This past year, Dylan Cozens and Casey Mittelstadt enjoyed breakout seasons for the Buffalo Sabres. Who will reach the threshold in 2023-24?
When you have an ultra-young team like the Buffalo Sabres, you will experience a lot of players enjoying breakout campaigns. Dylan Cozens (68 points, 31 goals, 37 assists) and Casey Mittelstadt (59 points, 15 goals, 44 assists) stole the show in 2022-23 among players not named Tage Thompson, Alex Tuch, or Jeff Skinner.
And while we are still a good six months from the puck dropping to kick off the 2023-24 NHL season, it’s never too early to make predictions. Especially if your roster is, for once, one of the more stable ones in the NHL.
3 Buffalo Sabres who can breakout in 2023-24
1 – Devon Levi
Some have argued Devon Levi already enjoyed a breakout season, but in reality, he played in just seven contests. He had a successful trial period, but I’m not getting so bold as to say it was a breakout campaign.
However, Levi more than proved he can not just play in the NHL, but he also indicated he’s capable of dealing with the challenge of withstanding a full season. He saw time in 34 contests at Northeastern before he made the jump to the NHL, seeing ice time in a combined 41 games.
Overall, it wouldn’t surprise me if Levi scored a 0.910 save percentage, won at least 20 games, and posted a GAA of 2.95 or lower. And if that’s the case, you can count him as both a breakout player and a serious contender for the Calder.
2 – Jack Quinn
With 37 points in 75 games, Jack Quinn noticeably had his fair share of inconsistencies, but that’s not unheard of among rookies seeing an extended look in the NHL for the first time in their respective careers. Quinn improved, however, and 17 of those 37 points came following the All-Star break, setting the stage for a potential breakout in 2023-24.
He will also likely play alongside Dylan Cozens and J.J. Peterka, and the trio foreshadowed that they could become a formidable unit in time. Oh, and speaking of Peterka, he also has an outside chance to breakout, but there was another player I ranked slightly ahead of him…
3 – Owen Power
We saw Owen Power’s game evolve this past season, and he ended up with 35 points in 79 contests. While some may claim he underperformed, Power’s main focus early on involved playing closer to the blue line, before he crept further up the ice, and he more than showed flashes of what he’s capable of.
Expect more of that in 2023-24. It’s almost a guarantee that Power will get a Mattias Samuelsson type of defenseman to line up alongside him, and this will further open Power’s game. I would be shocked if he didn’t reach the 50-point threshold. Look for him to enjoy a big year.
Source: Sabres mailbag, part 1: Who is next to break out like Tage Thompson, Dylan Cozens? by Matthew Fairburn, TheAthletic.com
(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference and Elite Prospects)