the Dylan Cozens’ trade with the Ottawa Senators at the trade deadline.

He would leave in free agency and signed with the Detroit Red Wings. The defenseman has apepared in 22 games with an average ice time of 14:09 and only one assist on the season. The former Sabres’ defenseman has struggled to stay in the lineup with the Red Wings and the team seemed to be right in letting him walk this summer.

Connor Clifton

Connor Clifton spent two seasons with the Buffalo Sabres after he signed a three-year deal prior to the 2023-24 season. He played in 152 games over that stretch but the Sabres decided it was time for a change on their blue line and he would be traded to the Penguins this past summer.

Similar to Bernard-Docker, Clifton has struggled to stay in the lineup for the Penguins and has appeared in only 15 games so far. He hasn’t been very productive when he has been on the ice as he has a +/- of -3 and is still searching for his first point of the season.

So far this season, the decision to move on from Clifton, along with Bernard-Docker, has seemingly been the right decision by former general manager Kevyn Adams.

Sam Lafferty

The Sabres signed Lafferty as a free agent before the 2024-25 season to a two-year deal. Unfortunately, he struggled to produce for the Sabres and he had only four goals and three assists in 60 games with the team.

After the season, the Sabres decided it was time to move on and he would be trade to the Chicago Blackhawks. He has a limited role in Chicago as he has played in only 15 games with an average of only 8:39 of ice time with only one goal on the season. Although that one goal might be one of the best goals of the season.

a Sam Lafferty Chicago Blackhawks goal🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️ pic.twitter.com/znI5CunJQ3

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) November 13, 2025

The Sabres fourth line this season has been significantly improved over the prior season and the departure of Lafferty helped open the door for players like Beck Malenstyn, Josh Dunne, and Tyson Kozak to get more ice time.