The opening week of the NHL regular season has been anything but kind to the Buffalo Sabres, who have lost their first two games by a combined score of 7-2, illustrating the struggles that have kept the franchise from making the postseason since the 2010-11 season.
One issue for first-year head coach Lindy Ruff is Buffalo’s lack of on-ice experience, with the Sabres having the youngest roster in the 32-team NHL with an average age of 25.32 across the team’s roster.
The net result of that inexperience is that Buffalo currently holds the second longest odds of winning the NHL Atlantic Division this year on Bet365 Ontario, at +1300, ranking ahead of the lowly Montreal Canadiens (+7500) overall.
Opening day for the NHL is here. To start the season, OntarioBets.com paused Ontario sports betting coverage to see which NHL teams have the youngest rosters, as of opening day (Oct. 8.) Using the official team rosters as of opening day, we found the average age of each team and ranked the top 10 youngest NHL teams.
Top 10 Youngest NHL Team Rosters
Rank | Team | Average Age |
1 | Buffalo Sabres | 25.32 |
2 | Montreal Canadiens | 25.95 |
3 | Utah Hockey Club | 26.78 |
4 | Columbus Blue Jackets | 27.05 |
5 | Boston Bruins | 27.08 |
6 | Philadelphia Flyers | 27.13 |
7 | Anaheim Ducks | 27.27 |
8 | San Jose Sharks | 27.29 |
9 | Colorado Avalanche | 27.48 |
10 | Vancouver Canucks | 28.00 |
If you believe younger teams have an edge, you may want to consider this information when you place NHL bets on Ontario sports betting apps this season.
Where Sabres Rank NHL-Wide
As we head into the brunt of the NHL’s 82-game regular season, it’s worth remembering just how young the Sabres roster is this year, with an average age that’s nearly a full calendar year younger than the next closest franchise.
That team is the aforementioned Canadiens, who have an average age of 25.95, while the Utah Hockey Club is third overall with an average age of 26.78 in 2024-25, while the Columbus Blue Jackets (27.05 average age) and Boston Bruins (27.08 average age) are the next closest overall.
Throw in the Philadelphia Flyers, who have an average age of 27.13, the Anaheim Ducks (27.27 average age), San José Sharks (27.29 average age), Colorado Avalanche (27.48 average age) and the Vancouver Canucks (28.00 average age) and you have the full rundown of the youngest teams in the NHL this season.
In Buffalo, hope runs high that the Sabres’ rough opening two games is not a harbinger of what’s to come this season, as Buffalo looks to snap a longstanding postseason drought that’s stretched across two decades on the banks of Lake Erie.
Author
Christopher Boan is a writer at OntarioBets.com. He's covered sports and sports betting in Arizona for more than seven years, including stops at ArizonaSports.com, the Tucson Weekly and the Green Valley News.
