There are a lot of factors that will come into play for the Buffalo Sabres when the 2025-26 season begins. One of the biggest question marks for them is going to be the health and performance of fresh face Josh Norris, who they acquired from the Ottawa Senators on March 7, 2025, for Dylan Cozens. So far, his career has been steadily mired by injuries, while also showing flashes of brilliance along that same timeframe. The Sabres are in desperate need of a game-changing player to step up and make that difference on a nightly basis, and Norris has the potential to be that player.
A Healthy Norris Moves the Needle for the Sabres
Since becoming a full-time NHL player with the Senators in 2020-21, Norris has enjoyed a fair amount of success and has been a very reliable top-six scoring forward with some very underrated versatility to boot. While he has not yet played a single full NHL season (piquing at 66 games in the 2021-22 season) in the sample size he has provided, he has shown to be a goal scorer first with 91 career goals to his 67 assists, a power play threat (60 of his career 158 points are on the power play), an accurate shooter (18.2% career accuracy), and a steady faceoff man (52.5% career win rate). The Sabres may not have much trouble scoring at even strength, but adding someone who can put the puck in the net with the man advantage and win some draws in every scenario will be invaluable to them.
If the Sabres can find a way to have their strength and conditioning department focus in and keep him healthy enough to play 75 or more games, it would make a world of difference. Considering in the one season where he played the most games (again, 66 games in 2021-21) he scored 35 goals and amassed 55 points in that span, while contributing 16 power play tallies, he could absolutely contribute similar numbers on this Sabres team that has more playmaking and finishing weapons than the Senators team from that season. The key is keeping him healthy and letting him do what he does best.
Sabres Cannot Overuse Norris
With how versatile Norris is, using him in all situations will be severely tempting for head coach Lindy Ruff. As a coach that likes to focus on his defensive aspect first before making a transition to offense, this could potentially lead to Ruff overusing Norris as he tries to stretch what he can do across both special teams, and still giving him top-six playing time. More playing time means more chances for his…
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