If there was any team in the NHL that couldn't afford to get off to a poor start to the new season, it was the Buffalo Sabres.
Everyone is well aware of the 14-year playoff drought that continues to hang over the organization, and until they snap it, doubts will arise when things go sideways.
Unfortunately, that’s been the case thus far in 2025-26, as injuries and poor play have combined for a disastrous start in Buffalo.
On Monday, it was more of the same, losing their third straight, this time at home to Colorado, and after the game, the Sabres' star players expressed their frustration.
Team reporter Heather Engel shared captain Rasmus Dahlin's postgame comments on X (formerly Twitter).
"This is not acceptable. It's not good enough... We've got to get out of this bull****," Dahlin said.
Rasmus Dahlin on the 0-3 start: "This is not acceptable."
— Heather Engel (@engelheather) October 13, 2025
"It’s not good enough. ... We've got to get out of this bullshit."
Fellow reporter Jonathan Acosta shared some of Tage Thompson's comments.
"Can't keep looking back; I mean, the last three games, the last four seasons, the last 14 seasons, whatever you want to do... What's done is done. So, I'm tired of talking about the past; I'm tired of talking about how we're 0 in three games," Thompson said.
The #Sabres are 0-3. I asked Tage Thompson what the morale is in the locker room.
— Jonathan Acosta (@_jacosta) October 13, 2025
"It's not a good morale when you're losing... Can't keep looking back, the last 3 games, the last 4 seasons, the last 14 seasons... what's done is done. I'm tired of talking about the past."@WGRZ pic.twitter.com/NGjBHA0Hcj
The 25-year-old Dahlin just began the second season of the eight-year, $88 million extension he signed with the Sabres in 2023, while the 27-year-old Thompson is in year three of the seven-year, $49,999,999 deal he signed to extend in Buffalo in 2022.
The implications of another poor season
We're only one week into this new season, though it already feels like things are slipping away before they really even started for the Buffalo Sabres.
Dahlin and Thompson let the front office know that improvements had to be made this year, and thus far, it's not looking so good.
You can't blame them for feeling this way, and it's an all too familiar problem the Sabres have faced in the past, losing their top talent who go on to thrive elsewhere.
This will certainly be a situation to keep an eye on because if things don’t improve significantly in the coming months, we could see seismic change on and off the ice in Buffalo.