{"id":404155,"date":"2026-01-12T22:59:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T22:59:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/404155\/"},"modified":"2026-01-12T22:59:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T22:59:13","slug":"buffalo-sabres-week-ahead-schedule-storylines-doan-tuch-2026-draft-and-more-the-hockey-writers-buffalo-sabres","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/404155\/","title":{"rendered":"Buffalo Sabres Week Ahead: Schedule & Storylines – Doan, Tuch, 2026 Draft and More – The Hockey Writers – Buffalo Sabres"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Buffalo Sabres are currently in the midst of a hot streak as they enter the week of Jan. 12-19, 2026. Sitting in a playoff position with a 24-15-4 record<\/a>, the team has won 13 of its last 14 games and has turned KeyBank Center into a fortress, winning six straight<\/a> on home ice.<\/p>\n

Historic \u201cHeater\u201d & Playoff Push<\/p>\n

The Sabres are arguably the hottest team in the NHL right now. They have won 13 of their last 14 games, a feat the franchise has never accomplished in such a condensed stretch before. This surge has vaulted them into the first Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference (and 4th in the Atlantic Division with 52 points), creating a raucous atmosphere at home that players like Josh Doan<\/a> and head coach Lindy Ruff have publicly praised.<\/p>\n

The Emergence of Josh Doan<\/p>\n

Acquired to fill the void left by the summer trade of JJ Peterka, Josh Doan has been a revelation<\/a>. He has 30 points (14 goals, 16 assists) in 43 games. His breakout performance is providing critical secondary scoring behind Tage Thompson (41 points).<\/p>\n

Alex Tuch\u2019s Contract Situation<\/p>\n

Despite the team\u2019s success, the future of star winger Alex Tuch remains a major talking point. Tuch is a pending Unrestricted Free Agent (UFA), and rumors persist that the NY Rangers are monitoring him closely. However, with the Sabres firmly in the playoff mix, he is increasingly viewed as an \u201cown rental\u201d rather than a trade chip, though the front office is reportedly using Doan\u2019s emergence as leverage<\/a> in contract talks.<\/p>\n

Hosting the 2026 Draft<\/p>\n

Reports confirmed by insiders (including Elliotte Friedman) indicate that it is a \u201cdone deal\u201d that Buffalo will host the 2026 NHL Draft<\/a>. An official announcement is expected soon, marking the draft\u2019s return to Buffalo for the first time since 2016.<\/p>\n

Sabres Schedule Jan 12 \u2013 19<\/p>\n

DateOpponentTime (ET)VenueBroadcastMon, Jan 12Florida Panthers7:00 PMKeyBank CenterESPN+, MSG-BWed, Jan 14Philadelphia Flyers7:30 PMKeyBank CenterMSG-BThu, Jan 15Montreal Canadiens7:00 PMKeyBank CenterMSG-BSat, Jan 17Minnesota Wild12:30 PMKeyBank CenterMSG-B, FDSNWI<\/p>\n

AI tools were used to support the creation or distribution of this content, however, it has been carefully edited and fact-checked by a member of The Hockey Writers editorial team. For more information on our use of AI, please visit our Editorial Standards<\/a> page.<\/p>\n

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<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Buffalo Sabres are currently in the midst of a hot streak as they enter the week of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":252358,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5100],"tags":[14711,6452,1107,229,5133,5,3663,4,1108],"class_list":{"0":"post-404155","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-buffalo-sabres","8":"tag-2026-nhl-entry-draft","9":"tag-alex-tuch","10":"tag-buffalo","11":"tag-buffalo-sabres","12":"tag-buffalosabres","13":"tag-hockey","14":"tag-josh-doan","15":"tag-nhl","16":"tag-sabres"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/115884612927142014","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404155","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=404155"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404155\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/252358"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=404155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=404155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=404155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}