Why can the Buffalo Sabres secure a playoff spot in 2022-23?

It seems like everyone is counting the Buffalo Sabres out. But after their growth over the past 365 days, it’s very possible this team makes the playoffs.  

This time last year, the Buffalo Sabres had as close to a barren roster as they could get. They pulled off a couple of trades that resulted in a mid-tier defenseman and a few draft picks. One-year rentals and soon-to-be cast-offs made up a good deal of this team, and almost everyone thought the Sabres were once again heading for the Atlantic Division’s basement.

It didn’t help that they had a few former first round picks slowly getting the bust label attached to their names. Nor did it help that their more experienced forwards were coming off two abysmal outings.

Then the Jack Eichel Trade happened, paving the way for Alex Tuch and Peyton Krebs. Meanwhile, Tage Thompson and Rasmus Dahlin removed those bust labels. The forwards who struggled between October 2019 and April 2021 (Kyle Okposo and Jeff Skinner) rebounded, and players like Dylan Cozens and Rasmus Asplund became permanent fixtures.

The sheer growth from 2020-21 to 2021-22 should have kept critics from making assumptions about the Buffalo Sabres playoff chances for 2022-23.

Of course, we are once again seeing analysts count out the Sabres, with many projecting them to finish seventh in the Atlantic. The team is still young and their goaltender situation is sketchy at best – at least on paper. But there is a lot to like about the Sabres over a few of their division rivals.

They enter the 2022-23 season with far more chemistry than the bunch of guys the Detroit Red Wings strung together, which shows how much faith (or lack thereof) they have in their prospect pool. Question marks surround the Ottawa Senators with the arrival of Alex DeBrincat and Claude Giroux, among others.

And the Boston Bruins might be the least healthiest team to start an NHL season in quite some time. But just as analysts were wrong about the Sabres last year, they could very well be wrong about them in 2022-23.

This isn’t saying they should crown the Sabres as playoff contenders. That would be reckless since yes, this is a very young team with a sketchier goaltending situation. It’s the sheer assumption that they aren’t making it this season, despite obvious improvement last year with a more stable roster.

While I don’t believe the Sabres will earn a playoff berth in 2022-23, part of me says there is a chance they snag a wild card spot. When the team got healthy in March and April 2022, they became one of the top 12 teams in the league during that stretch.

Why can they make the playoffs? For one, they are older and more experienced this season with far more roster stability. For another, they already showed they can win consistently when healthy. And three, they have, at the moment, far more chemistry than the teams Detroit and Ottawa strung together, and they are healthier than the Bruins.

Will this team be in the playoffs? I doubt it. But there is no way, after what we saw last season, that you can logistically sit there and scratch them off entirely.

Article Source: September 32-in-32: Buffalo Sabres by Kevin Wong