Under Don Granato, the Buffalo Sabres showed immense progress in 2021-22. Can he get the job done this season and take the team to new heights?
Don Granato made his mark in his first full season with the Buffalo Sabres. Under Granato, players like Rasmus Dahlin and Tage Thompson saved their careers. Jeff Skinner redeemed himself with a 63-point outing, and players like Peyton Krebs and Rasmus Asplund flourished.
Now in Year 2, Granato figures to have another pair of youngsters rising through the ranks in J.J. Peterka and Jack Quinn. He will also have Owen Power for a full season, and there is an outside chance he will coach even more young talent as players like Matt Savoie, Linus Weissbach, Lukas Rousek, and Tyson Kozak, as all three stated their cases in the 2022 Prospects Challenge.
Will Granato get it done in 2022-23 with a young Buffalo Sabres team?
We are looking at a head coach whose team was finished in February 2022, yet still salvaged the season. There were several highlight wins, such as embarrassing the Toronto Maple Leafs three times, despite the latter’s supposed dominance in the Eastern Conference.
Granato also proved in 2021-22, with his background in developing players, that regardless of how young and inexperienced a team is, he will make the most of it. No, 75 points in an 82-game season isn’t good, but it could have, and probably should have been far worse considering the stretch we saw from November 2021 to February 2022.
Remember, Jeff Skinner was the Incredible Bust this time last year. No one had a high opinion of Tage Thompson. There was no Alex Tuch or Peyton Krebs. Casey Mittelstadt was the first-line center. Rasmus Dahlin was well on his way to riding the bust label, and the goaltending situation was meek at best.
Yet, Granato still found a way to take a situation that appeared to be absolute garbage and he led them to a fifth-place finish in the Atlantic. This is one reason I’ll read season previews counting the Sabres out and laugh. Granato proved to the hockey world he could win games even when dealt the absolute worst hand.
Now in 2022-23, the Buffalo Sabres are a much better team on paper, meaning Granato will more than likely make them even better in reality, considering his recent track record. So yeah, you can count out Granato and the Sabres.
But it’s rather foolish to, considering how well he had this team playing when they finally got healthy. While the critics may count him out, I have one piece of advice for the Sabres and their fans: Let their ignorance be our strength, and Don Granato’s strength, in 2022-23. Not saying the Sabres will be in the playoffs, but I am saying they will climb another rung.