Breaking down the Buffalo Sabers 2024 preseason schedule

While the NHL Draft and free agency are hot topics, the 2024 preseason schedule can sometimes take a back seat. But there’s nothing more exciting than seeing a player on the verge of making it to the NHL prove his worth early in the season.

Last year, Zach Benson made waves and ended up landing a spot on the Sabres’ roster when many of us thought he would come back and dominate in junior. Maybe his former teammate, Matt Savoie, will join him with the big club this season, or maybe Isak Rosen or Jiri Kulich will get the nod?

Maybe none of them will, as the Sabres’ offseason moves might leave no roster spots when September rolls around. But even then, we’ll all be eager to see the Blue and Gold’s latest additions in action. So let’s take a look at who they’ll be playing in the preseason and when, and break down what you can expect from each opponent.

The Sabres’ preseason begins on September 21 against the Pittsburgh Penguins, and they are a team with one likely goal in mind: finding a way to become serious contenders so that Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang and company can lift the Stanley Cup. at least one more time. We will see if there will be a new Penguins team heading to Buffalo on September 21st or if they will be playing their part and AHL caliber players; there’s still a chance we’ll see them when the Sabers travel to Pittsburgh on September 24.

Buffalo will also face the Columbus Blue Jackets twice, a team that will have a new general manager and bench boss. Columbus is currently one of the most poorly maintained franchises in hockey, so we’ll be looking at a team that will try to become relevant again on September 23-28.

The Sabers also face two division opponents, starting with a road game on September 26 against the Ottawa Senators. Ottawa also has a new boss on the bench, Travis Green, who got the job after a short stint as head coach of the New Jersey Devils.

Buffalo will finish the preseason on September 30 against the Detroit Red Wings, who played them too well last season. We’ll see if Steve Yzerman makes any more additions to what was a borderline playoff group last year and if those potential additions are a good fit for the preseason finale. For the 2024 preseason, each of the Sabres’ six games will start at 7 p.m.