The Sabres have a very exciting offense going into 2021. Who will be Buffalo’s primary goal scorers this season?
The Buffalo Sabres added some exciting new pieces during this offseason, including Taylor Hall from the Arizona Coyotes and Eric Staal from the Minnesota Wild. These two will play a big role in the potentially high-powered offense going into 2021. The Sabres also brought back Sam Reinhart who will be coming off a productive 2019-2020 season.
Jack Eichel led the team in goals last season, scoring 36 goals in 68 games. The next highest goal scorer for Buffalo last season was Sam Reinhart, with 22 goals in 69 games. Right behind Reinhart was Victor Olofsson who tallied 20 goals in 54 games.
As for the new faces on the Sabres, Hall scored 16 goals in 65 games with two different teams last season. Staal had 19 goals in 66 games with the Minnesota Wild in the 2019-2020 season.
Buffalo will not have a lack of goal scorers on their roster going into this season, as all five of these players would have put up impressive goal numbers if the season went a full 82 games. And you could even add Jeff Skinner into the mix, as his goal numbers were not up to his standards last season, but if he can return to his 2018-2019 production, in which he put up 40 goals, this Sabres offense could be lethal.
With all of these weapons, who should we expect to see post the most goals for the 2021 season? There are plenty of people to choose from going into this season. But there is one player that I think is a safe bet to predict to be the leading Sabres goal scorer.
It does not take a rocket scientist to say that all signs point to Jack Eichel leading the Sabres in goals for the second season in a row. The Sabres added Taylor Hall this offseason to keep their captain happy, so it seems pretty obvious that they will be on the same line together. Surrounding Jack with even more talent should lead to more scoring chances for him.
Speaking of Taylor Hall, he is my prediction to finish second on the team in goals. This relies on his ability to stay healthy, which is a big if for him. Hall has not played in over 35 games in a season since the 2017-2018 season. But in that season, he put up 39 goals for the New Jersey Devils. Him being paired up with Eichel should lead to more scoring opportunities for both of them.
With Hall and Olofsson looking like they will be the wings on the top line with Eichel, that means Sam Reinhart will be relegated to a different line this season. But this is not a bad thing.
This will allow Reinhart to be in a more focused role on his line rather than a complementary piece with Eichel. I think Sam will thrive in this role and have a breakout year. I believe that he will tally the third most goals on the team this season.
Goal Predictions
Jack Eichel – 30 goals
Taylor Hall – 24 goals
Sam Reinhart – 21 goals
It looks like the NHL is looking to have between 50 and 60 games for this upcoming season. This will obviously lead to fewer goals than we are used to seeing. And it also makes it very difficult to predict the number of goals players will have. But with that being said, I think these three Sabres players will all have great seasons and put up big numbers for the number of games being played.