It’s another season that the Buffalo Sabers and their fans would like to forget, and it just got worse. On Tuesday, it was announced that defenceman Owen Power will miss the final two games of the regular season with a left-knee injury. While it does not have much impact on this season, it has major implications for the offseason and the 2025-26 season.
Owen Power Out With Knee Injury
Power was hurt during the second period of Saturday’s loss to the Florida Panthers. Carter Verhaeghe was knocked into Power and rolled up on his left leg, causing Power to exit the game. While the exact nature of his injury is currently unknown, many in the Sabres organization fear that it’s serious. It’s being talked about in terms of week-to-week and possibly month-to-month.
Power was looking to put the finishing touches on a career season. Through 79 games, he has recorded seven goals and 33 assists for 40 points, career highs in each category. Power was still one of Buffalo’s best defencemen, a bright spot in yet another loss season for the Sabres. But this career season will always be overshadowed by this injury.
How This Injury Affects Power and the Sabres’ Offseason
This was supposed to be a big offseason for Power in terms of development. He had just turned 22 in November and was coming off a breakout season, so this offseason was when he would take the next step. He would iron out some of his flaws, like his struggles with defensive coverage, and turn into a true top-pairing defenceman. However, with Power’s injury, this offseason will be spent rehabbing. Instead of trying to become a better player, the focus is on getting him back to the player he was. This puts a halt to his development and changes the expectations he has for next season.
This also changes the Sabres’ plans for this upcoming offseason. Instead of having their defensive pairing pretty much established, the secondary pair has a major question mark. The Sabres will have to bring in a veteran defenseman who can start in case Power misses time. This takes away cap space that could be spent on larger needs. These needs include bringing in more scoring depth or an established second-line centre.
Main Photo Credit: Amber Searls-Imagn Images
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