Buffalo Sabres Recovery Will Be Tough
By Tim Redinger
For those of you who are hoping that the Buffalo Sabres drafting number one or two in this year’s draft will solve the woes of the team and we will instantly start beating teams again, might want to rewatch games like last nights embarrassing effort against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Granted – the Penguins are the elite of the NHL. They have the generational talent that Buffalo is looking for. Buffalo largely stood around and watched the Pittsburgh Penguins last night. Hopefully they were taking notes on puck possession, passing, and goal scoring.
Changes need to be made, and trades will happen this season. On top of not having the right deal in place for the pieces he would be interested in shipping out, I think it is too early for Tim Murray to start making deals. He has the team he need for right now. They are (for the most part) playing entertaining hockey (last night must have been an exception), but they are losing very frequently.
Tim Murray understands the draft lottery, and he wants to ensure that his team is walking up to the podium first or second this year. If you finish dead last, then your guaranteed one of those spots.
Buffalo Sabres Dead Weight
On their active roster, there are twelve players that are hitting free agency this upcoming off season. Nine of those twelve players are unrestricted free agents, and they know that their suffering in Buffalo is short lived and they will be on another team soon enough.
The three restricted free agents are not necessarily that important to the rebuild either. Goalie Matt Hackett has been injured and has not seen any game action this season. His 4-13-1 NHL record isn’t an upgrade over what the Buffalo Sabres currently have in net.
Drew Stafford leads the list of free agent-to-be players with three goals. Torrey Mitchell and Brian Flynn have a single goal each.
Chris Stewart hasn’t scored, but his hasn’t been for a lack of trying. Patrick Kaleta still has yet to suit up for the Buffalo Sabres, still watching from the injured reserve list.
On defense, Andre Benoit is tied for the lead league with a -10 and Andrej Meszaros is right behind him with an impressive -10. Both players have been liabilities and just seem to be going through the motions, knowing they don’t have to deal with playing in Buffalo for long.
Buffalo Sabres Goaltender Conundrum
Michal Neuvirth has played his way into the number one position over Jhonas Enroth this season. And that isn’t completely Enroth’s fault. Jhonas Enroth’s last two games were against the Pittsburgh Penguins. In those two games he has allowed 11 goals. He has also faced off against Boston twice, and Chicagao. He has definitely played the tougher schedule. He has played weaker teams, and has only managed to come up with a win against Carolina.
The Buffalo Sabres will have a decision to make shortly. Who gets the demotion when Matt Hackett returns to action? Certainly there is plenty of room on the bench for whatever goaltenders Ted Nolan wants to go to war with, but Andrey Makarov and Nathan Lieuwen have been serviceable in Rochester with the Americans.
We aren’t even halfway through November yet, and it is getting harder and harder to watch the Buffalo Sabres. Everything is going according to plan, but how much more fans will be able to take en route to fulfilling the plan remains to be seen.
It was kind of fitting that the Buffalo Sabres played the Pittsburgh Penguins on military appreciation night. The Penguins rolled over the Sabres just as easily as the U.S. Military rolled over the Republican Guard in Operation Desert Storm.