Buffalo Sabres Lose Jimmy Vesey Sweepstakes – Now What?
Now that the Buffalo Sabres have lost out on the Jimmy Vesey sweepstakes, where does the team go from here?
Whether you are happy or disappointed, Buffalo Sabres fans, you can at least agree on this much: thank God the Jimmy Vesey saga is over.
Now that Vesey has signed with the New York Rangers, everyone who follows the Sabres can turn their attention to the current roster that Buffalo owns and begin speculatiing over whether it is good enough to make the playoffs in 2016-17 (possibly) and, if so, how deep a playoff run the Sabres can enjoy (probably one round).
It is true that the Sabres are a better offensive team now that Kyle Okposo is on board, and hopefully Jack Eichel and Sam Reinhart can avoid the dreaded sophomore slump and improve on their excellent 2015-16 efforts. If Buffalo’s top-6 forwards can replicate, if not improve on, their efforts from last season, we should be having conversations about the Sabres; playoff chances come March of 2017.
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Even the most optimistic Buffalo Sabres fans have to be concerned about how strong the team will be at the left wing in 2016-17, though, and that is what prompted this post. Assuming that Evander Kane
a. spends the entire 2016-17 season with the Buffalo Sabres (a big if); and
b. manages to put his off-ice antics behind him and focus on finally living up to his potential (an even bigger if),
then the Sabres should have a pretty formidable first line consisting of Kane, Ryan O’Reilly and Okposo. I’m not holding my breath, either.
And then we have the problem that is the Sabres’ second line. Again, we have to assume that Tyler Ennis is fully recovered from the two concussions he suffered last season, and that he can regain the form that already has allowed him to score 20+ goals three times in his career.
See where I am headed with this? The left wing of both the Buffalo Sabres’ top two lines are loaded with nothing but a bunch of “what if?” questions, and would have been even if the Sabres had managed to sign Vesey. Anyone who wants to see the Sabres contend for Lord Stanley’s Cup any time soon has to be concerned with the players Dan Bylsma can currently roll out on the left side of the ice. (Along with Buffalo’s defensive corps and goaltending – but other than that, we’re all good!)
Having failed to sign Vesey, GM Tim Murray really should turn his attention to Jiri Hudler, who scored 46 points last season and is only a season removed from his 31-45-76 point effort with the Calgary Flames. Sure, Hudler is 32 – but he scored 11 more points than Evander Kane last season, people. He is still a lock to top 40 points for another 2-3 seasons, barring injury, and his veteran presence alongside Eichel and Reinhart will help those youngsters develop.
Next: Buffalo Sabres Question Time!
The Buffalo Sabres look strong up the middle and on the right wing, but still have too many questions when it comes to the left wingers on their roster. Now that Jimmy Vesey has signed, an awful lot of teams who were waiting to see where the NCAA-standout headed will now be reaching out to available free agents, with Jiri Hudler being the best available option. Unless the Sabres front office loves what it sees when it comes to left wingers – and why, exactly, would they? – then GMTM still has his work cut out for him.