Buffalo Sabres top six is becoming one of the NHL’s best
The Buffalo Sabres have seen remarkable output from their top six this season. And they are young enough to stick around for the long haul.
The Buffalo Sabres, despite sitting at 10-12-1 and in seventh place in the Atlantic Division, have a +3 goal differential. They have averaged 3.73 goals per game over their first 23 contests, and they have brewing stars all over the ice. And best yet, three of their top six are just 21 years old, and the other three have contracts that will keep them in the Queen City for a while.
But how good has Tage Thompson, Jeff Skinner, Alex Tuch, Dylan Cozens, Jack Quinn, and J.J. Peterka really been? Right now, the Sabres rank fourth in the NHL in goals scored with 86, and the top six has scored 51 of them, with another 10 coming from Victor Olofsson, and another eight from Rasmus Dahlin.
Minus Olofsson, the Sabres other forwards have combined for 12 goals, and 23 with Olofsson. The Sabres top line, comprising Tage, Tuch, and Skinner, are all on pace to score at least 78 points this year, with Tage on pace to threaten 100.
Buffalo Sabres top six is evolving into one of the NHL’s elite
While you will see a drop off following the Tage line with Cozens (18 points), Quinn (11 points), and Peterka (12 points), it’s also worth mentioning that two from this trio are rookies while Cozens is still a very young player himself, at 21.
Cozens scored just 13 goals last season, and already has eight of them this year, putting him on pace to shatter his 2021-22 output. If he continues his high-octane ways, Cozens will accumulate 64 points this season, while Quinn and Peterka are hovering around the 40-50 mark.
To say this group is remarkable is an understatement, especially since we are just 23 games into the season. So that leaves me with the question: What will this group look like by the season’s end?
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Barring injuries, look for the Tage line to hang steady while the Cozens line continues to grow. It wouldn’t surprise me if Cozens instead notched 70 this year while Quinn and Peterka treaded north of the 50-point mark.
(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference)
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