Buffalo Sabres Depth Chart

How this lineup is built

How the projection is built

We start from the lines and pairs the team used in its last game (2026-10-17) and the last game's power-play units, all from NHL shift charts. Then we remove every player who is out, put returning players back, and fill each empty seat. A fill-in is first the regular's listed successor, usually the player who took that spot the last time he sat. If there is none, it is the next man up. For a power-play seat that is a player of the same type (forward or defenseman), PP2 players first, from players on the projected lines. A power-play seat whose holder is on no projected line or pair is refilled the same way. For a line or pair it is the extra skater who dressed most recently, same position first, with healthy scratches last. Every changed seat is marked. A line can't have stats as a unit until it has played together.

Which window each number uses

The lineup itself is the next-game projection above. Time together, share of team ice time and games together come from the first 9 games of 2026-27. A unit that only played in the last game shows that game's time ("together last game only"). A unit made by a fill-in or a return shows "not together yet". Line stability counts line, pair and PP1 moves over the last 10 games.

Injuries, scratches and returns

A player is out when the ESPN injury report lists him on IR, LTIR, out or suspended, when he is off the NHL roster, or when he is a regular who has missed 2 or more straight games with no injury report. A report is ignored once he has played a game after it. Day-to-day players stay in the lineup with a DTD tag. A player is "Returning" when he has been cleared from the injury report in the last 3 days, has missed at least one game, and hasn't played since. He goes back into the spot his stand-in now holds, on the power play always in a seat of his own type (forward or defenseman). If we can't tell who covered for him, he goes back to his line or pair from the recent games. He also goes back on the power play when his power-play time per game is more than that of the same-type player with the least on PP1 (or PP2).

What "SCR" and "likely healthy scratch" mean

SCR means the NHL game-day lineup listed him as a scratch and no injury report covers it: a healthy scratch. That is any scratch of a player who isn't a regular (however many games in a row), and a regular's single scratch. Games he missed while an injury report was open, or in the 2 days before it appeared, count as injury games, not scratches. A regular who misses 2 or more straight games with no injury report shows as OUT ("no injury report"), listed as a scratch or not, because we can't tell an unreported injury from a coach's decision. A regular is a player who has dressed for 3+ games and at least 75% of his team's games this season, or 50+ games for it last season.

When it updates

The lineup is rebuilt after each game's shift charts are processed and whenever the team's injury list changes. The injury report is checked hourly, and every 20 minutes around game times. Confirmed lineups from the morning skate are not used, so a late change shows only after the next injury-report check or the next game.