Buffalo Sabres, Ryan O’Reilly, History

Good morning, Buffalo Sabres fans. Today marks the final day of NHL action before the league takes a break for its upcoming All-Star Game, when Buffalo Sabres forward Zemgus Girgensons and some of the other hot players in the league will take the ice in Columbus, Ohio for a skills competition and the game itself.

First up in Buffalo Sabres news this morning: a look back at the 1988-1989 team. [Grantland]

That season, the Buffalo Sabres weren’t spectacular, but they certainly weren’t struggling as they are this season. The site is running a feature where it visits a notable team and season from NHL history, and there you have it. Can we reflect back on other good times, too? How about the years of Daniel Briere, Chris Drury, Stanley Cup runs, and division championships?

Ah. The good old days.

One of the problems surrounding the current Buffalo Sabres team is a lack of scoring.

The Buffalo Sabres have scored just 89 goals this season, the lowest of any team in the NHL — nine less than Carolina, and 67 less than the Tampa Bay Lightning. Of course, this isn’t the only issue for the struggling Sabres, but it’s a big part of it.

The simple fact is that not enough players are scoring, and the players who should be putting up big numbers simply haven’t stepped up. Trades could be coming, free agency is approaching, but it’ll be hard to move any of these players when they haven’t been producing. [Sports Media 101]

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One of the newest rumors circling around the mill surrounds Colorado Avalanche center Ryan O’Reilly. According to a Sportsnet report, both the Buffalo Sabres and Toronto Maple Leafs have shown interest in the 23-year-old, who has 24 points in 45 games this season.

In all actuality, trade rumors around O’Reilly are nothing new – remember them from back in December? He could also be a free agent as of summer 2016. Though there may be no truth – or a lot of truth – to the rumors, it’s intriguing to consider what the Buffalo Sabres would give up for O’Reilly, or another player like him.

Over at High Heels and High Sticks, they’re taking a look at what every NHL team is in need of – defense, scoring, goaltending, what have you. Based on that, they’ve done some research, polled Twitter and selected one female hockey player to help out each NHL team with their respective needs.

The Atlantic Division post went up last night — what did they say the Buffalo Sabres need (spoiler alert: it’s everything), and who can help fix that?

In other news, goaltender Martin Brodeur has decided to extend his leave of absence from the St. Louis Blues for an additional week. [NHL.com]

There are six NHL games on tap for tonight, before the league takes a five-day break, with game action returning Tuesday after the All-Star events this coming weekend.

Tonight’s NHL schedule:

• Toronto vs. Ottawa [7 p.m.]
• Chicago vs. Pittsburgh [8 p.m., NBCSN]
• Columbus vs. Winnipeg [9 p.m.]
• Boston vs. Colorado [10 p.m.]
• Calgary vs. Anaheim [10 p.m.]
• Los Angeles vs. San Jose [10:30 p.m., NBCSN]