In August 2021, no one had a high opinion of the Buffalo Sabres. But just one year later, the Sabres are, at worst slated to be a better team in 2022-23.
Was the 2021-22 Buffalo Sabres season successful? Ultimately, it depends on how you look at it. But in my eyes, the season was a resounding success. Listen, the Sabres weren’t going to make the playoffs even you had a Dominik Hasek in his prime manning the net. The team just wasn’t good enough.
At best the Sabres were stagnant. Rarely, did they play a perfect game. Either they didn’t take enough chances shooting the puck, they weren’t physical enough, and in a few of those contests, they were literally just skating around.
Then March and April happened, and the Sabres finished the year as one of the league’s better teams. Okay, they were like 12th-best. But the point is, they were winning games (almost) regularly when, given their strength of schedule in those last two months, should have been blown out time and again.
But they weren’t, and it showed me that the team grew up in a short amount of time. So how do they emulate those results and build on their successful late-season run? Keep reading for more.
Three keys to a better 2022-23 season for the Buffalo Sabres: Key #1 – Stay Healthy
Above all else, the Buffalo Sabres need to stay healthy. Injuries and COVID-19 derailed this team at midseason, and they suffered through a horrendous dry spell between November 2021 and February 2022.
During this quagmire, they rotated six goaltenders in and out of the lineup. And speaking of lineups, it seemed as though they were inserting a different set of skaters every time you turned around.
The Sabres need to avoid such a conundrum in 2022-23 if they want any chance at building on their 75-point 2021-22 season. They proved they can win when they stayed healthy, given their 35-point outing in two months.
I’m not going to get so expectant that they will break the 100-point mark even with a healthy team. But they will encroach the 75-point mark by March 2023. And doing so will at least let them play with the idea that 100 points is within reach, but as for 2022-23, 85-90 points is a realistic threshold to reach.