2005–06 Buffalo Sabres season

The 2005–06 Buffalo Sabres season was the 36th season of operation, 35th season of play, for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on May 22, 1970.^[1] The season not only saw the team qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time since the 2000–01 season, but saw them advance to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals before losing to the eventual Stanley Cup champions, the Carolina Hurricanes.

2005–06 Buffalo Sabres
Division	2nd Northeast
Conference	4th Eastern
2005–06 record	52–24–6
Home record	27–11–3
Road record	25–13–3
Goals for	281
Goals against	239
Team information
General manager	Darcy Regier
Coach	Lindy Ruff
Captain	Daniel Briere and Chris Drury
Alternate captains	Mike Grier Jochen Hecht Jay McKee
Arena	HSBC Arena
Average attendance	16,886
Minor league affiliate(s)	Rochester Americans
Team leaders
Goals	Chris Drury (30)
Assists	Maxim Afinogenov (51)
Points	Maxim Afinogenov (73)
Penalty minutes	Andrew Peters (100)
Plus/minus	Dmitri Kalinin (+14)
Wins	Ryan Miller (30)
Goals against average	Ryan Miller (2.60)
← 2004–05 2006–07 →

After starting the season 7–8–0 through their first 15 games by November 9, 2005, the Sabres were sitting in fifth place in the Northeast Division and were trailing the Northeast Division-leading Ottawa Senators by 11 points. The Sabres then went on to have only eight regulation losses out of their next 50 games; by March 16, 2006, they had improved to 44–16–5 to move within one point of the Northeast Division-leading Senators. Despite having only two players to play all 82 games (Ales Kotalik and Henrik Tallinder), Buffalo would finish the season with a 52–24–6 record for 110 points and a fourth-place finish heading into the playoffs. The season was the first 100–point season in 23 years and tied the 1979–80 club for the second-best point total in franchise history. The Sabres were one of five teams to reach the century mark in power-play goals during the regular season, scoring 101.^[2] The Sabres also finished with 25 road wins, another franchise record.

The Sabres were recognized on June 22, 2006, at the NHL Awards Ceremony, when Lindy Ruff edged Hurricanes coach Peter Laviolette to win the Jack Adams Award as Coach of the Year in the closest vote in the award's history. Ruff was the second Sabres coach to win the award.

Regular season

On January 14, 2006, the Sabres defeated the Los Angeles Kings at home by a score of 10–1.^[3] Jochen Hecht and Jason Pominville each had hat-tricks in the game. It was the first time that the Sabres had scored 10 goals in a regular-season game since February 24, 1993, when they defeated the Detroit Red Wings at home by a score of 10–7.^[4]

Season standings

Northeast Division

No.	CR		GP	W	L	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
1	1	Ottawa Senators	82	52	21	9	314	211	113
2	4	Buffalo Sabres	82	52	24	6	281	239	110
3	7	Montreal Canadiens	82	42	31	9	243	247	93
4	9	Toronto Maple Leafs	82	41	33	8	257	270	90
5	13	Boston Bruins	82	29	37	16	230	266	74

^[5] Note: CR = Conference rank; GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; OTL = Overtime/Shootout loss; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; Pts = Points
         Bolded teams qualified for the playoffs.

Eastern Conference^[6]

R		Div	GP	W	L	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
1	Z- Ottawa Senators	NE	82	52	21	9	314	211	113
2	Y- Carolina Hurricanes	SE	82	52	22	8	294	260	112
3	Y- New Jersey Devils	AT	82	46	27	9	242	229	101
4	X- Buffalo Sabres	NE	82	52	24	6	242	239	110
5	X- Philadelphia Flyers	AT	82	45	26	11	267	259	101
6	X- New York Rangers	AT	82	44	26	12	257	215	100
7	X- Montreal Canadiens	NE	82	42	31	9	243	247	93
8	X- Tampa Bay Lightning	SE	82	43	33	6	252	260	92
8.5
9	Toronto Maple Leafs	NE	82	41	33	8	257	270	90
10	Atlanta Thrashers	SE	82	41	33	8	281	275	90
11	Florida Panthers	SE	82	37	34	11	240	257	85
12	New York Islanders	AT	82	36	40	6	230	278	78
13	Boston Bruins	NE	82	29	37	16	230	266	74
14	Washington Capitals	SE	82	29	41	12	237	306	70
15	Pittsburgh Penguins	AT	82	22	46	14	244	316	58

Divisions: AT – Atlantic, NE – Northeast, SE – Southeast

Z – Clinched conference; Y – Clinched division; X – Clinched playoff spot

Playoffs

Main article: 2006 Stanley Cup playoffs

The Buffalo Sabres earned the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference.

Buffalo defeated the Philadelphia Flyers in the first-round of the 2006 playoffs in six games. In the second round, the Sabres defeated top-seeded Ottawa in five games. A total of three victories in the series came in overtime, including the series-clinching Game 5, which was won on a short-handed goal by Jason Pominville to send Buffalo to the Eastern Conference Finals against the Carolina Hurricanes. It was the first time in NHL history that a series had been decided on a short-handed overtime goal.

Despite being without some or all of their four top defensemen (Teppo Numminen, Dmitri Kalinin, Jay McKee and Henrik Tallinder), and their top powerplay scorer, Tim Connolly, who had 11 points in eight games in the playoffs, for much of the series, the Sabres fought back from a three-games-to-two deficit to force a seventh game by way of a 2–1 overtime win in Game 6. Buffalo led the Hurricanes 2–1 going into the final period of the deciding game but blew the lead early in the third and gave up two more late goals for a 4–2 final score.

Schedule and results

Regular season

2005–06 regular season[7]
October: 7–4–0 (home: 4–1–0; road: 3–3–0) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Points Recap 1 October 5 NY Islanders 4 – 6 Buffalo Miller 15,702 1–0–0 2 W 2 October 7 Boston 1 – 4 Buffalo Miller 13,771 2–0–0 4 W 3 October 8 Buffalo 0 – 5 Ottawa Miller 19,661 2–1–0 4 L 4 October 10 Pittsburgh 2 – 3 Buffalo OT Miller 12,050 3–1–0 6 W 5 October 13 Buffalo 4 – 3 Tampa Bay SO Miller 20,184 4–1–0 8 W 6 October 15 Buffalo 2 – 3 Florida Miller 17,426 4–2–0 8 L 7 October 20 Buffalo 4 – 3 Boston Miller 14,525 5–2–0 10 W 8 October 22 NY Rangers 1 – 3 Buffalo Miller 16,346 6–2–0 12 W 9 October 26 Washington 3 – 2 Buffalo Miller 8,552 6–3–0 12 L 10 October 28 Buffalo 2 – 3 New Jersey Miller 12,378 6–4–0 12 L 11 October 29 Buffalo 6 – 4 NY Islanders Biron 13,226 7–4–0 14 W
November: 8–5–1 (home: 4–3–1; road: 4–2–0) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Points Recap 12 November 2 Ottawa 10 – 4 Buffalo Noronen 13,905 7–5–0 14 L 13 November 4 Montreal 3 – 2 Buffalo Biron 18,690 7–6–0 14 L 14 November 5 Buffalo 2 – 3 Montreal Biron 21,273 7–7–0 14 L 15 November 9 Carolina 5 – 3 Buffalo Biron 13,106 7–8–0 14 L 16 November 11 Toronto 2 – 5 Buffalo Biron 18,690 8–8–0 16 W 17 November 12 Buffalo 1 – 6 Ottawa Biron 19,414 8–9–0 16 L 18 November 15 New Jersey 1 – 4 Buffalo Biron 13,022 9–9–0 18 W 19 November 17 Washington 5 – 8 Buffalo Biron 12,471 10–9–0 20 W 20 November 19 Buffalo 3 – 2 Boston Noronen 17,565 11–9–0 22 W 21 November 22 NY Rangers 3 – 2 Buffalo SO Biron 16,018 11–9–1 23 OTL 22 November 23 Buffalo 4 – 3 NY Islanders SO Biron 13,212 12–9–1 25 W 23 November 25 Montreal 1 – 3 Buffalo Biron 16,009 13–9–1 27 W 24 November 27 Buffalo 3 – 2 Washington Biron 11,658 14–9–1 29 W 25 November 29 Buffalo 3 – 2 Pittsburgh Biron 15,118 15–9–1 31 W
December: 11–2–1 (home: 5–1–0; road: 6–1–1) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Points Recap 26 December 1 Buffalo 3 – 2 Montreal OT Biron 21,274 16–9–1 33 W 27 December 2 San Jose 5 – 0 Buffalo Noronen 18,007 16–10–1 33 L 28 December 4 Buffalo 6 – 4 Colorado Biron 18,007 17–10–1 35 W 29 December 8 Anaheim 2 – 3 Buffalo OT Biron 12,504 18–10–1 37 W 30 December 11 Buffalo 3 – 2 Minnesota Biron 18,568 19–10–1 39 W 31 December 14 Dallas 3 – 4 Buffalo Biron 16,575 20–10–1 41 W 32 December 16 Buffalo 4 – 3 Pittsburgh OT Biron 16,648 21–10–1 43 W 33 December 17 Pittsburgh 3 – 4 Buffalo Biron 18,690 22–10–1 45 W 34 December 19 Buffalo 2 – 1 Philadelphia SO Miller 19,572 23–10–1 47 W 35 December 22 Buffalo 1 – 4 Florida Biron 17,823 23–11–1 47 L 36 December 23 Buffalo 4 – 1 Tampa Bay Miller 21,120 24–11–1 49 W 37 December 26 NY Islanders 3 – 6 Buffalo Miller 18,690 25–11–1 51 W 38 December 29 Buffalo 3 – 4 Toronto SO Biron 19,364 25–11–2 52 OTL 39 December 30 Atlanta 1 – 4 Buffalo Miller 18,690 26–11–2 54 W
January: 6–4–1 (home: 2–2–1; road: 4–2–0) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Points Recap 40 January 1 Florida 2 – 1 Buffalo Miller 18,690 26–12–2 54 L 41 January 5 Tampa Bay 1 – 3 Buffalo Miller 18,032 27–12–2 56 W 42 January 7 New Jersey 3 – 2 Buffalo Miller 18,690 27–13–2 56 L 43 January 12 Phoenix 2 – 1 Buffalo SO Biron 18,690 27–13–3 57 OTL 44 January 14 Los Angeles 1 – 10 Buffalo Miller 18,690 28–13–3 59 W 45 January 16 Buffalo 3 – 1 Edmonton Miller 16,839 29–13–3 61 W 46 January 19 Buffalo 1 – 4 Vancouver Miller 18,630 29–14–3 61 L 47 January 21 Buffalo 1 – 4 Calgary Biron 19,289 29–15–3 61 L 48 January 24 Buffalo 2 – 1 NY Rangers Miller 18,200 30–15–3 63 W 49 January 26 Buffalo 8 – 4 Toronto Miller 19,477 31–15–3 65 W 50 January 31 Buffalo 5 – 2 Atlanta Miller 14,021 32–15–3 67 W
February: 4–0–2 (home: 3–0–1; road: 1–0–1) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Points Recap 51 February 2 Philadelphia 2 – 4 Buffalo Miller 18,690 33–15–3 69 W 52 February 4 Ottawa 1 – 2 Buffalo SO Miller 17,451 34–15–3 71 W 53 February 7 Buffalo 3 – 2 Montreal OT Miller 21,273 35–15–3 73 W 54 February 9 Montreal 3 – 2 Buffalo OT Miller 17,344 35–15–4 74 OTL 55 February 11 Florida 3 – 5 Buffalo Miller 18,690 36–15–4 76 W 56 February 12 Buffalo 3 – 4 Carolina SO Miller 18,730 36–15–5 77 OTL
March: 9–7–1 (home: 6–3–0; road: 3–4–1) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Points Recap 57 March 1 Atlanta 4 – 2 Buffalo Miller 18,690 36–16–5 77 L 58 March 3 Toronto 2 – 6 Buffalo Miller 18,690 37–16–5 79 W 59 March 4 Buffalo 3 – 2 Boston Biron 16,065 38–16–5 81 W 60 March 7 Boston 2 – 3 Buffalo Miller 18,117 39–16–5 83 W 61 March 9 Tampa Bay 5 – 8 Buffalo Miller 17,934 40–16–5 85 W 62 March 11 Buffalo 6 – 5 Philadelphia Biron 19,717 41–16–5 87 W 63 March 12 Boston 2 – 6 Buffalo Biron 18,690 42–16–5 89 W 64 March 14 Buffalo 6 – 4 Washington Miller 14,386 43–16–5 91 W 65 March 16 Toronto 1 – 3 Buffalo Miller 18,690 44–16–5 93 W 66 March 18 Buffalo 2 – 4 Ottawa Miller 19,947 44–17–5 93 L 67 March 20 Buffalo 0 – 5 Atlanta Biron 14,133 44–18–5 93 L 68 March 22 Carolina 4 – 3 Buffalo Miller 18,690 44–19–5 93 L 69 March 24 Ottawa 3 – 1 Buffalo Miller 18,690 44–20–5 93 L 70 March 25 Buffalo 4 – 5 Boston Miller 15,710 44–21–5 93 L 71 March 27 Buffalo 4 – 5 NY Rangers SO Miller 18,200 44–21–6 94 OTL 72 March 29 Boston 3 – 4 Buffalo Miller 16,261 45–21–6 96 W 73 March 30 Buffalo 1 – 3 New Jersey Biron 12,425 45–22–6 96 L
April: 7–2–0 (home: 3–1–0; road: 4–1–0) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Points Recap 74 April 1 Buffalo 0 – 7 Toronto Miller 19,434 45–23–6 96 L 75 April 3 Buffalo 3 – 2 Toronto SO Biron 19,320 46–23–6 98 W 76 April 5 Ottawa 4 – 5 Buffalo OT Biron 17,622 47–23–6 100 W 77 April 7 Philadelphia 4 – 2 Buffalo Miller 16,909 47–24–6 100 L 78 April 8 Buffalo 6 – 2 Ottawa Miller 19,575 48–24–6 102 W 79 April 12 Montreal 1 – 3 Buffalo Miller 18,201 49–24–6 104 W 80 April 15 Buffalo 4 – 2 Montreal Miller 21,273 50–24–6 106 W 81 April 16 Toronto 0 – 6 Buffalo Miller 18,690 51–24–6 108 W 82 April 18 Buffalo 4 – 0 Carolina Biron 18,730 52–24–6 110 W
Legend: W Win (2 points) L Loss (0 points) OTL Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)

Playoffs

2006 Stanley Cup playoffs[7]
Eastern Conference Quarterfinals vs. (5) Philadelphia Flyers – Sabres win 4–2 Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Series Recap 1 April 22 Philadelphia 2 – 3 Buffalo 2OT Miller 18,690 Sabres lead 1–0 W 2 April 24 Philadelphia 2 – 8 Buffalo Miller 18,690 Sabres lead 2–0 W 3 April 26 Buffalo 2 – 4 Philadelphia Miller 19,984 Sabres lead 2–1 L 4 April 28 Buffalo 4 – 5 Philadelphia Miller 20,092 Series tied 2–2 L 5 April 30 Philadelphia 0 – 3 Buffalo Miller 18,690 Sabres lead 3–2 W 6 May 2 Buffalo 7 – 1 Philadelphia Miller 19,967 Sabres win 4–2 W
Eastern Conference Semifinals vs. (1) Ottawa Senators – Sabres win 4–1 Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Series Recap 1 May 5 Buffalo 7 – 6 Ottawa OT Miller 19,544 Sabres lead 1–0 W 2 May 8 Buffalo 2 – 1 Ottawa Miller 19,816 Sabres lead 2–0 W 3 May 10 Ottawa 2 – 3 Buffalo OT Miller 18,690 Sabres lead 3–0 W 4 May 11 Ottawa 2 – 1 Buffalo Miller 18,690 Sabres lead 3–1 L 5 May 13 Buffalo 3 – 2 Ottawa OT Miller 20,024 Sabres win 4–1 W
Eastern Conference Finals vs. (2) Carolina Hurricanes – Hurricanes win 4–3 Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Series Recap 1 May 20 Buffalo 3 – 2 Carolina Miller 18,730 Sabres lead 1–0 W 2 May 22 Buffalo 3 – 4 Carolina Miller 18,730 Series tied 1–1 L 3 May 24 Carolina 3 – 4 Buffalo Miller 18,690 Sabres lead 2–1 W 4 May 26 Carolina 4 – 0 Buffalo Miller 18,690 Series tied 2–2 L 5 May 28 Buffalo 3 – 4 Carolina OT Miller 18,730 Hurricanes lead 3–2 L 6 May 30 Carolina 1 – 2 Buffalo OT Miller 18,690 Series tied 3–3 W 7 June 1 Buffalo 2 – 4 Carolina Miller 18,730 Hurricanes win 4–3 L
Legend: W Win L Loss

Player statistics

Scoring

• Position abbreviations: C = Center; D = Defense; G = Goaltender; LW = Left wing; RW = Right wing
• ‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Sabres only.

No.	Player	Pos	Regular season						Playoffs
			GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM
61	Maxim Afinogenov	RW	77	22	51	73	6	84	18	3	5	8	3	10
23	Chris Drury	C	81	30	37	67	−11	32	18	9	9	18	5	10
12	Ales Kotalik	RW	82	25	37	62	−3	62	18	4	7	11	4	8
48	Daniel Briere	C	48	25	33	58	3	48	18	8	11	19	0	12
19	Tim Connolly	C	63	16	39	55	5	28	8	5	6	11	3	0
26	Thomas Vanek	LW	81	25	23	48	−11	72	10	2	0	2	−1	6
9	Derek Roy	C	70	18	28	46	1	57	18	5	10	15	7	16
51	Brian Campbell	D	79	12	32	44	−14	16	18	0	6	6	−5	12
55	Jochen Hecht	LW	64	18	24	42	10	34	15	2	6	8	4	8
17	Jean-Pierre Dumont	RW	54	20	20	40	−1	38	18	7	7	14	1	14
27	Teppo Numminen	D	75	2	38	40	6	36	12	1	1	2	3	4
29	Jason Pominville	RW	57	18	12	30	−4	22	18	5	5	10	0	8
28	Paul Gaustad	C	78	9	15	24	4	65	18	0	4	4	1	14
25	Mike Grier	RW	81	7	16	23	−7	28	18	3	5	8	3	2
10	Henrik Tallinder	D	82	6	15	21	10	74	14	2	6	8	14	16
45	Dmitri Kalinin	D	55	2	16	18	14	54	8	0	2	2	4	2
5	Toni Lydman	D	75	1	16	17	9	82	18	1	4	5	14	18
74	Jay McKee	D	75	5	11	16	0	57	17	2	3	5	3	30
24	Taylor Pyatt	LW	41	6	6	12	−1	33	14	0	5	5	−2	10
8	Rory Fitzpatrick	D	56	4	5	9	−18	50	11	0	4	4	−1	16
22	Adam Mair	C	40	2	5	7	−2	47	3	0	0	0	−2	0
13	Jiri Novotny	C	14	2	1	3	−5	0	4	0	0	0	−1	0
20	Daniel Paille	LW	14	1	2	3	5	2	—	—	—	—	—	—
30	Ryan Miller	G	48	0	2	2		0	18	0	0	0		2
38	Nathan Paetsch	D	1	0	1	1	−1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
47	Chris Thorburn	C	2	0	1	1	−1	7	—	—	—	—	—	—
43	Martin Biron	G	35	0	1	1		10	—	—	—	—	—	—
34	Jeff Jillson	D	2	0	0	0	0	4	4	0	0	0	−4	0
35	Mika Noronen‡	G	4	0	0	0		2	—	—	—	—	—	—
76	Andrew Peters	LW	28	0	0	0	−2	100	—	—	—	—	—	—
33	Doug Janik	D	—	—	—	—	—	—	5	1	0	1	−2	2

Goaltending

• ‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Sabres only.

No.	Player	Regular season										Playoffs
		GP	W	L	OT	SA	GA	GAA	SV%	SO	TOI	GP	W	L	SA	GA	GAA	SV%	SO	TOI
30	Ryan Miller	48	30	14	3	1440	124	2.60	.914	1	2862	18	11	7	522	48	2.56	.908	1	1123
43	Martin Biron	35	21	8	3	980	93	2.88	.905	1	1934	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
35	Mika Noronen‡	4	1	2	0	77	12	4.27	.844	0	169	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

Awards and records

Awards

Type	Award/honor	Recipient	Ref
League (annual)	Jack Adams Award	Lindy Ruff	[8]
League (in-season)	NHL Defensive Player of the Week	Ryan Miller (December 26)	[9]
		Ryan Miller (February 6)	[10]

Milestones

Milestone	Player	Date	Ref
First game	Thomas Vanek	October 5, 2005	[11]
	Chris Thorburn	December 2, 2005
	Daniel Paille	December 22, 2005
	Nathan Paetsch	January 7, 2006
	Jiri Novotny	January 12, 2006

Transactions

The Sabres were involved in the following transactions from February 17, 2005, the day after the 2004–05 NHL season was officially cancelled, through June 19, 2006, the day of the deciding game of the 2006 Stanley Cup Finals.^[12]

Trades

Date	Details		Ref
July 30, 2005 (2005-07-30)	To Calgary Flames 3rd-round pick in 2005	To Buffalo Sabres 3rd-round pick in 2005 4th-round pick in 2005	[13]
	To Washington Capitals 6th-round pick in 2006	To Buffalo Sabres Rights to Tim Kennedy	[12][14]
August 25, 2005 (2005-08-25)	To Calgary Flames 3rd-round pick in 2006	To Buffalo Sabres Toni Lydman	[15]
October 4, 2005 (2005-10-04)	To Chicago Blackhawks Milan Bartovic	To Buffalo Sabres Michael Leighton	[16]
March 9, 2006 (2006-03-09)	To Vancouver Canucks Mika Noronen	To Buffalo Sabres 2nd-round pick in 2006	[17]

Players acquired

Date	Player	Former team	Term	Via	Ref
August 4, 2005 (2005-08-04)	Teppo Numminen	Dallas Stars	1-year	Free agency	[18]

Players lost

Date	Player	New team	Via[a]	Ref
February 24, 2005 (2005-02-24)	Jason Botterill		Retirement (UFA)	[20]
August 3, 2005 (2005-08-03)	Miroslav Satan	New York Islanders	Free agency (UFA)	[21]
August 8, 2005 (2005-08-08)	Eric Boulton	Atlanta Thrashers	Free agency (UFA)	[22]
August 18, 2005 (2005-08-18)	Norm Milley	Tampa Bay Lightning	Free agency (VI)	[23]
August 31, 2005 (2005-08-31)	Brandon Smith	Rochester Americans (AHL)	Free agency (VI)	[24]
September 7, 2005 (2005-09-07)	Todd Rohloff	Tampa Bay Lightning	Free agency (UFA)	[25]
September 10, 2005 (2005-09-10)	Brad Brown	Toronto Maple Leafs	Free agency (UFA)	[26]
September 21, 2005 (2005-09-21)	Tom Askey	HIFK (Liiga)	Free agency (VI)	[27]
October 13, 2005 (2005-10-13)	Ryan Jorde	Danbury Trashers (UHL)	Free agency (UFA)	[28]

Signings

Date	Player	Term	Contract type	Ref
July 28, 2005 (2005-07-28)	Clarke MacArthur	3-year	Entry-level	[29]
July 29, 2005 (2005-07-29)	Rory Fitzpatrick	1-year	Option exercised	[30]
	Dmitri Kalinin	1-year	Option exercised	[30]
August 4, 2005 (2005-08-04)	Taylor Pyatt	1-year	Re-signing	[31]
August 8, 2005 (2005-08-08)	Mike Grier	1-year	Re-signing	[32]
August 12, 2005 (2005-08-12)	Martin Biron	1-year	Re-signing	[33]
	Brian Campbell	1-year	Re-signing	[34]
	Ryan Miller	1-year	Re-signing	[34]
August 15, 2005 (2005-08-15)	Maxim Afinogenov	1-year	Re-signing	[35]
	Milan Bartovic	1-year	Re-signing	[35]
	Daniel Briere	1-year	Re-signing	[35]
	Tim Connolly	1-year	Re-signing	[35]
	Jean-Pierre Dumont	1-year	Re-signing	[35]
	Paul Gaustad	1-year	Re-signing	[35]
	Jochen Hecht	3-year	Re-signing	[36]
	Jeff Jillson	1-year	Re-signing	[35]
	Ales Kotalik	1-year	Re-signing	[35]
	Jason Pominville	1-year	Re-signing	[35]
	Michael Ryan	1-year	Re-signing	[35]
	Henrik Tallinder	1-year	Re-signing	[35]
September 9, 2005 (2005-09-09)	Jay McKee	1-year	Re-signing	[37]
September 14, 2005 (2005-09-14)	Sean McMorrow		Re-signing	[38]
October 11, 2005 (2005-10-11)	Mark Mancari	3-year	Entry-level	[39]
May 3, 2006 (2006-05-03)	Drew Stafford	3-year	Entry-level	[40]
June 5, 2006 (2006-06-05)	Mike Card	multi-year	Entry-level	[41]
	Michael Funk	multi-year	Entry-level	[41]
	Dylan Hunter	multi-year	Entry-level	[41]
	Patrick Kaleta	multi-year	Entry-level	[41]

Draft picks

As there was no 2004–05 season to set the order for the draft, a lottery was held in which teams were assigned a number of balls, between one and three, based on the number of playoff appearances the team had had in the past three seasons. As the Sabres had missed the playoffs three consecutive seasons, they were one of only four teams which had the full allotment of three balls in the lottery. Despite this advantage, the Sabres only ended up with the 13th overall pick.

Buffalo's picks at the 2005 NHL entry draft in Ottawa, Ontario:^[42]

Round	#	Player	Nationality	NHL team	College/junior/club team (league)
1	13	Marek Zagrapan (C)	Slovakia	Buffalo Sabres	Chicoutimi Saguenéens (QMJHL)
2	48	Philipp Gogulla (W)	Germany	Buffalo Sabres	Kolner Haie (DEL)
3	87	Marc-Andre Gragnani (D)	Canada	Buffalo Sabres (from Calgary Flames)	P.E.I. Rocket (QMJHL)
4	96	Chris Butler (D)	United States	Buffalo Sabres (from Calgary Flames)	Sioux City Musketeers (USHL)
5	142	Nathan Gerbe (C)	United States	Buffalo Sabres	US National Team Development Program
6	182	Adam Dennis (G)	Canada	Buffalo Sabres	London Knights (OHL)
6	191	Vyacheslav Buravchikov (D)	Russia	Buffalo Sabres (from Minnesota Wild)	Krylia (Russia 2)
7	208	Matt Generous (D)	United States	Buffalo Sabres	New England Junior Falcons (EJHL)
7	227	Andrew Orpik (D)	United States	Buffalo Sabres	Thayer Academy (USHS)

See also

• 2005–06 NHL season

Notes

1. In parentheses is the player's free agency group on August 1 if applicable.^[19]