Buffalo Sabres keep core intact, avoid potential mistake in signing Kane

A contingent of Buffalo Sabres fans can heave a sigh of relief that Patrick Kane is playing in Detroit and not in the City of Good Neighbors.

Whew, for a minute there it looked like the Buffalo Sabres were still in the running in the Patrick Kane Sweepstakes. But it’s tough to call them sweepstakes, considering how much of a step back Kane took when he was a member of the New York Rangers.

Overall, Kane’s points total dropped from 92 in 78 games in 2021-22, his final season with the Chicago Blackhawks to just 57 in 73 games last season. Add a procedure that has a poor track record on top of that, and who knows what Kane will look like when he suits up for the Detroit Red Wings?

We don’t know how the Red Wings will use Kane, but it’s tough to see him being anywhere remotely close to the player he was even last year following his hip resurfacing surgery. As for the Sabres, we know they can keep building their brewing winner through the core that they spent the previous three seasons developing.

Buffalo Sabres ‘losing’ the Kane sweepstakes lets them keep core intact

An outsider will look at the Sabres pedestrian record and scoff, perhaps claiming they should be looking toward the outside for help. And that’s something they need to be doing now that they have identified their core. But, they don’t need to sign more aging players, especially those in Kane’s situation – Just look at how poorly Erik Johnson has fared overall.

There are quite a few better alternatives out there besides Kane that the Sabres can turn into should they look to bring in talent from the outside or within. But in reality, one reason behind their struggles has a lot to do with injuries. Just last night, the Blue and Gold were without Tage Thompson, Jack Quinn, and Jordan Greenway, three key core components, and that has hurt them at times this season.

Once the team gets healthy again, they will be more than fine, and you have to credit them for at least keeping things afloat with what they have. Just two seasons ago, the injury bug derailed them, and when they got healthy, they were arguably one of the more dominant teams in the NHL even if the playoffs were out of the question.

Now that the Buffalo Sabres are two years more experienced, even if they are the league’s youngest team, expect the same when Tage, Quinn, and Greenway return. And best yet, because Kane won’t be in town, they also won’t be juggling things around in their lineup.

(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference)