2014–15 Buffalo Sabres season
The 2014–15 Buffalo Sabres season was the 45th season for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on May 22, 1970. The team finished last place overall in the league with 54 points and did not qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Off-season
Summer sessions
The Sabres held their annual Summer Development Camp for the team's prospects and young players from July 14–18, 2014. The highlight of the camp was the annual Blue-White Game, held on July 15, which drew a crowd of over 8,000 spectators to the First Niagara Center.The Sabres also sent a team to the Traverse City Prospects Tournament in September.
Training camp
The Sabres played in six pre-season exhibition games before the start of the 2014–15 regular season.Standings
Suspensions/fines
Schedule and results
Pre-season
Regular season
Player stats
Final stats;Skaters
| Player | ||||||
| 78 | 20 | 26 | 46 | −19 | 37 | |
| 77 | 13 | 28 | 41 | −11 | 4 | |
| 69 | 13 | 22 | 35 | −13 | 18 | |
| 61 | 15 | 15 | 30 | −16 | 25 | |
| ‡ | 61 | 11 | 14 | 25 | −30 | 63 |
| ‡ | 50 | 9 | 15 | 24 | −18 | 39 |
| 57 | 8 | 12 | 20 | −5 | 50 | |
| 78 | 8 | 12 | 20 | −32 | 26 | |
| ‡ | 54 | 5 | 12 | 17 | −3 | 8 |
| 39 | 6 | 10 | 16 | 0 | 12 | |
| 82 | 5 | 10 | 15 | −24 | 71 | |
| 60 | 3 | 12 | 15 | −10 | 51 | |
| 60 | 7 | 7 | 14 | −13 | 36 | |
| 78 | 6 | 7 | 13 | −28 | 12 | |
| ‡ | 51 | 6 | 7 | 13 | −6 | 26 |
| ‡ | 47 | 4 | 9 | 13 | −15 | 61 |
| 59 | 1 | 8 | 9 | −19 | 20 | |
| 64 | 1 | 6 | 7 | −22 | 68 | |
| † | 21 | 0 | 7 | 7 | −7 | 38 |
| 25 | 3 | 3 | 6 | −10 | 2 | |
| 46 | 0 | 6 | 6 | −28 | 16 | |
| 28 | 3 | 2 | 5 | −14 | 10 | |
| 46 | 0 | 5 | 5 | −30 | 44 | |
| 33 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −9 | 40 | |
| 7 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 | |
| 21 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −11 | 4 | |
| 42 | 0 | 3 | 3 | −11 | 36 | |
| 39 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −12 | 4 | |
| 18 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −5 | 2 | |
| 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | |
| 9 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −1 | 2 | |
| 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −4 | 2 | |
| 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| ‡ | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
;Goaltenders
| Player | ||||||||||||||
| ‡ | 37 | 35 | 2204 | 13 | 21 | 2 | 120 | 3.27 | 1237 | 0.903 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ‡ | 27 | 27 | 1544 | 6 | 17 | 3 | 77 | 2.99 | 941 | 0.918 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| † | 16 | 15 | 891 | 4 | 8 | 2 | 41 | 2.76 | 542 | 0.924 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 5 | 4 | 250 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 18 | 4.32 | 155 | 0.884 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1 | 1 | 60 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3.00 | 36 | 0.917 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
†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.
Notable achievements
Awards
| Player | Award | Awarded |
| NHL First Star of the Week | December 15, 2014 | |
| NHL All-Star game selection | January 10, 2015 |
Milestones
| Player | Milestone | Reached |
| 1st Career NHL Game | October 9, 2014 | |
| 400th Career NHL Game | October 13, 2014 | |
| S. Reinhart | 1st Career NHL Assist 1st Career NHL Point | October 25, 2014 |
| 100th Career NHL Assist | November 5, 2014 | |
| 400th Career NHL Game | November 13, 2014 | |
| 100th Career NHL Assist | November 18, 2014 | |
| 600th Career NHL Game | November 22, 2014 | |
| 800th Career NHL Game | November 29, 2014 | |
| 1st Career NHL Game | November 29, 2014 | |
| 100th Career NHL Game | December 11, 2014 | |
| 100th Career NHL Point | December 11, 2014 | |
| 100th Career NHL Game | December 13, 2014 | |
| 300th Career NHL Game | December 20, 2014 | |
| 1st Career NHL Goal | December 20, 2014 | |
| 1st Career NHL Goal 1st Career NHL Point | December 21, 2014 | |
| 1st Career NHL Game | December 23, 2014 | |
| 400th Career NHL Game | December 31, 2014 | |
| J. Gorges | 600th Career NHL Game | January 29, 2015 |
| B. Gionta | 500th Career NHL Point | February 20, 2015 |
| M. Moulson | 300th Career NHL Point | February 22, 2015 |
| 400th Career NHL Game | February 26, 2015 | |
| 100th Career NHL Game | March 3, 2015 | |
| T. Ennis | 200th Career NHL Point | March 6, 2015 |
| 100th Career NHL Game | March 16, 2015 | |
| 100th Career NHL Game | March 17, 2015 | |
| 300th Career NHL Game | March 20, 2015 |
Transactions
The Sabres have been involved in the following transactions during the 2014–15 season:Trades
| June 28, 2014 | To Washington Capitals ---- 2nd-round pick in 2014 | To Buffalo Sabres ---- 2nd-round pick in 2014 3rd-round pick in 2014 | |
| July 1, 2014 | To Montreal Canadiens ---- MIN's 2nd-round pick in 2016 | To Buffalo Sabres ---- Josh Gorges | |
| July 9, 2014 | To Winnipeg Jets ---- Conditional 7th-round pick in 2015 | To Buffalo Sabres ---- Jordan Samuels-Thomas | |
| December 16, 2014 | To Columbus Blue Jackets ----Luke Adam | To Buffalo Sabres ---- Jerry D'Amigo | |
| February 11, 2015 | To Winnipeg Jets ----Tyler Myers Drew Stafford Brendan Lemieux Joel Armia 1st-round pick in 2015 | To Buffalo Sabres ---- Evander Kane Zach Bogosian Jason Kasdorf | |
| February 11, 2015 | To Dallas Stars ----Jhonas Enroth | To Buffalo Sabres ----Anders Lindback conditional 3rd-round pick in 2016 | |
| March 2, 2015 | To Montreal Canadiens ----Brian Flynn | To Buffalo Sabres ----5th-round pick in 2016 | |
| March 2, 2015 | To New York Islanders ----Michal Neuvirth | To Buffalo Sabres ----Chad Johnson 3rd-round pick in 2016 | |
| March 2, 2015 | To Montreal Canadiens ----Torrey Mitchell | To Buffalo Sabres ----Jack Nevins 7th-round pick in 2016 | |
| March 2, 2015 | To Minnesota Wild ----Chris Stewart | To Buffalo Sabres ----2nd-round pick in 2017 |
Free agents acquired
Free agents lost
Claimed via waivers
Lost via waivers
Lost via retirement
Players released
Player signings
Coaching changes
| Name | Date | Details |
| Bryan Trottier | August 4, 2014 | Named as Assistant Coach |
| Danny Flynn | August 4, 2014 | Named as Assistant Coach |
| Tom Coolen | August 4, 2014 | Named as Assistant Coach |
| Arturs Irbe | August 4, 2014 | Named as Goaltending Coach |
Draft picks
The 2014 NHL Entry Draft was held on June 27–28, 2014 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Buffalo finished with the league's worst record, but on April 15, 2014, the Florida Panthers won the draft lottery to jump ahead of the Sabres and secure the first overall pick.| Round | # | Player | Pos | Nationality | College/Junior/Club Team |
| 1 | 2 | Sam Reinhart | C | Kootenay Ice | |
| 2 | 31 | Brendan Lemieux | LW | Barrie Colts | |
| 2 | 44 | Eric Cornel | C | Peterborough Petes | |
| 2 | 49 | Vaclav Karabacek | RW | Gatineau Olympiques | |
| 3 | 61 | Jonas Johansson | G | Brynas IF | |
| 3 | 74 | Brycen Martin | D | Swift Current Broncos | |
| 5 | 121 | Maxwell Willman | C | Williston Northampton Wildcats | |
| 6 | 151 | Christopher Brown | C | Cranbrook Kingswood | |
| 7 | 181 | Victor Olofsson | RW | MODO Hockey |
;Draft notes
- Winnipeg's second-round pick will go to Buffalo as the result of a trade on March 5, 2014 that sent Matt Moulson and Cody McCormick to Minnesota, in exchange for Torrey Mitchell, a second-round pick in 2016 and this pick.
- Minnesota's second-round pick will go to Buffalo as the result of trade on April 3, 2013 that sent Jason Pominville and a fourth-round pick in 2014 to Minnesota, in exchange for Matt Hackett, Johan Larsson, a first-round pick in 2013 and this pick.
- Buffalo's fourth-round pick will go to the Edmonton Oilers as the result of a trade on March 4, 2014 that sent Ilya Bryzgalov to Minnesota, in exchange for this pick.
- Buffalo's sixth-round pick will not go to the Edmonton Oilers as the result of a trade on December 19, 2013 that sent Linus Omark to Buffalo in exchange for this pick. Omark did not play enough games for the Sabres, so the pick was never traded.