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Buffalo Sabres: 2015-16 Winners And Losers

By Richard Spalding

Mar 26, 2016; Buffalo, NY, USA; Buffalo Sabres center Jack Eichel (15) celebrates his goal during the third period against the Winnipeg Jets at First Niagara Center. Buffalo beats Winnipeg 3 to 2. Mandatory Credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 26, 2016; Buffalo, NY, USA; Buffalo Sabres center Jack Eichel (15) celebrates his goal during the third period against the Winnipeg Jets at First Niagara Center. Buffalo beats Winnipeg 3 to 2. Mandatory Credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports /
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Winner: Ryan O’Reilly

Boy, am I smart.  A full two years before the Sabres actually went out and got The Factor, I was here at Sabre Noise, banging the drum on this guy.  The Colorado Avalanche were letting him rot away, and it was obvious that the two sides were never going to reconcile their differences.

Fortunately for everyone in the 716, the Sabres eventually went out and grabbed O’Reilly, and the results speak for themselves.  O’Reilly’s 39 assists were a personal best, and his 60 points was the second highest of his career.  Had he not lost 11 games due to injury starting in February, he could have set a career high in points, too, as he only needed five more on the season to top what he did with the Avalanche back in 2013-14.

O’Reilly made the Sabres better in so many ways – scoring, in the faceoff circle, as part of the league’s 9th-best PK unit.  Even with the scoring slump that he encountered during the middle of the season, it was clear that O’Reilly was the Sabres’ MVP this season, and as an added bonus he made his first All-Star team.

Loser: Zemgus Girgensons

While The Factor was making his first All-Star team, Girgensons was doing very little to justify his participation in the 2015 NHL All-Star Game.

Sure, you can make the case that Zemgus missed some time due to injury – but he played in 71 games, the exact same amount as O’Reilly.  Girgensons is not expected to score at the rate of O’Reilly, but 7-11-18 in 71 games?  Matt Moulson scored more than that, and he was downright invisible for much of the year.

Furthermore, in case we all forgot: Girgensons only played in 61 games last season, and still put up 15-15-30, on what was clearly an inferior team compared to the squad he played for this season.

All in all, I was expecting more from Zemgus this season, and hope he can become more of a contributor on offense in 2016-17.

Next: The Netminders

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