What do the Sabres need to accomplish in 2021 for it to be considered a successful season?
Every team has different expectations that, if met, would be considered a success. Some teams just want to be above .500, some teams consider anything other than a Stanley Cup Championship a failure, and some teams just want to make the playoffs. The Buffalo Sabres have multiple season outcomes that some may consider successful.
Obviously, the first thing you will hear when you ask the question “What is a successful season for the Sabres?”, the majority of the answers you will get are to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs. And this is expected from a fan base that has not seen the playoffs in nine seasons.
For Buffalo, making the playoffs in the 2021 season would be a tremendous success. They have added some new players, such as Taylor Hall and Eric Staal, that will certainly help them in the hunt for a playoff birth this year.
This season, the path to the playoffs is the most difficult the Sabres have seen in years. The new division realignments for the 2021 season put Buffalo in the stacked East Division. The top four teams in each division get a ticket to the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
So not only would a playoff birth be a successful season for Buffalo, it would probably be one of the best seasons they have had in a long time.
It is a pretty big ask to expect the Sabres to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs this season, especially in their new division. As tough as the East Division is, if the Sabres could have a winning percentage of over.500, I would call that a success.
This is the toughest schedule that Buffalo has had in a while, with eight games against the Boston Bruins, Washington Capitals, New York Islanders, Pittsburgh Penguins, New York Rangers, and Philadelphia Flyers.
Going over .500 in the East Division would give Buffalo and their fans confidence going into the 2021-2022 season once the Sabres are back in the Atlantic Division.
If the Sabres can show promise this season, whether that includes a playoff birth or not, they may have a good shot to re-sign Taylor Hall, who signed a one-year deal with Buffalo this offseason. Having a season that leads to bringing Hall back on a longer deal is a success on its own for the Sabres.