5 moves the Buffalo Sabres must make to become contenders
The Buffalo Sabres have strung together two wins in their last three games and have logged zero losses in regulation
The needle is pointing north for the Buffalo Sabres. At least they’re in games and even beating teams they should beat. And it’s the first step for any organization building for a brighter future. Finally healthier, they can at least address more pressing concerns.
But the team still has a long way to go before they even contend for the playoffs and ideally, the Stanley Cup. So, what do the Sabres need to do in the second half of the NHL season and the 2022 offseason?
They still need to figure out their lineup following their high-potential first line. They also need to figure out how to stay healthy and keep getting younger so they can build a foundation that will hold for the next five to seven seasons.
Figure Out the Lower Lines
The top line featuring Tage Thompson, Alex Tuch, and Jeff Skinner isn’t exactly reminiscent of the French Connection. Not yet, anyway. But they’re good enough for the Sabres to look toward their lower lines. Ditto for the first pairing on defense comprising Rasmus Dahlin and Henri Jokiharju.
However, competition remains fierce at the lower lines. Dylan Cozens, Peyton Krebs, and Victor Olofsson have each had their moments, with Olofsson coming off of a two-goal game. The 20-year-old Cozens is fifth on the team in points and third in goals scored, and he’s a viable candidate to solidify himself on the second-line.
Peyton Krebs is a revelation, and he can work his way into becoming a permanent fixture on the second line. But there is still a lot of shuffling going on. And that’s okay for the remainder of the season if Sabres coach Don Granato can use the time to figure out the lineups heading into 2022-23.
Figure out how to stay healthy
The injury bug and COVID set the Sabres back, and they were often left scrambling to put makeshift lineups and “taxi squads” together. While injuries strike teams every season, the Sabres need to figure out how to minimize the damage if they wish to contend for the playoffs.
Is it conditioning, or is it something else? Regardless, the team needs to get to the bottom of the issue. Are they bringing players back too soon? Before it was revealed to be a minor ailment, this appeared to be the case with Casey Mittelstadt.
The Sabres, especially with things looking up, cannot afford to slog through another repeat of what they went through earlier in the year. And they need to figure out this issue now before they take the ice in 2022-23. For a team that’s building a fine nucleus, nothing will be more disheartening than a mid-season collapse because of injuries.
Keep getting younger
One advantage of being a young hockey team looking to sell at the trade deadline is that the Sabres can focus on getting younger. They can trade older players like Colin Miller and Craig Anderson, for example, for young talent or even prospects.
But they also have a few fast-rising names in the AHL they can call up sooner than later. Especially if they:
- Sell at the trade deadline, and
- Still need to figure out solid fits for their lower lines.
Once again, it all falls back to generating talent young enough to stick around long-term when the team does start winning consistently. They already have a slew of young names already, especially on the first line.
But swapping experience for youth in a rebuilding year will pay dividends. Player movement occurs all the time, so picking up youth to fill the lower lines will allow them to become the next man up in the event of injury or further player movement.
Realize the future is now
While the Sabres are still a work in progress, and that means continuing to build for the future, they also need to realize the future is now. The team has young talent capable of calling the KeyBank Center home for at least the next half-decade.
In other words, they no longer need to tear it all down and rebuild. The first line alone proved that and so have a few players comprising the lower lines, and even those over in Rochester. The team has players on each level of the system to where they can also focus on call-ups instead of looking exclusively outside the organization to find talent.
Yeah, it’s still wise to keep getting younger, as explained two slides ago. But it’s also wise to realize there is enough homegrown talent that they can realistically start talking playoffs as soon as next season by using players within the organization.
Nail the NHL Draft
Regardless of where an NHL team stands, it’s a must to nail the NHL Draft. The Sabres, given their record, still have holes to fill on the roster and they can further fill them with a solid draft. And even if they reach the point to where they’ve figured out their lines and augmented their youth movement, overall player movement still necessitates a solid draft.
At this point, the Sabres have three picks in the first round. Acquiring two of those picks involved trading forwards Sam Reinhart and Jack Eichel. And while the Sabres caught a good return for Eichel with Tuch and Krebs, their first-round compensation for Reinhart will ultimately decide whether they effectively replaced him.
Hot. How the Buffalo Sabres won the Jack Eichel Trade. light
So, nail the draft, and further disperse players with solid futures in the NHL across the system. If nothing else, the draft will build solid depth for upcoming seasons. And that alone provides value.
(All statistics provided by Hockey-Reference)