Buffalo Sabres Playoff Chances Are Dying Quickly
By Adam DeRose
The Buffalo Sabres lost a chance to make up ground in the playoff race Saturday in Colorado. Adam discusses the team’s chances, and where they go from here.
I got an email from Grandpa Ziggy this morning at 12:51am. It was minutes after the Buffalo Sabres loss in Denver to the Colorado Avalanche. His comments were, “hi adam, READY TO GO TO BED, BUT I WONTED TO SEE THE AVALANCE PLAY SO I LOST SOME TIME ON MY SLEEP. WELL TOMOROW IS SUNDAY SO I CAN SLEEP LITTLE LONGER. THEY LOST BY 2 points could not get the 4 GOAL. WELL THE AVALANCE ARE ALL BIG STRONG MAN, DO THE SABERS HAVE A CHANCE TO GET IN THE PLAYOFFS? TELL ME.”
I emailed Grandpa Ziggy back and said, “Good morning grandpa, how are you doing? I’m a bit surprised you stayed up until 1am to watch the Bums play! To answer your question about the Sabres’ playoff hopes, yes they are still mathematically in the hunt. But realistically, do I think they will make the playoffs this year, no. I’m not being pessimistic, but realistic. The Sabres proved last Sunday night that they can’t hang with the league’s big guns, the #6 overall Chicago Blackhawks. Last night, they proved that they couldn’t beat the league’s worst team. If there was a shot in hell that the Sabres did make the playoffs as the 8th seed, they would be swept in the first round.”
As of this morning, the Sabres are 5 spots out of the Wild Card. The Boston Bruins own the final Wild Card spot with 68 points, while the Sabres have 62 points (https://www.nhl.com/standings).
The Sabres are a team where you don’t know if they are going to show up. If they do show up, then it’s a question of how long they are going to play for. At least this crew in the Blue & Gold doesn’t give up after being down a few goals, as evident last night.
We all know that the Sabres are missing players at key positions, especially on defense. As the trade deadline nears, I don’t see the Sabres being sellers or buyers. They have shown they are not a playoff worthy or caliber team. It would be unwise for General Manager Tim Murray to trade away his top guys. There’s the saying “you need something to get something.” The Sabres have desirable players, such as Evander Kane, Ryan O’Reilly, and Jack Eichel. I highly doubt GMTM would pedal away his hand selected players. I could see GMTM making some meaningless AHL trade with the Binghamton Senators, just like he did last season. I think the Sabres should sit tight the rest of this season and try to pick up key players during the offseason.
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It seems like everyone in 716 is hung up on being in the playoffs, and I fully understand. The Buffalo Bills are in their 17th rebuilding season and the Sabres haven’t been to the post season in 5 years (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_NHL_franchise_post-season_droughts). I feel as if the Sabre fans who think our team will make the playoff this season have been drinking way too much Southern Tier One Buffalo beer or Blue & Gold Kool-Aid. And have most Western New Yorkers forgotten about the other tenant at KeyBank Center? The Buffalo Bandits, who seem to be Buffalo’s only winning franchise…at least they made it to the championship last season. If it’s playoffs in the 716 that you are looking for, the Buffalo Sabres won’t be granting your wishes any time soon.