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Zach Benson headshotBuffalo Sabres logo

Buffalo Sabres

Zach Benson

#6Left Wing21 years oldShoots L5'10"176 lb

2026-27 so far
9
GP
0
G
6
A
6
P
18
SOG
0.0% SH
19:52
TOI/GP

Small sample so far. Last season: 2025-26, 65 GP, 13 G, 30 A, 43 P.

LW · BUF · NHL id 8484145

Zach Benson projections tonight

All NHL projections today

Tonight vs Philadelphia Flyers, 7:30 PM ET

G
0.21
A
0.70
PTS
0.81
SOG
2.4
HIT
0.7
BLK
0.5
PPP
0.28
1+ goal
19% fair +437
1+ point
56% fair -125
3+ shots
42% fair +136

Projected stats for tonight. Tap a stat for the full slate. · Sabres projections today

Odds tonight · edges unproven

LineOursFairMarketBest priceEdgeLive record
Anytime goal19%+43729%*+275 FanDuel−30.1%639 bets, −11.9%
Over 0.5 points56%-12550%-109 BetOnline+6.4%222 bets, −15.9%
Over 0.5 assists50%-10134%+180 DraftKings+41.0%222 bets, −33.8%
Over 1.5 shots67%-20362%-190 BetMGM+2.3%54 bets, −8.3%

US sportsbook lines via The Odds API, as of 10:00 AM ET; prices move. Edge is the expected return per $1 at the best price if our projection is right, and it is unproven. Live since Oct 12 (3,934 graded lines): the market was more accurate on points and assists, about even on shots on goal. Live record: how our 5%+ edges on the over (or Yes) side of that market have done, flat bets at the best price. Unders are not shown: our projections run a few points below the market on overs, mostly from ice-time misses, so under edges are usually model error. *Anytime goal is a Yes-only market, so its market chance still includes the margin. Model vs market record. Projections, not picks.

L1with Jack Quinn and Noah OstlundPP1with Tage Thompson, Jack Quinn, Owen Power and Noah OstlundFrom shift data, Oct 17 · Sabres lines

Fantasy outlook

+41.4 in 18 days
ActiveNot on the injury report
Next gamevs FlyersToday, 7:30 PM ET
This weekAll teams

2 games · 1 off-night

  1. Mo
  2. Tu
  3. WePHI
  4. Th
  5. Fr
  6. SaWSH
  7. Su
Projection this weekSabres this week
G
0.30
A
1.20
PTS
1.50
SOG
4.6
HIT
1.6
BLK
0.9
PPP
0.47

Zach Benson has played 9 games for the Buffalo Sabres in 2026-27, scoring 0 goals and 6 assists (6 points) on 18 shots while averaging 19:52 a night (14:23 at even strength, 3:41 on the power play and 1:33 shorthanded). At 5v5 he has skated 89% of his 5v5 minutes with Noah Ostlund and 83% with Jack Quinn over the last 9 games, and the Sabres have controlled 66% of shot attempts with Benson on the ice (7-3 in goals, 82% offensive-zone starts). In the Sabres' most recent game against MTL he was on L1 with Jack Quinn and Noah Ostlund and on PP1; moved up to L1 (from L2) in the last game. He is shooting 0.0% this season against 10.3% across the 233 games in our data.

Right now

From the Oct 17 game vs MTL, detected from shift data

Line
L1
Jack QuinnNoah Ostlund
Power play
PP1
Tage ThompsonJack QuinnOwen PowerNoah Ostlund
Penalty kill
PK2F
Ryan McLeod
Moved up to L1 (from L2) in the last gameLast 5: L2/PP1 · L3/PP1 · L2/PP1 · L1/PP1 · L1/PP1
Ascension74Risinglast 5 games vs previous 20 (incl. last season), through Oct 20, 2026
  • +2:28 PP TOI
  • PP1 in 5 of last 5 (was 5 of 20)
  • Line Watch: moved up a line Oct 15
  • 77% of 5v5 TOI with Quinn (was 25%)

Zach Benson news

Headlines via LineupExperts. Links open the original publisher.

Deployment timeline

2026-27 · per-game ice time by strength, with line and power-play unit changes

Usage: 9 games, 19:37 average time on ice, PP1 in 9 games, 5 line changes.

PPLine21▲2▼223▼2▲1▲10m8m17m25mOct 1Oct 3Oct 6Oct 8Oct 10Oct 12Oct 13Oct 15Oct 17
  • Even strength
  • Power play
  • Penalty kill
  • 5-game average
  • Did not play
  • ▲ promoted · ▼ demoted
9 games shown, 19:37 average. Line and PP unit come from where the player's ice time ranks among his teammates that night.

NHL EDGE tracking

2025-26 percentiles among skaters at his position

Source: NHL EDGE

Only 9 GP in 2026-27; showing 2025-26 NHL EDGE data.

Top speed40th4022.1 mph
Bursts 20+ mph58th5974
Hardest shot24th2580.9 mph
Offensive-zone time63rd6443.1%
Distance skated65th65170.4 mi
High-danger SOG86th8662
Percentile among position peers│ tick = 3-season weighted

Season-level NHL EDGE puck and player tracking, refreshed nightly. The percentile is the league rank among skaters this season; the label at the right is the raw value.

Shot map

2026-27 · 41 attempts, 18 on goal, 0 goals

Shot map, OPP at BUF: 41 attempts, 18 on goal, 0 goals, 3.01 expected goals; best chance Zach Benson at 0.30 xG.

  • Even strength
  • Power play
  • Penalty kill
  • Goal
  • Shot on goal
  • Missed
  • Blocked
Every attempt (goals, shots, misses and blocks), attacking toward the right (or the top on phones).

Luck

2026-27 · 9 GP · 6 points vs 7.2 expected

Luck Meter →
Hold

0.0%
101.1
54.5%
G vs xG
0 / 2.4
  • • Only 9 games: treat the meter as a hint.
Goals against expected goals
01234-2.4goals below expected-1.6σ10/110/17
  • Actual goals
  • Expected
  • ±1σ
  • Above expected
  • Below expected

Shots on goal projection

Oct 21 vs PHI · projected 21:03 TOI (4:14 PP) · 5v5 matchup +1%

Expected SOG
2.40
2+ SOG
67%
3+ SOG
42%
4+ SOG
23%

Every skater's shots on goal projection for Oct 21 →

Last 7 projected games: 15.6 expected, 17 actual; Benson beat the projection 3 times.

Recent games: projected and actual shots on goal
GameExpected3+ chanceActual
Oct 17 vs MTL2.2539%3
Oct 15 vs TOR2.3742%4
Oct 13 vs MTL2.1737%1
Oct 12 vs FLA2.1236%2
Oct 10 vs UTA2.1937%1
Oct 8 vs DAL2.1937%4
Oct 6 vs MIN2.2840%2

Player analytics

Compare with another player →

2025-26 regular season. Rank is among all qualified players; the bar is his percentile among forwards. Each stat links to its explainer.

  • 2026-27 so far: 9 GP, 0 G, 6 A, 1 PPP, 18 SOG.

Fantasy box score

  • Games played65
  • Goals13227th
  • Assists30135th
  • Points43172nd
  • Power-play points5261st
  • Shorthanded points238th
  • Shots on goal116244th
  • Hits40463rd
  • Blocked shots22561st
  • Plus/minus+2724th
  • Penalty minutes42165th
  • Faceoffs won7329th

Possession & shot quality (5-on-5 on-ice)

Transition, turnovers & faceoffs

Usage

Special teams & discipline

Luck & trend

NHL EDGE tracking

Unranked rows are below the sample minimum (20 GP, 200 five-on-five minutes, 100 draws or 10 goalie games).

Beyond the box score

2025-26 regular season · 65 of 65 games through the sequence engine

MethodLeaders
−0.017
Season net
−0.24xG

5-on-5. Each takeaway is credited, and each giveaway charged, at the league xG value of the zone.

MethodLeaders
Per 60
0.72
Attempts
10
0.040

5-on-5 shots within 10 seconds of winning the puck outside the offensive zone.

MethodLeaders
Season
+0.00G
Per 60
+0.000
Drawn / taken
21 / 21minors

MethodLeaders
53.6%
54.0%
53.4%
Transition CF/60
3.2
Turnovers won/60
20.7
Turnovers lost/60
23.1

5-on-5 while he is on the ice.

MethodLeaders
  • More of his shots than the league
  • Fewer
115 shots on goal, 13 goals, all situations
AreaHis shareLeagueG
Low Slot44%23%6
L Point0%5%0
Center Point3%9%0
R Point1%6%0
R Circle8%12%2
High Slot3%7%1
Crease5%3%3

Role changes

Notable promotions, demotions and ice-time swings from Line Watch

All alerts →

How the goals happened

37 goals since 2023-24 with NHL EDGE tracking: press Replay to watch the tracking animation

Method
Goal anatomy
GamePlayEntryPassesShot mphNotesReplay
May 16, 2026 @ MTLRebound—3*13.2rebound
May 12, 2026 @ MTLForecheck turnover—021.8—
May 8, 2026 vs MTLDeflection—2*15.5—
May 1, 2026 @ BOSRushloose054.9—
Apr 26, 2026 @ BOSDeflection—16.8—
Apr 15, 2026 vs DALOdd-man rushcarry135.91-on-0
Apr 8, 2026 @ NYROdd-man rushloose033.92-on-0
Apr 8, 2026 @ NYRDeflection—2*26.9one-timer
Mar 25, 2026 vs BOSDeflection—114.9deflection
Mar 22, 2026 @ ANARebound—035.3rebound
Mar 21, 2026 @ LAKRushcarry062.0—
Feb 2, 2026 @ FLAOdd-man rushloose2*25.31-on-0
Jan 22, 2026 @ MTLRebound—35.6rebound
Jan 12, 2026 vs FLARebound—02.5rebound
Dec 29, 2025 @ STLRushloose117.9—
Dec 14, 2025 @ SEAOdd-man rushpass149.22-on-1
Dec 11, 2025 @ VANCycle—524.6one-timer
Mar 12, 2025 @ DETForecheck turnover—035.1—
Jan 28, 2025 vs BOSDeflection—3*26.3deflection
Jan 17, 2025 vs PITOdd-man rushpass1*25.13-on-2, one-timer
Jan 2, 2025 @ COLForecheck turnover—026.5—
Dec 27, 2024 vs CHIDeflectioncarry2*16.3—
Dec 23, 2024 @ NYIRushcarry3*4.9—
Dec 9, 2024 vs DETOdd-man rushpass1*60.43-on-2
Nov 14, 2024 vs STLCycle—3*55.3—
Nov 9, 2024 vs CGYForecheck turnover—026.8—
Nov 7, 2024 @ NYRForecheck turnover—033.9—
Apr 15, 2024 @ TBLDeflection—019.7—
Apr 11, 2024 vs WSHDeflection—340.0deflection
Mar 14, 2024 vs NYIOdd-man rushloose036.31-on-0
Mar 14, 2024 vs NYIDeflection—229.1deflection
Mar 12, 2024 vs DETCycle—06.3—
Feb 19, 2024 vs ANADeflection—225.3deflection
Feb 13, 2024 vs LAKForecheck turnover—2*27.1—
Dec 15, 2023 @ VGKForecheck turnover—021.5—
Dec 13, 2023 @ COLRebound—023.9rebound
Nov 22, 2023 @ WSHForecheck turnover—020.4—

* includes a royal-road (cross-slot) pass. Derived from NHL EDGE puck and player tracking.

Linemates

2026-27 · 5v5 time together and how each pairing performs with and without Benson

TeammatePosGPShareCF% togetherGF% togetherCF% Benson apartCF% mate apart
Noah OstlundC9111:3889%65.1%75% (6-2)70.6% 14:3034.4% 15:50
Jack QuinnRW9104:4383%67.6%75% (6-2)57.9% 21:2525.6% 24:56
Mattias SamuelssonD953:3142%72.0%67% (2-1)61.7% 72:3747.1% 124:00
Owen PowerD950:5740%61.1%50% (2-2)69.1% 75:1152.0% 132:14
Olen ZellwegerD837:5430%64.6%75% (3-1)65.9% 74:5654.2% 103:02
Louis CrevierD936:0729%60.0%60% (3-2)68.6% 90:0144.2% 78:43
Rasmus DahlinD635:4228%68.9%100% (1-0)63.5% 47:5149.6% 80:59
Zach MetsaD825:3420%68.2%100% (1-0)65.6% 85:3640.4% 62:22
Josh DoanRW210:188%59.3%50% (1-1)68.0% 13:5441.7% 16:58
Dennis GilbertD38:517%66.7%100% (2-0)66.7% 33:4447.5% 20:01
Tage ThompsonC22:542%66.7%— (0-0)65.2% 29:1646.2% 31:05
Matt GrzelcykD12:512%100.0%— (0-0)66.7% 10:2730.0% 10:30
Josh NorrisC11:101%0.0%— (0-0)64.0% 12:5243.5% 8:21

Zach Benson: shot types, linemates and props

Shots by type

Zach Benson shots on goal and goals by shot type
TypeSOGGG*Share*
Wrist70166169.6%47.2%
Snap9056610.7%15.9%
Tip-in2049612.2%13.9%
Backhand004724.3%13.4%
Slap001100.0%3.1%
Deflected001119.1%3.1%
Wrap-around007114.3%2.0%
Other005240.0%1.4%

* Regular seasons 2023-24 to 2026-27. This season is 18 shots so far; shooting % by type needs hundreds of shots to settle, so read the share, not the percentage. Source: NHL stats.

Linemates, last 9 games

Most often with Jack Quinn and Noah Ostlund (8 of 9 games): a settled line. Ostlund 9 · Quinn 8 · Doan 1 (games as a top-two 5v5 linemate). Linemates game by game

Linemate and opposition quality

2026-27 · 5v5 · 126 min on ice · ranked against 257 forwards

54.5%

teammates' average xGF%

79th percentile · higher = stronger linemates

29.1%

opponents' average ice-time share

57th percentile · higher = faces more top-line minutes

Plays with stronger-than-usual linemates.

QoT averages the season xGF% of Benson's 5v5 teammates; QoC averages how much of their team's ice time Benson's opponents get, so a high QoC means facing top lines. Both are weighted by time shared on the ice, lean on last season for small samples, and are ranked within forwards or defence.

Usage by score state

2026-27, 9 games, topped up with last season.

Leading
16.4
min per 60
Tied
17.5
min per 60
Trailing
18.2
min per 60

Benson plays 108 more seconds per 60 minutes when the team trails than when it leads: more minutes when chasing a game. Power play: 3.1 min per 60 trailing, against 2.2 leading. On the ice for 44% of the team's 6-on-5 time (1:43 of 3:52).

Garbage time: 0 of 6 points (0%) came with the team up or down 3+. League garbage-time table

Next game vs PHI (2026-10-21): team win probability ≈65%, projected 17:27 TOI (−0:06 from the expected script). Game-script forecast

Game log

9 games in 2026-27, newest first

DateOppResultGAP+/-SOGPIMHITBLKEVPPPK
Oct 17@ MTLOTL 3-4011+1320133%21:1714:084:581:51
Oct 15@ TORW 5-4022+34210—21:1818:021:441:32
Oct 13@ MTLOTL 3-4011000310%19:3612:515:181:27
Oct 12vs FLAW 5-30110200150%19:4011:554:491:56
Oct 10vs UTAL 1-4000010210%19:5412:513:322:56
Oct 8vs DALL 0-4000-1402050%18:1814:033:031:06
Oct 6vs MINW 3-2000+12200—20:4115:552:442:02
Oct 3vs CHIW 4-3000+1123033%19:3316:282:330:32
Oct 1@ CBJL 3-6011-11021—18:3413:184:270:31

Season splits by strength

2026-27 regular season · on-ice numbers from shift and play-by-play data

StrengthGPTOI/GPSAGFGAGF%
All situations9178:5119:5221111564.7%63.3%975311569%11.97.977%
Even strength9129:3114:231508065.2%63.4%64337370%7.54.282%
5v59126:0814:011497765.9%64.4%63307370%7.23.682%
Power play933:083:4154985.7%85.2%30730100%3.90.5100%
Penalty kill913:531:3332411.1%13.0%2111150%0.42.70%
3v3 (OT)33:171:061325.0%25.0%1300—0.30.6—
5v4930:353:2445884.9%85.4%28630100%3.40.5100%
4v5913:531:3332411.1%13.0%2111150%0.42.70%
5v312:002:0070100.0%100.0%2000—0.40.0—

Career by season

Regular season and playoffs since 2023-24. Seasons link to the team's stats that year; column headers open the league leaderboards.

SeasonTeamGPGAP+/-PIMSOGPPPSHPGWGHITBLKTKGVFOWFO%TOI/GP
2026-27BUF9066+48180.0%11013529433.3%19:52
2025-26PlayoffsBUF13549+6642619.2%2011673800.0%17:06
2025-26BUF65133043+274211611.2%52440222546746.7%15:53
2024-25BUF75101828-2601208.3%40035291941419.0%14:49
2023-24BUF71111930-3369811.2%20135353120529.4%14:31
  • Completed seasons use the NHL's official power-play and shorthanded totals.
  • Recording changed in 2024-25: giveaways roughly doubled and takeaways fell by a third, so compare within a season.

Zach Benson news

Headlines via LineupExperts. Links open the original publisher.

On-ice and deployment numbers are derived by Edgehalla from NHL play-by-play and shift data. Tracking percentiles are from NHL EDGE. Data updates after every game.