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Sabres Enter Season With NHL's Youngest Roster

The Buffalo Sabres have the youngest average age of any roster in the NHL this season.

Jacob Punturi

Sep 26, 2024; Ottawa, Ontario, CAN; Buffalo Sabres center Noah Ostlund (36) celebrates with team his goal scored in overtime against the Ottawa Senators at the Canadian Tire Centre. Mandatory Credit: Marc DesRosiers-Imagn Images
Sep 26, 2024; Ottawa, Ontario, CAN; Buffalo Sabres center Noah Ostlund (36) celebrates with team his goal scored in overtime against the Ottawa Senators at the Canadian Tire Centre. Mandatory Credit: Marc DesRosiers-Imagn Images / Marc DesRosiers-Imagn Images
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The Buffalo Sabres entered the 2024-2025 season with a sense of optimism. They named defensive workhorse Rasmus Dahlin as the team's new captain in a well-earned moved. In addition, the team had a full summer to gel as their young core aims to take the next step in their development.

The Sabres also entered the season with the youngest average age of any roster in the NHL. According to TSN analyst Chris Johnston, the average age in Buffalo's lineup is 25.89. That is almost five years younger than the league's oldest roster, the Edmonton Oilers, at 30.19 years of age.

The team is headlined by several young defensemen. Besides 24-year-old Dahlin, they have 21-year-old puck-mover Owen Power and 23-year-old Bowen Byram as the team' second and third blue liners. It's one of the most impressive trios in the league, and they are all still entering their prime years in the NHL. It also puts their team's average age into perspective, as their best player and team leader enters his age-24 season.

Offensively, the team is just as youthful. Tage Thompson at 26 and Alex Tuch at 28 are the exceptions, but the rest of their top-six forward group are 25 or younger. Led by Dylan Cozens, J.J. Peterka, and Jack Quinn, the Sabres have tons to prove with a talented, but inexperienced group up front.

Their youth was on display, in a negative way, during their opening two games against the New Jersey Devils in the 2024 Global Series. The Sabres struggled to keep up with the Devils' speed and respond to their aggressive forecheck. The inexperience throughout the lineup was noticeable as they failed to find a suitable response to an opposing team's game plan.

The best part of being the youngest team in the league is cock-eyed optimism. Despite an 0-2 start, the team has nothing but upside, led by their young core. They return from the Global Series with continued hope that this season will be the one that moves the Sabres up the division standings and into the playoffs.

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Jacob Punturi
JACOB PUNTURI

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