Buffalo Sabres: Training camp roster breakdown

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The Buffalo Sabres are back in town as training camp for the 2018-19 season has opened. The roster for this year’s training camp has a new look compared to last year’s roster.

This year’s roster includes a strong mix of veterans and youth. There are also a slew of new additions to the organization as Sabres general manager Jason Botterill was busy this past offseason.

Here's our roster for #SabresCamp 🙌

On-ice sessions open to public start Friday: https://t.co/O1MknZPG2C pic.twitter.com/n7R5jhBPW5
— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) September 11, 2018

Coming over to the Sabres via trade are Conor Sheary and Matt Hunwick from Pittsburgh; Patrik Berglund, Vladimir Sobotka, and Tage Thompson from St. Louis; and Jeff Skinner from Carolina. Former St. Louis Blues goaltender Carter Hutton comes to the organization after signing a $8.25 million/3 year contract in July.

Although there were multiple trades, the biggest move of the offseason happened on draft day when the Sabres drafted Swedish phenom Rasmus Dahlin with the first overall pick of the draft. Dahlin has already made an impact at this year’s Prospect’s Challenge and is already on the short list of Calder Trophy hopefuls.

Whereas Dahlin is a lock to make the team out of training camp, there are a slew of young players looking to make the team. In the forward group, there is Tage Thompson and Evan Rodrigues while on defense there is Jake McCabe, Casey Nelson, and Brendan Guhle.

The combination of trades, signings, and a strong draft have created a culture of optimism heading into training camp. Let’s breakdown the roster head coach Phil Housley will be working with in training camp.

At this point, the Buffalo Sabres offense can only improve. In terms of production, the Sabres have been in the bottom 3 in the league in goal scored the last 3 seasons, including being the only team in the league that failed to score 200 goals last season.

The bad news is that the Sabres are starting this year without past offensive leaders Evander Kane and Ryan O’Reilly. Kane left in a midseason trade to the San Jose Sharks, and Ryan O’Reilly, O’Reilly left in the trade to St. Louis that brought in Berglund, Sobotka, and Thompson.

Jason Botterill has attempted to replace their offense with the addition of forward Jeff Skinner. Skinner has eclipsed 20 goals 6 times in his career and has accumulated more than 250 shots in 5 different seasons.

The top six for the Sabres is set in terms of who they are but not necessarily who will skate on which line. The top centers will be Jack Eichel and Casey Mittelstadt. Mittelstadt is gearing to have a breakout season and is another Calder hopeful in addition to Dahlin. Sam Reinhart (who still needs to be resigned)will be on the right wing with Eichel and veteran Kyle Okposo will be on the second line with Mittelstadt.

The question will be where to place Skinner and Sheary. Skinner is clearly the most talented of the two however Mittelstadt can benefit from a big producer on his wing, especially since Sheary declined substantially last season and is more of an uncertainty than Skinner.

The bottom 6 is a little more complicated for Phil Housley. All successful teams over the past decade have seen strong production from their bottom 6 forwards, also known as secondary scoring.

So can the Sabres get production from their bottom 6 forwards? Three forwards are a lock to make the roster: newly acquired forwards Patrik Berglund and Vladimir Sobotka as well as long time Buffalo Sabre Jason Pominville. All 3 provide a veteran presence as they are the oldest forwards on the team and have played more than 2000 games. Although Sobotka expects to be a top 6 forward, the 3 of them can be penciled in to be in the group coming out of camp.

There is a large group of players that will be battling for the final spots. In the mix are Zemgus Girgensons, Justin Bailey, Evan Rodrigues, Tage Thompson, Johan Larsson, Scott Wilson, and Alexander Nylander. Nylander is coming off an impressive showing at the Prospects Challenge and a strong training camp may just land him a spot in Buffalo instead of Rochester.

Mittelstadt ▶️ Nylander 🚨 pic.twitter.com/O29orhhY4E
— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) September 10, 2018

Girgensons has played over 70 games in 4 of the last 5 seasons so it will be a long shot for him to not get one of the final spots on the fourth line or be one of the extra forwards. Larsson is also coming off a full season so the battle will most likely come down to Rodrigues, Thompson, and Wilson with Nylander and Bailey needing big camps to make the club.

Similar to their counterparts on offense, the Buffalo Sabres defense is looking to have a bounceback year. The Sabres GA/60 was third worst in the league and only one Sabre defenseman was in the top 30 in the league in points, Rasmus Ristolainen.

That being said, there is optimism for the defense core for this upcoming season. As everyone discussed all offseason, everything starting looking up when the Sabres won the draft lottery. Coming off a year full of accolades: best defenseman at the World Junior Championships and Swedish Junior Hockey Player of the Year, Rasmus Dahlin was the unanimous overall selection in the 2018 NHL draft. Dahlin will see minutes with the Sabres top 4 defenseman immediately.

The top 4 will be rounded out by Marco Scancella, Rasmus Ristolainen, and Zach Bogosian. Scandella and Ristolainen were the Sabres most consistent defensive pairing last season and will most likely stay together while Phil Housley gets to welcome back a healthy Zach Bogosian who has not played more than 70 games since the 2010-11 season.

Rounding out the defense will be one of the most interesting storylines heading into training camp. The top candidates for the final pairing and extra defenseman roster spots are Nathan Beaulieu, Jake McCabe, Matt Hunwick, and Casey Nelson.

Both Beaulieu and Hunwick are coming off disappointing seasons but it is not in the best interest of the team to have them take up roster spots in Rochester. They also do not have salaries which make them untradable if necessary.

Jake McCabe had a strong end to the 2017-18 season and he will be a restricted free agent at the end of the season. Brendan Guhle is another possibility for one of the final spots. Guhle is the second highest rated defenseman prospect in the organization behind Dahlin but he has only one year of substantial time with Rochester and a little more time in the AHL may be to his benefit. Do not rule out Guhle starting the season with Rochester and getting called up later in the year.

Goaltending is one area in which the Buffalo Sabres desperately needed to improve for this season. The tandem of Robin Lehner and Chad Johnson remarkably underperformed last season.

From a traditional statistics perspective, the Sabres were in the bottom 3 in SV% and goals allowed. On the advanced statistics front, Lehner and Johnson were both in the bottom 10 in goals saved above average (GSAA). GSAA compares the number of shots a goalie faced compared to the league’s average save percentage. Lehner signed with the New York Islanders and Johnson signed with the Blues.