Have the Buffalo Sabres officially become the NHL’s version of the Pittsburgh Pirates?

The Buffalo Sabres history is starting to mirror that of another professional sports team. In recent seasons, the Blue and Gold sent Jack Eichel to Vegas and Sam Reinhart to Florida, and one or the other won the Stanley Cup in 2023 and 2024, respectively. And this doesn’t count other former Sabres who won as well, like Kyle Okposo and Brandon Montour, just to throw out a couple of names. 

This offseason, they bought out Jeff Skinner’s contract and traded Matt Savoie, both of whom ended up with the Edmonton Oilers. We know Skinner, despite the buyout, can still put up between 20 and 30 goals per season, and we saw him score 35 as recently as 2022-23. Savoie could also be playing his first season in the NHL.

While I was cool with trading him for Ryan McLeod, it still didn’t alleviate the nagging feeling in my mind that both moves may have set the stage for Edmonton to hoist the Stanley Cup come June 2025. Throw in the fact that the Sabres haven’t been to the playoffs in 13 seasons and that they’re once again playing in what could be the NHL’s toughest division, and you can’t help but wonder if the Blue and Gold are turning into pro hockey’s version of a certain MLB team that wears black and gold. 

I’m sure quite a few Sabres fans out there root for or at least follow the Pittsburgh Pirates to a degree, given the relative proximity between the City of Good Neighbors and the Steel City. Regardless, you may know that the Pirates once went two decades without a playoff berth, and their current drought is going on nine seasons following three straight playoff berths between 2013 and 2015 that saw them play a total of eight postseason games. 

Are the Sabres becoming the NHL’s version of the Pittsburgh Pirates?

And the list of players the Pirates had with them who went off to win the World Series or at least play for some sensational baseball teams between 1993 and 2012 is endless. You could write a book on who Pittsburgh had at one time that their fans had to watch play for some of the MLB’s best teams during the era, but hey, at least the Steelers and Penguins won some championships, right?

This is one of those articles you really don’t want to write, but you also can’t help but notice some eerie parallels between the Sabres and Pirates in recent memory. Sure, the lack of a salary cap in the MLB is a culprit for the latter, and we can’t say the same for the Sabres, but there are plenty of low-budget teams in baseball that have been to or even won the World Series. 

But who knows? Maybe Skinner will falter in Edmonton, and perhaps Savoie will underperform, and in hindsight, Kevyn Adams will look like he made a pair of outstanding moves. I’m not rooting against them - especially Skinner, who deserves to finally enjoy a playoff run - but what I’m getting at is, maybe the buyout and subsequent McLeod trade will immediately work in the Sabres favor?

We won’t really know until the 2030s who really won the Eichel, Reinhart, and Savoie trades or if buying out Skinner was ultimately a good idea. But right now, I’m seeing a pair of championships for Vegas and Florida, and heading into the 2024-25 season, Edmonton will factor in as a serious contender. 

(Data provided by Hockey and Baseball-Reference)