3 – Defensive rotation
The Buffalo Sabres defensive rotation contains much more sound depth than it had in the past, with blueliners Erik Johnson and Connor Clifton in the lineup. Their presence could allow the Blue and Gold to take up several different possible lineups, ranging from a presumed rotation featuring Clifton alongside Power and Johnson taking a spot on the bottom pairing.
But that is one of several scenarios. Earlier in the summer, I laid out three of them, and I even made a case for Mattias Samuelsson to drop down and play on the second line while either Johnson or Clifton paired with Dahlin. This is a problem the Sabres must figure out, but I cannot stress enough that this is also a “good problem” to have.
Who will play where, and who is taking over for Jack Quinn in the season’s early going? With opening night now just three weeks away, we won’t need to wait long to see how the Sabres sort out the above issues.