Good morning, Buffalo Sabres fans! We are officially less than a month away from the start of the 2015-2016 NHL season, and in exactly one month, the Buffalo Sabres will hit the ice at First Niagara Center for their season-opener against the Ottawa Senators.
With that being said, it’s a great time to start looking at – what else? – season previews!
The first comes from none other than USA Today; the folks there propose that Buffalo Sabres rookie Jack Eichel might just be the most exciting prospect of the team since Gil Perreault. Do you agree?
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Other highlights of the preview: looking at all the additions and departures the Sabres have seen over the course of the summer (quite a few) and what those changes might mean for the team going forward. How will guys like Ryan O’Reilly, Evander Kane, Carlo Colaiacovo and David Legwand help Buffalo progress over the course of this coming season?
Perhaps the most important point of the USA Today piece comes at the very end: Rome wasn’t built in a day.
The Sabres likely aren’t going to go from the bottom of the NHL to the top in a season. It’s likely the team will miss the playoffs again this season, but at the very least, they shouldn’t be at the bottom of the league as they were last season. But just because they don’t go from zero to 100 that quick, doesn’t mean they aren’t making progress — it’ll all come in good time.
Meanwhile, 40 of the NHL’s top veteran players will come together over the next two days on the league’s annual media tour. Players will shoot photos, commercials, etc. that will appear throughout the coming season.
According to this article from The Buffalo News – a piece which centers around Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane and his notable non-presence at the media tour – Zemgus Girgensons will represent the Sabres. Since Jack Eichel is a rookie, he was not invited – but I’d be willing to bet he might be next year when this time rolls around.
Fantasy hockey fans might appreciate this piece from NHL.com, wherein the folks there dish out some helpful advice for fantasy hockey in the 2015-2016 schedule. Unfortunately, I tend to be the person who sets up a fantasy team and abandons it a few weeks into the season, but if you’ve got the stamina to keep it going throughout the season – more power to you.
We’ll end today’s links on a trivia note. Can you name the seven NHL teams that have never held the first pick in the draft?
Of course, the Buffalo Sabres are not one of those seven, but how many can you name? Are you stumped? Check out this article from The Hockey Writers that highlights the seven NHL teams that have never held the first-overall selection, and what their highest respective picks have been throughout the years.
Next: Sabres Announce Prospect Challenge Details
More from Sabre Noise
- 3 biggest standouts at Buffalo Sabres 2023 Prospects Challenge
- 3 takeaways from the Buffalo Sabres final Prospects Challenge game
- Buffalo Sabres experiment with lesser-known talent in loss to Pens
- Buffalo Sabres 75 Bold Predictions for 2023-24: Prediction 51
- Buffalo Sabres vs. Pittsburgh: A quick look at the Penguins prospects