BUFFALO – Confidence is powerful thing, center Tage Thompson said. Fresh off a breakout 50-win, 109-point campaign in which nearly every player improved or enjoyed a career season, the Sabres entered the summer feeling pretty darn good about themselves.
Having grinded together for nine months and enjoyed so much success, the Sabres feel like they can tackle any challenge as a group this season.
“We have a lot of that with our group right now,” Thompson said of confidence players developed last season following Thursday’s opening session of training camp in LECOM Harborcenter. “We’ve been battle tested. We faced adversity last year, and I think when you come out on the other side of adversity, it teaches you a lesson.
“We learned those lessons last year and know that if we’re faced with anything in the future, we’ve been through it together already, and we know we can lean on each other and get through it again.”
Thompson offered that response to a query about the Sabres’ belief they’re a better team this season than a year ago, when they won the ultra-competitive Atlantic Division and their first postseason series in 19 years.
Remember, they lost two Grade-A talents in winger Alex Tuch and defenseman Bowen Byram, having traded them a day apart in June.
“They were big pieces of our team, obviously,” Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin said. “They had a big voice in the locker room. So, obviously, we miss them.”
But the Sabres have matured over the past year. A buy-in across the board to play a tenacious style buoyed them as much as their talent.
“There’s certain things coming into our play,” Dahlin said of why the Sabres have a better team. “I think our defense is way better. Our work ethic, our team chemistry, there’s a lot of areas that are better.”
Losing just two pieces shouldn’t derail what they built last season.
The Sabres also possesses the depth to withstand the departure of two of their best players. Up front, for example, they have a slew of young forwards – Zach Benson, Josh Doan, Konsta Helenius, Jiri Kulich, Noah Ostlund and Jack Quinn – ready to handle more responsibility.
The average age of that group is 22.
“You hate to see someone like (Tuch) go, especially a leader on our team and a guy that everyone loved in the locker room, and obviously, a big player for us,” Thompson said. “But with that being said, there’s always a silver lining and a door that opens, and that’s a pretty big door opening for a lot of young guys in our group that are really hungry to take it.”
Following a season of stunning growth, the Sabres understand duplicating what they accomplished in 2025-26 will be difficult.
“If we thought last year was hard, this year is going to be harder,” Dahlin acknowledged.
The Sabres, once a lightweight team opponents beat up on, can no longer sneak up on anyone.
“We have higher expectations on ourselves, and higher expectations around the league,” Dahlin said. “We’re not the old Sabres anymore in other teams’ eyes, so I think that’s going to be a big bump.”
Benson, who scored five goals in 13 postseason games while establishing himself as one of the NHL’s foremost pests, said all he could think about during the summer was getting back to the playoffs.
“It truly is the best time of your life when you’re playing in the postseason, and I think I can speak for everyone that we’re hungry to get back there, and not just (to) get back there, but make a statement,” he said.
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Kulich (blood clot) and Justin Danforth (broken kneecap) both practiced Thursday for the first time in nearly a year.
Kulich, 22, played 12 games last year. After months of uncertainty, he had the clot removed in March.
“Talking to him, I know he wants to put last year behind him, and he’s just super excited to try to prove he can be a guy who makes a difference for us,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said.
Meanwhile, Danforth, 33, played just four times last year.
“He’s a guy I thought skated really well for a guy that we didn’t see all of last year,” Ruff said.
Notes: Defenseman Louis Crevier, who arrived from the Chicago Blackhawks in the Byram deal, practiced Thursday after undergoing offseason shoulder surgery. … Like last season, the Sabres have essentially divided their practice sessions into NHL and AHL groups. The first group mostly comprised players who will be on the 23-man roster on opening night. … With Tuch gone, Thompson pivoted Peyton Krebs, his left wing much of last season, and Doan in Thursday’s practice.