The Buffalo Sabres were able to go as far as they did in the playoffs because of the strength of their blueline. Last season, they had arguably the best Top 4 in the entire league, led by Rasmus Dahlin, along with Mattias Samuelsson, Owen Power, and Bowen Byram.
Entering this season, Byram is no longer on the team after being traded, and Samuelsson is beginning the season on injured reserve after suffering an injury in a preseason game. Even with all the concerns, there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic, and these are three bold predictions for the Sabres' defensemen entering this season.
Rasmus Dahlin wins the Norris Trophy for the first time in his career
The Buffalo Sabres have never had a player win the Norris Trophy, which goes to the best defenseman that season, but that should change this season. Dahlin has been one of the best defensemen in the NHL for a few seasons now and has received votes for the Norris Trophy in each of the past four seasons.
This past season, he got the closest with the third-most votes for the award, but Zach Werenski ended up winning the trophy.
Over the past four seasons, Dahlin has averaged 68.5 points per season, and after finally reaching the playoffs for the first time in his career last season, he will be even more motivated to get Buffalo back this season. Dahlin has a chance to put together a special season that brings the Norris Trophy to Western New York for the first time.
Owen Power finishes with over 40 points this season
For the first time in his career, Owen Power finished a season with 30 or fewer points after registering only 29. However, the points don't tell the whole story, as the advanced metrics show a player who took serious strides in the defensive zone, with a Goals For % of 67.73% and an xGoals % of 50.57%, both career highs, according to Natural Stat Trick.
The Sabres are hoping he can continue playing at that level in the defensive zone this season, but he has a great chance to get back to producing in the offensive zone as he did earlier in his career.
One of the reasons that he should get closer to 40 points this season is that he is expected to once again be a part of the Sabres power play. He should play the role that Bowen Byram did last season and is already making an impact with a power-play assist in the final preseason game.
This could finally be the season that everything comes together for the former first overall pick.
Olen Zellweger has the most goals among defensemen behind Dahlin
There is not many people who would have predicted the breakout season that Mattias Samuelsson had shooting the puck. He finished the season second among defensemen on the Sabres in goals with 13, but he will have a tough time holding that spot this season.
The reason being is that Olen Zellweger is going to be the defensemen that finishes behind Rasmus Dahlin in goals. Zellweger is set to play his first season with the Buffalo Sabres after scoring seven goals in each of the prior two seasons with the Ducks.
With the Buffalo Sabres and the way they like to get their defensemen involved in the play in the offensive zone. The key for Zellweger will be to improve his shooting percentage, which has been a career 5.7%. If he can do that and get closer to 8%, Zellweger could get close to 15 goals this season.
The Buffalo Sabres are beginning this season with a blueline that looks pretty different than what they had last season. However, there is plenty of reasons to be optimistic about this group and them remaining a strength of this roster.
Add us as a preferred source on Google