Sabres GM Adams approach to roster could bring more changes
The Buffalo Sabres are seeing an uptick in their stats and productivity on the ice, and it’s hopefully going to starting to equate to victories as we saw on Sunday against the Washington Capitals.
Washington had gotten the best of them in three previous contests, a 6-4 loss in the season opener, followed by a 2-1 defeat as well. Buffalo bounced back with a convincing 6-1 win over the Flyers before being shutout a day later, 3-0. In rematch games with Washington, both went to overtime and eventually a shootout- Won on the first night by the Capitals 4-3 and then by the Sabres 4-3 in the second matchup.
New general manager Kevyn Adams brought in impact players in the offseason through the NHL Draft, free agency, and by way of trade- and he may very well be at it again. The Sabres were reported to be one of the teams to inquire with Colombus about 2016 3rd overall pick Pierre-Luc Dubois.
Buffalo is statistically better than their record shows, and Adams appears to be continuing his active approach towards building the roster, doing his due diligence until they see the desired results in the win column and postseason.
Per NHL.com, the Sabres are +26 in 5-on-5 shot attempts (an indicator of offensive zone time), which ranks sixth in the NHL. Their 56.9 scoring chance percentage ranks seventh, according to Natural Stat Trick. Nonetheless, in a shortened season where games matter more than ever, wins can yield a quick lead while losses can cause teams to fall behind.
The only clubs with a better scoring chance percentage at 5-on-5 are St. Louis, Minnesota, Carolina, Calgary, Tampa Bay, and Toronto. All of whom are above .500 teams and are each in the top four in their respective divisions. The top four teams in each of the divisions make this year’s NHL playoffs.
Without fan attendance commerce, some free agents signed one-year contracts to wait to sign longer pacts when the league returns to the revenues teams are accustomed to. Due to safety precautions with travel, divisions were realigned as well. It remains to be seen how the short deals and centralized divisions will impact the trade market, if at all.
Next. No one deserved that win more than Linus Ullmark. dark
The Sabres will have until the NHL trade deadline on April 12th to explore adding talent. But before that, Buffalo will look to lock up some more victories this week against the New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils.