The New Jersey Devils and Boston Bruins returned for the tournament, which ran September 16–19, partially opposite the 2016 World Cup of Hockey; in contrast to the previous season, the Sabres lost both prospect tournament games and finished in third place.
[3] The Sabres contributed three players to the World Cup: Jack Eichel for Team North America, Ryan O'Reilly for Canada, and Rasmus Ristolainen for Finland.
On July 16, 2016, the Sabres hired Tom Ward as an assistant coach.
Ward had spent the previous 18 seasons as the head coach for the Minnesota High School boys prep team.
[4] The Sabres also announced that the naming rights to their home arena will change.