Buffalo Sabres: Three Stars of October

Third Star: Rasmus Dahlin

While it might seem surprising to have Rasmus Dahlin here, considering he’s sixth on the team in points and only had one multi-point game in the month, he’s played extremely well. When the news came that Dahlin left practice on September 18th with an injury, Sabres fans became distraught with the idea of missing their elite defenseman. Though Dahlin didn’t miss any games, it appeared as though he was still injured; posting a plus-minus of zero with only one point through five games. However, Dahlin flipped a switch in the second half of October. The captain averaged a point per game in the final five games and was by far the best defensive player. According to Natural Stat Trick, over the past five games, Dahlin had the fewest expected goals allowed among all defensemen despite playing the most time on the ice. Also, the Swedish blue-liner had the highest expected goals, giving him the highest expected goals percentage at an outstanding 70.74 percent. 

Second Star: Alex Tuch

Alex Tuch is quickly bouncing back to his elite pace after having a down year last season under Don Granato. The Syracuse, New York native dealt with upper-body and lower-body injuries last season, which likely contributed to his lackluster 59 points in 75 games. Now appearing to be fully healthy, Tuch has notched nine points in 10 games, looking similar to his 2022-23 season with 36 goals and 79 points in 74 games. Not only has he been exceptional on five-on-five, where he’s accumulated eight of his nine points, but he’s been reliable on special teams as well. The six-foot-four, 219-pound forward is Buffalo’s only skater to play at least 20 minutes on both the power play and penalty kill units. He’s been the most versatile Sabres player for a long time and remains a great right-winger on the top line.

First Star: Tage Thompson

Clearly, the most valuable player for Buffalo has been Tage Thompson. The 27-year-old leads the team in goals and points and is currently on pace for a 57-goal, 98-point season. While that pace isn’t completely realistic, Alexander Mogilny’s 76-goal 1992-93 season was the only time a Sabres player scored at least 57 goals in a single season; it’s still nice to see Thompson get back on track. Much like Tuch, Thompson’s woes from ‘22-’23 were presumed to have been due to lingering injuries. Thompson has put the rumors of his decline to rest for the moment. He’s tied for the most power-play points with a measly two on the league’s worst unit, but even great offenses like the Maple Leafs, Oilers, and Lightning have bottom-10 percentages, too. Hopefully, the power play gets back on track soon so that Thompson can break out of his power-play goal slump.