The Buffalo Sabres finally made it into the Stanley Cup playoffs this past season after a 15-year absence, skyrocketing to the top of the Atlantic Division, beating the Boston Bruins in Round 1 of the post-season, then losing to the Montreal Canadiens in the second round .
So, while the ending to their season wasn't ideal, the Sabres' growth last season means TheHockeyNews.com 's annual grades for Sabres players will be positive. You'd need a perfect year to get an A+ grade, but you also won't see Buffalo's players get a failing or sub-par grade.
In this "Sabres Grades" file, we're turning the spotlight on up-and-coming winger Jack Quinn. The 24-year-old had a career-best season on offense last year, and he'll be an RFA after this coming season. Buffalo needs continued growth from Quinn, and he's got every motivation to have a strong 2026-27 season
Jack Quinn
Position:Right winger
Grade:A-
The Skinny:For the first three seasons of Quinn's NHL career, he was finding his footing. In his rookie year, he posted 14 goals and 37 points in 75 games. Then, in his sophomore year of 2023-24, Quinn had to deal with injuries limiting him to 27 games – but he still produced 10 assists and 19 points in that span. And in 2024-25, Quinn produced 15 goals and 39 points in 74 games. His trajectory was still going the right way.
The Sabres needed more from Quinn in 2025-26, and 'more' is exactly what Buffalo got from Quinn last season, as he posted 20 goals and 51 points in 82 games in Year 1 of a two-year contract paying him the bargain rate of $3.375-million per-season . And in Buffalo's playoffs this spring, Quinn posted five assists and seven points in 13 games. That's not outstanding, but it's definitely encouraging.
Buffalo has Quinn slotting in on their second line of forwards, and while that's a position that's going to give him terrific opportunities, it also carries with it considerable pressure to perform. So, while Quinn and the Sabres should be thrilled with Quinn's performance last season, Buffalo also needs Quinn to take additional steps to graduate to a higher echelon – something that's been envisioned for him since Quinn was drafted eighth-overall in 2020.
Quinn doesn't have to put the Sabres on his back to earn an A+ grade from this writer. But you'd like to see Quinn's plus/minus be better than the plus-4 he posted last season – by comparison, teammate Ryan McLeod was a plus-25 – and yes, you'd absolutely like to see an improvement with Quinn's totals on offense.
The Sabres need overall improvement to go further in the post-season next spring, but Quinn is going to be a key component for them. He took an important step forward in '25-26, but Quinn has to show (a) there are still levels he can ascend to; and (b) he has to do so with some semblance of consistency.
If Quinn thrives this coming season, he's going to put the Sabres in a delicate situation. At that point, we'll have to see what road Sabres GM Jarmo Kekalainen chooses with Quinn – a lengthy contract extension, or a shorter 'bridge' deal. The stakes are sky-high for Quinn, but Buffalo fans have seen enough out of him to feel confident he can grow his game and develop into the first-rate NHLer the Sabres want and need him to be.
