The Buffalo Bills are committed to supporting their star quarterback, Josh Allen, who recently won the NFL MVP award, narrowly beating Lamar Jackson. After falling just short of reaching the big game, the Bills are eager to improve and are expected to be aggressive this offseason.
One area they may look to improve is the wide receiver position, possibly bringing in a proven player for Allen. They could also target a playmaker in the 2025 NFL Draft, even without using a first or second-round pick.
One player who could be a great option is Maryland wide receiver Tai Felton. Felton had an impressive 2024 season, catching 96 passes for 1,124 yards and 9 touchdowns. He’s seen as a potential sleeper pick for the Bills in the fourth round, at pick No. 131.
Josh Allen celebrates after scoring
Felton isn’t expected to be a key contributor in his first season, but he could develop into an important piece down the road. He has a playing style similar to New Orleans Saints’ Chris Olave, with speed and solid route running, but his lack of physicality could hold him back as a top option. However, his talent could make him valuable for Buffalo.
Felton’s impressive college numbers make him worth considering for the Bills if he’s available in the fourth round, even though he may take time to develop.
The Buffalo Sabres are feeling confident and will aim to carry their momentum into the 4 Nations Face-Off break when they visit the struggling Nashville Predators on Saturday night.
The Sabres are currently on a season-high four-game winning streak, with one of those wins coming on Jan. 31 at home against Nashville. They haven’t won five games in a row since Jan. 19-26, 2023.
“Each day is big. Each win is big, and I think we’re gaining traction right now,” said forward Tage Thompson. “Obviously, Saturday is going to be a big one and make sure we get that one going into the break, continue to build momentum. … I feel like there’s a lot of confidence in our game right now. … All things kind of coming together, just got to be consistent with it.”
The Sabres are expected to have Thompson back in the lineup after he missed the 3-2 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday due to a concussion from a hit by New Jersey Devils forward Stefan Noesen on Sunday.
Thompson leads the Sabres with 26 goals and 48 points in 47 games. He has eight points (four goals, four assists) in his last three games and 14 points (seven goals, seven assists) in his past nine games.
This production has come while playing at right wing, a position change made by coach Lindy Ruff in early January as Thompson dealt with an injury that affected his ability to play center. Recently, he has been paired with rookie center Jiri Kulich and JJ Peterka.
Vancouver Canucks and Nashville Predators
“He’s scoring a lot more. That’s really what has stood out,” said Ruff about Thompson. “The connection with those three guys has been good. I think it’s freed him up a little bit from defensive responsibilities down low, to get out of the zone, use his speed a little bit more, get up ice a little bit quicker.”
The Sabres are also expected to have goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and center Dylan Cozens in the lineup on Saturday. Luukkonen missed Tuesday’s game due to a lower-body injury sustained during the morning skate, and Cozens also missed practice Wednesday with a lower-body issue.
The Predators, on the other hand, are looking to end a six-game losing streak, with the most recent loss being a 6-2 defeat to the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday. This slide follows a 7-2-0 stretch in their previous nine games.
“Obviously, it’s been a really frustrating stretch for us here,” said coach Andrew Brunette. “It’s been a frustrating year, I think, right from the start. Kind of getting our head out of it a little bit, and now we sunk back in. It will be a test of our character. We’ve got one game before the break. Let’s try to play our best game and regroup here a little bit.”
The Predators have struggled offensively, ranking 31st in the NHL with an average of 2.58 goals per game. They’ve also had trouble keeping the puck out of their net, allowing 3.30 goals per game, the seventh-most in the league. During their losing streak, they’ve been outscored 26-10.
“We have another chance tomorrow,” said captain Roman Josi on Friday. “It’s one more game before the break, and we’ve got to find our identity.”
Sabres' failure to respond to Thompson hit recalls troubling past in Buffalo
The Buffalo Sabres earned their third straight win with a 4-3 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Sunday, but the main story after the game wasn’t their success. It was the head hit from New Jersey’s Stefan Noesen on Tage Thompson, which led to a major penalty and game misconduct for Noesen. Thompson, the Sabres’ leading scorer, was knocked out of the game and didn’t return.
Thompson, who was named the NHL’s Second Star of the Week on Monday, was reaching for the puck in the New Jersey zone when Noesen hit him. The Devils player received a five-minute match penalty, but the NHL’s Department of Player Safety decided not to hold a hearing for any further discipline.
The real controversy after the game centered on the Sabres’ lack of response to the hit on their star player. Veteran Jason Zucker said he didn’t see Noesen’s hit but did mention that others witnessed it and didn’t take action.
“I know I had a couple guys that wanted to go after (Noesen) right away, and where we were at in the game, there was going to be a time we were going to be able to even the score,” Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff said after the game.
Buffalo Sabres (NHL)
“Why isn’t there a call after (Zucker) gets cross-checked after he scores a goal? In the game where there were all kinds of strange calls, why isn’t there a call on that play?”
The chance to retaliate against Noesen never came, which raised questions about the team’s mentality. While it’s understandable that players may hesitate when they’re unsure what happened, it was clear after the hit, and still, there was no reaction to the injury of their best player.
If Buffalo was in the playoff race, it might make sense to be cautious, but with the Sabres 11 points out of a wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, their lack of response felt similar to when Milan Lucic hit Ryan Miller in 2011.
Ruff confirmed that Thompson was medically cleared after the game, but since the Sabres didn’t practice on Monday, there would be no update on his status for their next game against Columbus until the morning skate on Tuesday.
Rookie Jiri Kulich scored two goals, including the game-winner with 2:04 left, leading the Buffalo Sabres to a 4-3 victory over the Nashville Predators on Friday night.
On a fast break, Sabres forward Tage Thompson passed across the high slot to Kulich, who fired a shot past Nashville goalie Justus Annunen (23 saves) to score his second two-goal game. This was Buffalo’s second win in a row, a rare feat for the team in January.
Ryan McLeod and Jason Zucker also scored, and Rasmus Dahlin had two assists for Buffalo, which bounced back after blowing an early 2-0 lead.
Brady Skjei contributed a goal and an assist for Nashville, which has now lost three straight after a five-game winning streak.
The Sabres started strong, possibly inspired by the pregame ceremony that honored former enforcer Rob Ray’s induction into the team’s Hall of Fame. Buffalo took a 2-0 lead just 8:41 into the game.
At 2:25, McLeod managed to push in a rebound from Dahlin’s shot. A little more than six minutes later, Kulich skated in unguarded and scored on Annunen.
Buffalo Sabres (NHL)
But by the end of the first period, Nashville had tied the game.
At 9:04, Luke Evangelista, back after missing eight games due to injury, tipped in a shot from Justin Barron near the blue line. The Predators tied the game with 2:54 left in the first period, when Skjei’s slap shot deflected off McLeod’s stick and went over the head of Buffalo goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (28 saves).
Nashville then took a 3-2 lead just 2:51 into the second period, when Tommy Novak tipped in another shot from Skjei.
However, the Sabres responded and tied the game 3-3 with 7:34 left in the second. Zucker finished off a two-on-one break with Alex Tuch.
Nashville’s starting goalie, Juuse Saros, was unavailable due to illness.
Rob Ray is included into the Buffalo Sabres Hall of Fame before the game
Rob Ray, the tough NHL enforcer, showed a softer side during his induction into the Buffalo Sabres Hall of Fame on Friday night, as he reflected on his journey.
The sight of his parents sitting beside him and the standing ovation from thousands of Sabres fans nearly brought Ray to tears before he even started his acceptance speech.
“OK, you got to stop or I’m going to cry,” said Ray, who played 14 of his 16 NHL seasons in Buffalo. He inspired a rule change in the NHL, entertained fans with his fights, racked up 3,207 penalty minutes, and became a beloved figure in Buffalo, transitioning smoothly into broadcasting Sabres games.
“I came to this town, I didn’t need glasses, I was in shape, I had hair, I left it all here for you guys,” Ray said to begin his speech.
“It’s hard to believe I’ve been in this organization for 37 years,” he said at the end. “And on those nights that I was coming off the ice, and there was blood coming out of your face somewhere, that wasn’t red. That was blue and gold,” he added, referring to the Sabres’ team colors.
Ray, now 56, was drafted by Buffalo in the fifth round of the 1988 draft. He played for the Sabres from 1990 to 2002, then spent parts of two seasons in Ottawa before retiring. He was inducted as the 44th member of the team’s Hall of Fame before a game against the Nashville Predators.
His penalty minutes remain a franchise record, and he ranks sixth on the NHL’s career list. In 900 career games, Ray scored 41 goals and 91 points.
Although his many fights are what most people remember, Ray had a few key offensive moments. He scored a goal on his first career shift, beating goalie Tom Barrasso with a slap shot in a 4-2 win over Pittsburgh on Oct. 21, 1989. He also scored three career playoff goals, including the game-winning goal in a 5-2 victory over Toronto in the 1999 Eastern Conference finals, a series Buffalo went on to win.
Rob Ray is included in the Buffalo Sabres Hall of Fame before the game
Ray was known for wearing tear-away jerseys during fights, giving him an advantage over his opponents, who would be left holding his jersey while Ray continued to throw punches. This led the NHL to introduce a rule stating that players who fought without their jerseys would receive game misconducts.
“He played the game with fire. He wasn’t just a tough guy, but he was the toughest,” said former teammate Brad May. “There’s no better feeling knowing Rob Ray has your back.”
Ray, who is from Stirling, Ontario, adopted Buffalo as his hometown. He is known for leading the Sabres alumni association and for his charitable work, including delivering toys to children in need each Christmas Eve.
Ray was honored on the ice with many of his former teammates, along with his wife and two children. Sabres co-owner Kim Pegula, who had been recovering from a serious cardiac arrest in June 2022, also attended the ceremony, marking her first appearance at the arena since the incident. She watched from a suite with her husband, Terry.
Ray took time to pay tribute to each of his coaches and the late NHL Hall of Fame broadcaster Rick Jeanneret, saying, “I miss you, buddy. We all do.” Jeanneret had helped Ray get his start in broadcasting after retirement.
Former rival Tie Domi, who fought Ray many times, sent a video message. “They changed the rules because of you. The streaker, the fighting streaker,” Domi said. “I’m proud of you man. Our friendship goes way beyond hockey.”
Ray expressed his regret that the NHL had phased out the enforcer role through rule changes aimed at limiting fighting in the last two decades.
“I think that sometimes what we lose in our game is it’s all about winning and losing and it’s all about stats, you forget it’s an entertainment business,” Ray said. A member of the late-90s Sabres, known as the hardest working team in hockey, he reflected, “We didn’t win a lot of games back then.
But we played hard and people respected it. They liked it. They knew that we might not win, but you know what, ‘I may see a fight tonight. I might see two.’ And that was kind of the draw that lured them.”
