Buffalo Sabres earn praise from NHL experts in power ranking

Each week, NHL.com ranks its Super 16. And while they’ve been spurned for a while, the Buffalo Sabres have returned to the rankings. 

The Buffalo Sabres found themselves in the NHL’s Super 16 for the first time since early November, beating out teams like the Washington Capitals, Calgary Flames, Nashville Predators, and their Atlantic Division rival, the Florida Panthers. The Sabres have shocked experts at this point, and NHL.com’s Dan Rosen had the following to say about the Blue and Gold:

"“The Sabres are higher than I thought they’d be at this point, fourth in the Atlantic Division and two points ahead of the Florida Panthers, the Presidents’ Trophy winners last season. It’s unlikely they go any higher than fourth, but they’re in the thick of the wild card race in the Eastern Conference. I thought the Sabres would be in the bottom half of the division, playing meaningful games but too far outside of the playoff race to be serious contenders. I thought they were a season ago. They might still be, but there’s hope for their first playoff berth since 2011 and that’s huge, especially considering it didn’t look good for Buffalo when it went 0-8-0 from Nov. 4-19. The Sabres have rebounded nicely and have since been one of the most consistent teams in the NHL. They might be buyers before the trade deadline for the first time in a long time.” – via NHL.com."

Buffalo Sabres receive praise from NHL.com

While Rosen pointed out the Sabres probably won’t rise any higher than fourth place given the dropoff between them and the third place Tampa Bay Lightning, he also believed the Sabres wouldn’t be in that top half come February.

As you can see in the quote above, he also praised the Sabres consistency, and he didn’t rule out that they could buy at the trade deadline, which is a question we even broke down here at Sabre Noise. 

Now, it’s all about getting and staying in the Eastern Conference’s top eight points-wise in a quest to reach their first playoff appearance since 2010-11. So how did the Sabres claw their way back into the Super 16 from a power rankings standpoint?

In October, Buffalo surprised many in NHL circles, storming out to a 7-3-0 start which also saw them hit the Super 16. But an 0-8-0 stretch in November dropped them to 7-11-0 and they quickly fell out of favor with many. Since their losing streak, the Sabres are 19-9-4 (42 points), literally a points total they stood at (with far more losses) heading into March 2022.

Also since the beginning of last March, Buffalo is 42-28-7 (91 points), or 1.18 points per game. Over an 82-game stretch, it equals 97 points, which would theoretically put them in contention for the wild card.

Can the Sabres stay in the Super 16 this time around? We will see what they look like following the All-Star break. There is a chance they would need to at least get things started without star center Tage Thompson, however, as he sustained an upper body injury right before the break.

Article Source: Super 16: Sabres back in power rankings; Kraken continue to climb by NHL.com

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