Out with the new, in with the old. The Buffalo Sabres hope Lindy Ruff's experience will lead them through a tough division, and their new captain is pumped to have him.

Here we go again. The Buffalo Sabres, which kick off the 2024-25 regular season on Friday with a 1 p.m. ET Global Series game against the New Jersey Devils in Prague, enter the year with the second-longest playoff drought in North American professional sports.

For those counting, it’s been 13 long years since the team was in the post-season. But this time is different — again. 

There’s a different — but familiar — face behind the bench. Lindy Ruff, who was the last coach to have led the Sabres to a playoff berth way back in 2011, will try to do what Ron Rolston, Ted Nolan, Dan Bylsma, Phil Housley, Ralph Krueger and Don Granato could not. And, so far, he’s got the city’s blessing.

“I play golf with a lot of locals, and you really understand what he means to the city and how big of a legend he is in Buffalo,” newly appointed captain Rasmus Dahlin told The Hockey News and reporters during the NHL/NHLPA Player Media Tour in September. 

“It’s pretty cool. I’m very pumped to get to know him as a coach, as a leader.”

For Dahlin, who wasn’t there for Rolston, Nolan or Bylsma, having an experienced coach is important. So is finding a coach who will stick around for longer than a few years.

Housely, who was a first-time NHL head coach, lasted in Buffalo for two seasons. Krueger, who previously had coached only 48 games with the Oilers, spent less than two seasons in Buffalo. And Granato, who was another first-time NHL coach, was behind the bench for less than four years.

In Ruff, the team is not only getting a so-called local legend. The Sabres are also getting something they’ve missed — an experienced head coach who won the Jack Adams Award in 2006 and ranks fifth in all-time wins (864) and fourth in games-coached (1,774), behind only Scotty Bowman, Paul Maurice and Barry Trotz.

“I’m just super excited to have a really experienced coach who can really help a young group,” said Dahlin. “And he really knows what we have to improve from previous years. We’ve been taking steps the last couple of years. But now, to really become a winning team, it’s going to be exciting to have an experienced coach with a lot of advice to become a good hockey team.

"He really knows what he’s doing, and he’s been in the game a while.” 

Still, it’s going to be a challenge for the Sabres, which finished sixth in the ultra-competitive Atlantic Division last season, seven points back of the final wild-card spot.

“It’s a tough division,” said Dahlin, who said the Sabres must do a better job against teams in their division, where their record was 11-12-3 last season. “We need to play more of a playoff-type game when we play those guys. It means more than I think we really realize.

“The last two years now, we’ve been in the playoff race, we’ve been in the hunt, so now we just have to take the next step.”

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