The Buffalo Sabres will enjoy a better defensive rotation this season, and they could build on their offensive performance in 2023-24.
The Buffalo Sabres are just about to start training camp for the 2023-24 NHL season, and there are expectations galore for this young team. Better yet, the Blue and Gold should deal with them quite well following a season when they scored 91 points and really got it together toward the end of the year.
Scoring fueled this young team, and following their first two games of the 2023 Prospects Challenge, it’s becoming evident that the Blue and Gold built a sense of organizational identity. One comprising a high-octane, all-out offensive approach from all four lines to at least some degree and even a defensive pairing or two.
We saw this result in 296 goals last season, and that number could even rise in 2023-24 with a more experienced group taking the ice. Best yet, with better defense and a potential showstopper in Devon Levi serving as the (presumed) primary goaltender, the Sabres are in position to find themselves in the green from a goal-differential standpoint.
2023-24 Buffalo Sabres will finish with a +50 goal differential in 2023-24
At first glance, this may not seem like such a bold prediction, as teams finish with a +50 or better goal differential all the time. But last year, fewer than 10 squads snagged the honor, so you can see why this one is going in the 75 In 75 category as opposed to just a normal projection for the upcoming season.
However, it’s not impossible: If Levi starts 50 games in 2023-24 and simply maintains the GAA from his first seven contests, that’s 147 goals allowed. Enter Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen or Eric Comrie, and if they allow a meager 3.5 goals per game, on average for the other 32 contests, then you are looking at 112 goals. Do the math (147 + 112), and you get 259 goals allowed across 82 games, for an average of 3.16 per game.
That said, the Sabres would only need to put up another 13 goals from last season (309 total) to snag the +50 mark. So while this is a bold prediction for such a young hockey team, the numbers shown above, which don’t deviate incredibly from what we saw last season, make this 75 In 75 projection more than possible.
(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference)