The Buffalo Sabres and Detroit Red Wings spent the 2022 offseason building their respective teams in entirely different ways.
Buffalo Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams and Detroit Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman built their units differently. Adams stuck to the tried and true method of building a young core, primarily through the draft, but also via the Jack Eichel Trade (2021) in Alex Tuch’s and Peyton Krebs’ case. Yzerman had a smaller core, but he decided to pull off blockbuster deals through free agency and trades, attempting to stack the Red Wings for a playoff run.
While the media fell in love with Yzerman and his Red Wings, the Sabres were looked on, thanks to their sheer youth, one of the NHL’s worst teams. Few analysts had a high opinion of the Blue and Gold for the season, with hardly a soul predicting them to finish any higher than seventh in the Atlantic Division.
Buffalo Sabres took part in a memorable affair on Halloween Night, 2022
That evening, the unthinkable happened. We all figured this would at least be a close contest.
I know I did, having predicted the game to end in a shootout. Ironically enough, the Sabres topped the Wings twice later that season in such a fashion, but that wasn’t the case on this night.
Instead, the Blue and Gold went off for eight goals, foreshadowing the high-octane team they would become. Tage Thompson was the most exciting player that evening, having recorded a hat trick and six total points following what was a slow start for the star center.
The Sabres won Round 1 in what was a dominating, 8-3 win. And it set the stage for what was to come later that season vs. Detroit. Not only did Buffalo sweep the Red Wings; they also finished the year with 91 points, as opposed to Detroit’s 80.
While we don’t know what 2023-24 holds for these two teams, we do know that as it stands, the Adams-built Sabres hold the edge over Yzerman’s Wings. We’ll see if that trend continues in a few months.