Newcomer Winger Danforth A Role Player At Best For Buffalo In ’25-26

The NHL’s 2025-26 season is about to begin, and on THN.com’s Buffalo Sabres site, we’re approaching the end of our player-by-player series in which we analyze every Sabres player’s expectations for the coming season.

We’ve broken down the Sabres’ goalies, defensemen, and most of Buffalo’s group of forwards. And in today’s file, we’re examining Justin Danforth. The veteran winger left the Columbus Blue Jackets to sign with the Sabres for the ‘25-26 and 2026-7 campaigns, and below, you’ll find expectations on Danforth this coming season:

Player Name: Justin Danforth

Position: Right Winger

Age: 32

2024-25 Key Statistics: 61 games, nine goals, 21 points, 14:23 average time on ice

2025-26 Salary: $1.8 million

2025-26 Expectations: Since his pro hockey career began in 2017, Danforth has bounced between the American League, ECHL, Europe and NHL, only finding a long-lasting NHL job as a member of the Blue Jackets in the past few seasons. And to this day, Danforth’s career-high in goals is 10, a number which he got to in 45 games of the ‘21-22 season, then matched in 71 games in 2023-24.

Danforth got close to that career-high last season, posting nine goals and 21 points in 61 games with Columbus. And he made a career-best $1.1-million last year – a total he surely could’ve improved upon had he chosen to head back to Europe this fall. Instead, the 32-year-old got a two-year contract from the Sabres, at nearly double his salary from last year.

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That said, Danforth will begin the 2025-26 season firmly entrenched on Buffalo’s fourth line, and it’s difficult to envision him rising up the depth chart anytime soon. With due respect to Danforth, who deserves credit for scratching and clawing to carve out an NHL career for himself, he simply doesn’t have the experience or reputation that would persuade you he can do anything other than barely get to double-digits in goals and 20-25 points in a single season.

Injuries to the Sabres’ group of forwards could afford Danforth more opportunities on the third line. But Buffalo management undoubtedly would prefer their younger players make the most of their chances, and that would almost certainly mean Danforth is going to be well down the Sabres’ list of secondary scoring options in the short-and-long-term picture.

Listed at 5-foot-9, Danforth is an undersized, undrafted winger at the NHL level. He’s not going to overwhelm opponents with skill, size or intuition. He’s not going to be a negative influence on the Sabres’ performance this coming year, but he’s also not going to do any of the heavy lifting required to carry this Buffalo team past the finish line and end the Sabres’ 14-year Stanley Cup playoff drought.

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Thus, we have to measure our expectations for Danforth. He got a decent contract out of Buffalo GM Kevyn Adams, and good for him for doing so. And if he can get to the 15-goal, 30-point mark, the Sabres will be thrilled.

But imagining Danforth will be on highlight reels and near the top of Buffalo’s list of top scorers is dreaming in technicolor. Danforth is a fringe component of the Sabres, and his expectations should be constructed accordingly.