NHL commissioner Gary Bettman speaks out on Sabres ownership amid playoff drought, draws parallels to $5.95B franchise

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman attended the Buffalo Sabres’ home opener against the New York Rangers on Thursday. There, he spoke about the team’s ownership and the long playoff drought. He said building a winning team in Buffalo is challenging, but owner Terry Pegula is committed.

"This is a great hockey market and it’s just a question of performance," Bettman said on the Sabres' struggles, via The Athletic. "I know they are working very hard at it, and I know it’s vitally important to Terry and he’s committed to getting it right.

Bettman compared the Sabres to the Buffalo Bills, valued at $5.95 billion by Forbes in August 2025.

"By the way, I remember when he first bought the Bills, initially there was a lot of criticism and it took three or four years for that team to get good," Bettman said. "This is taking a little bit longer, but the commitment should never be doubted. He’s a terrific owner."

Buffalo's playoff drought has now continued for 14 seasons. They last played a postseason game in April 2011. Last season, a 13-game winless streak in December prevented them from reaching playoffs. Even though Buffalo won 9 of their last 14 games, it was not suffice.

Coach Lindy Ruff had said in April that they need to work to manage the puck.

"We have work to do," Ruff said. "We have work to do as a team, establishing the way we need to play, the way we need to manage the puck night in, night out, shift after shift,"

Sabres coach Lindy Ruff on their shutout loss

Buffalo Sabres lost 4-0 to New York Rangers in first game of 2025-26 season. Igor Shesterkin made 37 saves for New York, and Buffalo goalie Alex Lyon stopped 29 shots. Coach Lindy Ruff said the team struggled early and chased the puck too much.

"The first 10 minutes, we were chasing the puck around an awful lot," Ruff said, via NHL.com, "... Our passing wasn't very clean tonight. I think even on our power play, just some errant passes that we should connect, that we've been pretty good on. Once we got going in the second period, we had our chances. We just didn't convert."

Currently, Injuries to Josh Norris and Owen Power have affected Sabres' lineup, resulting in the loss. Now, they will play the next game on Saturday against the Boston Bruins.