Seven Questions For The Buffalo Sabres Going Forward

5 of 8

Sep 28, 2014; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Buffalo Sabres goaltender Andre Makarov (35) guards the net against Toronto Maple Leafs in the third period at Air Canada Centre. Maple Leafs won 3-2. Mandatory Credit: Peter Llewellyn-USA TODAY Sports

The Buffalo Sabres have 15 games left on their schedule for the 2014-2015 NHL season. For some time now, the Sabres have sat in 30th place in the league — as of writing this, they’re three points behind the 29th-place Edmonton Oilers, and 14 points behind the Carolina Hurricanes, who sit atop the Sabres in the Eastern Conference standings.

Despite all of that, it wasn’t until just four days ago that the Sabres were officially eliminated from playoff contention. By that point, it seemed pretty evident that the team wasn’t headed for the postseason – they would’ve needed a couple of miracles, plus several teams to completely fall apart.

What’s interesting? Although the Sabres have been less-than-stellar for the majority of the season, the fans keep watching and showing up to games. The Sabres ranked 11th in attendance through the first 30 home games of the season.

The team continues to make headlines, whether locally or nationally. Discussions of “the tank” for McDavid or Eichel, the questionable future of Ted Nolan, and glances at up-and-coming young leaders like Tyler Ennis and Zach Bogosian continue to keep the Sabres in the limelight.

So things are still exciting. There are still questions – lots of them, in fact – moving forward. Here’s a few of them.

Next: Who Suits Up In Net?

Jan 30, 2015; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Buffalo Sabres goaltender Matt Hackett (31) awaits start of the play against the Vancouver Canucks before the start of the first period at Rogers Arena. The Vancouver Canucks won 5-2. Mandatory Credit: Anne-Marie Sorvin-USA TODAY Sports

1. Buffalo Sabres Goaltending Woes

One area where the Buffalo Sabres have been consistently inconsistent is in their goaltending. The past two seasons have seen the Sabres breeze through a lot of goaltenders, either due to injury, trade or a combination of the two factors.

Looking at this season, the Buffalo Sabres have dressed seven different goaltenders through 67 games played. The team has seen seven unique goaltending tandems at some point throughout the season, with Jhonas Enroth and Michal Neuvirth dressing together for 50 games.

Here’s how the goaltending tandems have broken down this season for the Buffalo Sabres:

Jhonas Enroth and Michal Neuvirth: 50 games
Michal Neuvirth and Anders Lindback: 8 games
Jhonas Enroth and Matt Hackett: 4 game
Matt Hackett and Anders Lindback: 2 games
Jhonas Enroth and Nathan Lieuwen: 1 game
Chad Johnson and Anders Lindback: 1 game
Andrey Makarov and Anders Lindback: 1 game

The beginning of the season was largely a steady one, with Enroth and Neuvirth as your top two guys. But as the season wore on, it got to be an extremely bumpy road, and that trickled down to the AHL, too.

Through 60 games this season, the Rochester Americans have also seen seven goaltenders dressed for their team. Five have played, including Hackett, Makarov and Lieuwen.

The Amerks, like their parent club, have seen a variety of goaltending tandems this year:

Andrey Makarov and Nathan Lieuwen: 28 games
Andrey Makarov and Matt Hackett: 21 games
Andrey Makarov and Travis Fullerton: 6 games
Andrey Makarov and Sam Marotta: 2 games
Andrey Makarov and Pat Nagle: 2 games
Matt Hackett and Tim Boron: 1 game

Note that, despite the other 50 percent of the goaltending situation being questionable, Andrey Makarov has been a solid piece for the Amerks, dressing in all but one game this season — and that one game occurred while he was up with the Sabres.

Looking ahead, if the Sabres hope to make this rebuild a successful one, they need to get some consistent goaltending. For a while there, it appeared as though Enroth would be the answer going forward… but then he was traded. It appeared that Neuvirth was making a solid case for himself to be the new starter… and then he was traded.

So who’s your goaltending tandem next season? Chad Johnson has a year left on his contract, so, provided he’s healthy, count him in. Lindback becomes a UFA on July 1, and Hackett is also set to hit free agency. Lieuwen, who hasn’t played in months, becomes an RFA. Makarov has a year left, but he seems more likely to stay in the AHL.

It’s just one question going forward.

Next: Who's Behind the Bench?

Jan 8, 2015; Raleigh, NC, USA; Buffalo Sabres coach Ted Nolan looks on during the game against the Carolina Hurricanes at PNC Arena. The Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Buffalo Sabres 5-2. Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports

2. Buffalo Sabres Coaching Questions

Another question going forward for the Buffalo Sabres: who remains on the coaching staff for next season, and who doesn’t return? Will the team decide to maintain Ted Nolan as the Sabres’ head coach?

There are really two sides to this argument. First, you’ll get a group of people who will say something like:

3. The Patrick Kaleta Debate

The Buffalo Sabres have a couple of free agents to deal with this summer, including pending UFA Patrick Kaleta. Kaleta’s been a member of the Sabres organization for years – he’s the longest-tenured player on the team, despite the fact that he’s currently injured.

But his years with his hometown team have been peppered with injuries and suspensions, and Kaleta simply doesn’t produce at a viable rate on the ice. He’s making $1.25 million this season, but the question going forward is: does he have a spot in the Sabres lineup, or is it time to unload a bit of dead weight and start with a clean slate?

Over the years, Kaleta’s appeared in 339 games for the Sabres since the 2006-07 season. He’s never played more than 63 games in a season, appeared in just 33 games this season and just 12 last season between Buffalo AND Rochester. He’s put up 10+ points just twice in his NHL career.

Although no one would argue that you sign Kaleta as a points-producing player, the question begs: what is he actually bringing to the organization, and is it worth it to make an investment in him, whether it be a one-year contract or longer?

Next: Bye, Bye, Bye Grigorenko?

Jan 8, 2015; Raleigh, NC, USA; Buffalo Sabres forward Mikhail Grigorenko (25) skates with puck against the Carolina Hurricanes at PNC Arena. The Hurricanes defeated the Sabres 5-2. Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports

4. Grigorenk-NO?

Another question moving forward regards Buffalo Sabres prospect Mikhail Grigorenko, who is set to be an RFA this offseason.

Will the Buffalo Sabres extend him a qualifying offer? Will other teams offer sheet him? Or — and this could be a likely option — will Buffalo Sabres GM make the move and Grigorenko be packaged in a trade on draft day?

More from Sabre Noise

From recent comments, it seems clear that Grigorenko’s chances with the Sabres organization are on thin ice. Ted Nolan said just days ago that he wasn’t impressed with the young forward, who was sent back to the AHL after a very short period of time in Buffalo.

It seems like we’ve reached a point where, if the Sabres need another forward, a guy like Dan Catenacci could get the call from Rochester before Grigorenko does, at least for the rest of this season. As preposterous as that might sound, it speaks volumes for how the team is dealing with Grigs.

That being said, it seems to be entirely possible that he won’t be with the Sabres organization much longer.

Next: Who's On The Blueline?

Feb 15, 2015; Buffalo, NY, USA; Buffalo Sabres defenseman Nikita Zadorov (51) celebrates his goal against the Philadelphia Flyers with defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen (55) during the second period at First Niagara Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Hoffman-USA TODAY Sports

5. Defensive Uncertainty

Another spot where there are several questions for the Buffalo Sabres: the blueline. The Sabres have a heap of defensemen, but what will the blueline look like at the start of next season?

Andrej Meszaros, Andre Benoit and Tyson Strachan will all became UFAs on July 1 unless the team signs them before the deadline. Will any of them return to Buffalo next season?

Looking at the pipeline, the Sabres have Zach Bogosian, Josh Gorges, Mike Weber, Rasmus Ristolainen and Nikita Zadorov all locked up in defense for next season. Mark Pysyk has been steadily developing in the AHL and should get a good look for a starting spot in Buffalo next season.

Does that make Meszaros, Benoit and Strachan expendable? I’d argue that the first two are more than likely going to sign elsewhere. Strachan may or may not return, and if he does, the Sabres would have a little core of seven d-men heading into the 2015-2016 season, with guys like Jake McCabe and Chad Ruhwedel down in the AHL.

Of course – there’s also a possibility that the team adds more blueliners through free agency, or trades away any of these guys around the draft, but provided nothing else changes, that could be your defensive core heading into next year.

Next: What Would Reinhart Do?

Oct 14, 2014; Raleigh, NC, USA; Buffalo Sabres forward Sam Reinhart (23) before the game against the Carolina Hurricanes at PNC Arena. The Buffalo Sabres defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 4-3 in a shootout. Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports

6. Can Sam Reinhart Step Up?

The pressure’s going to be on Sam Reinhart next season.

Even though he only has nine games of NHL experience at this point, Reinhart is going to be expected to step up and take a bigger role with the Sabres in what should be his first full NHL season.

Particularly coupled with whatever high draft pick the Sabres get, and young veterans like Tyler Ennis and Marcus Foligno, it’s going to be expected that the 19-year-old produce high numbers for the Sabres.

You know — he’s just the highest-drafted Sabres prospect since 1987, when the team picked Pierre Turgeon first overall. Of course, that’ll change once this year’s draft comes along and the Sabres likely pick either first or second, but still. Any time a high draft pick enters the NHL, all eyes are on him to hit the ice running (skating?) and produce right away.

The question is, what will he do, particularly coupled with another big name like Connor McDavid or Jack Eichel on the roster as well? Reinhart had one assist in nine games at the beginning of this season with the Sabres, before being sent back to the WHL to continue his development there. What could he be capable of at the NHL level, provided he’s given the ice time, linemates and opportunity he deserves?

Next: The McEichel Factor

(Photo: Melissa Kania)

7. The McEichel Factor

The other question going forward for the Buffalo Sabres – and arguably, the one that will be answered first – is this: will the Buffalo Sabres select Jack Eichel or Connor McDavid at this year’s NHL Draft? And to expand the question further into next season — what will either of those players do with their rookie season in the NHL?

Assuming the Sabres finish this season 30th in the league, they’ll likely be looking at one of the two players on their roster next season. The first question is: which one?

McDavid and Eichel have consistently been ranked the top 2 players heading into the draft, often flip-flopping between first and second, but ultimately, the rankings don’t matter. All that matters is which name comes out of Tim Murray’s mouth at the podium that day in Sunrise.

After that, the question becomes: what will they do? Coupled with Reinhart, Ennis, possibly Grigorenko, etc., a top prospect will become the focus of next season for the Buffalo Sabres. Though I wouldn’t count on anyone bringing us a Stanley Cup quite yet, the pressure will be there for the player to excel immediately. Personally, I’m just excited to see what either of those guys can bring to the NHL, given their successes in college hockey and the Ontario Hockey League.

So there you have it – seven questions facing the Buffalo Sabres in the days, weeks, months that lie ahead. Keep watching as the rebuild process continues and the team keeps moving forward…

Next: Looking To Free Agency

More from Sabre Noise

Home / Sabres News