3 dynamic offseason moves that will end the Sabres playoff drought next season
After 71 games, the Buffalo Sabres are still quite a few points back in the NHL playoff race, and it doesn’t look like they have enough time to mount a comeback.
The Buffalo Sabres aren’t necessarily out of the playoff race, but with a points total in the low 70s after 71 games, it looks all but certain that the Blue and Gold won’t be playing hockey during the second half of April 2024. The team took a collective step back, but they still improved defensively, and that was much-needed after they allowed an eye-popping 300 goals in 2022-23.
Unfortunately, it came at the expense of the team’s offensive play, and that led to an overall subpar outing. The good news, however, is that the Sabres spent one season playing sensational offense while they were more than respectable defensively.
At the time of this writing, Buffalo still sits in the top half of the league in goals allowed with 207 (13th-lowest as of March 21st), and they have a goaltender who could get some votes for the Vezina in Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. But until they find a way to punch a ticket into the postseason, it’s tough to call the Sabres a good hockey team, even if they are still trending that way.
Sabres need to make a few moves this offseason to end playoff drought
At the absolute least, the Sabres don’t have a ton of holes on their projected lineup for next season, especially if they call up a few prospects from Rochester onto the main club when the puck drops in October 2024. But even if general manager Kevyn Adams decided to go that direction, it doesn’t mean he can ignore this team’s pressing needs.
They need at least one more dynamic goal-scorer, and there is one player on a rival team who could remedy that. They could still use more toughness and perhaps another glue guy following Kyle Okposo’s trade to the Florida Panthers, and if they don’t re-sign Zemgus Girgensons.
Lock up Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen long-term
Over the past two seasons, we have seen the Sabres lock up franchise players like Rasmus Dahlin, Owen Power, Tage Thompson, Mattias Samuelsson, and Dylan Cozens to long-term extensions. Now that Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen has proven himself, it’s time to sign him to a deal.
Luukkonen may not have played well a season ago, and you can even argue he didn’t start playing great hockey until 2023 faded into 2024, but you don’t let a productive goaltender like this go. Sure, you can argue that Luukkonen has only enjoyed a good half-season and Adams should sign him to a bridge deal, but that half-season has been sensational - sans the eight goals he allowed last night that you can argue weren't all on him - with Luukkonen giving the Sabres a 0.930 save percentage and four shutouts.
While Devon Levi could still be the favorite in the eyes of many Sabres fans, this is one of those “don’t fix if it isn’t broken” situations. We don’t know if Levi will be a franchise goaltender for the Sabres, but we know what Luukkonen can do.
So extend the proven product long-term and add yet another piece to your young core that will be in town until the end of the decade. This is a guy who never once let adversity get him down, even when it should have, and that’s a testament to Luukkonen.
Trade for Scott Laughton
Kevyn Adams needs to make a trade this summer for a player who can help give the Sabres one more push to play in the postseason, and Scott Laughton would be a great addition. This was a trade we could have seen this past trade deadline season, but that huge ‘sale’ former Buffalo Sabre and current Philadelphia Flyers general manager Daniel Briere was supposed to have barely materialized.
One major reason is that the Flyers decided to surprise everyone, and they have remained in third place in the Eastern Conference’s Metropolitan Division. But once they’re eliminated from the playoffs, barring an unforeseen Stanley Cup run, expect Briere to start trading away more established talent so he can start rebuilding the team.
Scott Laughton will likely go elsewhere, and since the Sabres traded away Casey Mittelstadt and likely won’t re-sign Tyston Jost, a center to fill the lower lines should be on the table. Laughton would play that role, provide leadership, and bring yet even more of an edge to a team that is constantly suffering from shortages of such players.
Laughton isn’t someone who would score often, but the 76 points and 29 goals he scored so far over the past two seasons are the highest of his career. He would offer at least serviceable scoring on the lower lines alongside one particular pending free agent the Sabres must go after.
Sign Daniel Sprong
Daniel Sprong was rarely known for his scoring until he opened the 2022-23 season with the Seattle Kraken and logged 21 goals and 46 points in 66 contests. Such a season may have been an outlier, but Detroit Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman knew otherwise and added Sprong to his playoff-contending unit.
Sprong, who just turned 27, has given us an encore this season with 40 points and 17 goals in 68 games. He may have played his way into an extension in Detroit, but if Yzerman wisely decides to recall some top prospects to the big club, a decision he could make in foresight, players like Sprong will become expendable.
This would put Sprong onto the free agent market, where he will be there for the taking. Someone like him could immediately form a third line that would, should the Sabres make the trade for Laughton, include the duo plus perhaps Jordan Greenway or Zach Benson, which would set the foundation for a solid bottom-six.
Signing Luukkonen long-term should be the first thing Adams does this offseason before shifting gears to pull off a trade that will bring even more of an edge to the Sabres lower lines. Finally, a lower-liner who can score the way Sprong will complete, at least on paper, a sound top-nine.
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(Statistics provide by Hockey-Reference)