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Sabres open as a long shot to win the East Division

ByJacob LeBlanc|
UNIONDALE, NEW YORK - Casey Cizikas #53 of the New York Islanders celebrates a third period goal by Ryan Pulock #6 against Carter Hutton #40 of the Buffalo Sabres MARCH 30: at NYCB Live's Nassau Coliseum on March 30, 2019 in Uniondale, New York. The Islanders defeated the Sabres 5-1 to qualify for the playoffs. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
UNIONDALE, NEW YORK - Casey Cizikas #53 of the New York Islanders celebrates a third period goal by Ryan Pulock #6 against Carter Hutton #40 of the Buffalo Sabres MARCH 30: at NYCB Live's Nassau Coliseum on March 30, 2019 in Uniondale, New York. The Islanders defeated the Sabres 5-1 to qualify for the playoffs. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

The Sabres open with almost the worst odds to win the East Division.

Now that the divisions are set and the schedules have been released, it is time to get the season underway. With all of this in place, the odds for the division winners have been announced. And the Buffalo Sabres may be lower than their fans would have hoped.

According to betonline.ag, the Sabres are at +1000 to win the East Division in the 2021 season. The only team with worse odds to win the East Division are the New Jersey Devils at +1600. The Boston Bruins currently have the best odds to win the division at +250.

According to betonline.ag, the odds for the entire division are as follows:

Boston Bruins +250

Philadelphia Flyers +325

Pittsburgh Penguins +425

Washington Capitals +500

New York Islanders +600

New York Rangers +650

Buffalo Sabres +1000

New Jersey Devils +1600

It is a pretty steep drop off after the Rangers to reach Buffalo and New Jersey. But this really should not come as a surprise to Sabres fans as the East Division is probably the best division going into the 2021 season. The Bruins, Flyers, Penguins, and Capitals were all in the top seven in the league in points at the end of last regular season.

Even though the Sabres signed Taylor Hall and brought in Eric Staal this offseason, it is not enough to make them one of the favorites to win the division according to oddsmakers. Buffalo is sticking with the same goalies and most of the same defenders as they had last season, which were groups that struggled throughout the year.

The fact that teams will only play teams within their division for the entire regular season doesn’t make it any easier for Buffalo. The Sabres and Devils both finished the 2019-2020 season with 68 points. The next closest member of the current East Division was the Rangers, who finished last season with 79 points.

The 2021 season looks like it could be a tough one for Buffalo. But it is also a great test for the team. Whatever the result of this season is for Buffalo, I am just excited to get the season underway and see what the Sabres can do.

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