Power Rankings: Where Sabres sit among national media
With an offseason of shake-ups and realigned divisions for a shortened 2021 season, the national power rankings polls take on a great interest in watching where your team might fall. The Buffalo Sabres have started the season 0-2-0, so we should not be expecting much praise for them in any power rankings so far.
NHL clubs are playing for four playoff spots in each of the new divisional groups, so all eyes are on which teams will make the cut. The Sabres are looking to do just that after adding several talents to their roster in the draft, free agency, and trades in recent months.
Here’s a look at where the Sabres sit among national polls as they start the new season:
Highest Rankings
19
Buffalo fans have reasons for optimism thanks to the Sabres offseason and the team that the front office has put on the ice by beginning to build up the roster more. With 31 teams in the league, the closer the team can rank among the top half of that bunch the better. Starting at 19 leaves plenty of room to grow and improve, while also offering a good assessment of where they are starting out.
“The Sabres signed a former Hart Trophy winner in Taylor Hall, who is likely to play with MVP candidate Jack Eichel all season. Is this the year Buffalo finally ends its nine-year playoff drought?” – Charlie Roumeliotis, NBC Sports
21
A spot higher than their lowest ranking echoed a bit across predictions, the Sabres have shown some spark over the last couple of seasons at times with less talent than they have now. As the new faces on the team learn to play together in this short season and get a rhythm going (hopefully sooner rather than later) we might see them move up in this rankings a bit.
“From Taylor Hall to Jack Eichel’s future to the whole Buffalo-ness of the losing situation, there’s a lot we tend to focus on with the Sabres before acknowledging they have one of the best young defensemen in the game. Maybe a standout season from Rasmus Dahlin in his third campaign cues a stronger-than-expected showing in Western New York.” – Ryan Dixon, Sportsnet
Lowest Rankings
22
New GM Kevyn Adams knew he needed to add scorers around captain Jack Eichel, and did just that. Now the team will need to prove in a shorter season that they can get hot and win their way into belonging among the top four teams in their realigned division to make the playoffs. With a ranking of 22 among multiple polls, it goes to show and reflect that need for improvement.
“The obvious reason to have hope in the Sabres is that 2018 league MVP Taylor Hall decided to sign here to put up big numbers on Jack Eichel’s wing. A low-key reason for hope: The center depth has improved.” – Emily Kaplan, ESPN
“Just when it looked safe to anoint the Sabres as the potential surprise of 2020-21, the NHL’s powers that be tossed them in a division with an Eastern Conference finalist, the Presidents’ Trophy winners and several other teams with lofty goals this season. Still, Taylor Hall and Jack Eichel are as good a one-two punch as any.” – Lyle Fitzsimmons, Bleacher Report
“Hard to imagine they’ll be worse after adding Taylor Hall. While the top six should be electric, there are a lot of holes for the Sabres.” – Logan Mullen, NESN
“They’re deeper. Eichel-Hall combo will be tons of fun. But what a nasty division to get thrust into.” – Mike Harrington, Buffalo News
Next. The Sabres play two very different games, both end with the same result. dark
These power rankings show that Buffalo has a lot of work ahead of them to make a push at the playoffs, and in a 56 game season, they can’t afford to dig themselves into a hole early.