A lot of people have the Buffalo Sabres finishing at the bottom of the Atlantic Division. It begs the question: Are people sleeping on the Sabres?
It’s almost September which means we’re not too far away from NHL training camps opening up. With that being said, it’s also the time of year where people have their rankings for each team. Playoff rankings, overall rankings, divisional rankings, etc. One common trend, the Buffalo Sabres are at the bottom of the Atlantic Division.
Even with them finishing 5th last season, everyone has them regressing. So it begs the question: Are the Sabres being slept on? I know they had another losing record last season but it’s a question worth asking.
Even though they had a record below .500, the team looked watchable for the first time in a long time. Obviously we talked about the goaltending issue multiple times but after what we saw last season, this team could surprise a bunch of people. Another topic we have talked about multiple times is the current players on the team.
Although the Buffalo Sabres are a better team on paper than they were last season, they have yet to win over NHL analysts.
Tage Thompson and Jeff Skinner both scored over 30 goals last season. Kyle Okposo had a reborn season. Rasmus Dahlin is starting to become the franchise defenseman Sabres fans have hoped for. Then add Owen Power, Jack Quinn and JJ Peterka. These are just a few names but the point is this team is starting to be on the upside.
Again, the goaltending is the biggest question mark regarding Buffalo. The team brought in Eric Comrie from Winnipeg and re-signed Craig Anderson for another year. If those two guys can hold down the fort, then I think the Sabres could make a playoff run this upcoming season.
It won’t be easy though. I will admit the Atlantic Division got a lot better, as if it wasn’t a tough division already. Luckily for the Sabres, they have 82 games and all of those won’t be against divisional rivals. It’s going to be tough, but if the Sabres can pull out some wins within their division, then they could be in the playoffs.
To conclude this article, are the Sabres being slept on? In a way, yes they are. On paper, they look like an adequate team. We’ll see what happens when training camp and the preseason starts but this Buffalo team could be a playoff contender in the near future.