2023 NHL Off-Season Outlook: Buffalo Sabres Have Better Days Ahead – Again
The Buffalo Sabres have built up hope for a playoff appearance multiple times in the past few years and fell back to earth. It'll now be an expectation to make it next season.
The NHL’s off-season is now well underway, and the hockey world’s attention has turned to each team’s focus heading into next season. With that in mind, we’re going to analyze all of the teams, one by one, and break down what’s in store for them.
Moving alphabetically, we’re now looking at the up-and-coming Buffalo Sabres, a team that didn't make the playoffs last year but will be a serious challenger for a post-season berth in the 2023-24 campaign.
2022-23 Grade: B
Biggest Positive Heading Into the Off-Season
One thing is clear about the Sabres – they’re not hurting for offense.
Their top four forwards – Jeff Skinner, Tage Thompson, Alex Tuch and Dylan Cozens – combined to generate 149 goals and 323 points. Their two best defensemen – Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power – posted a combined 89 assists and 108 points this past year.
They’re not the biggest group, as six of their top 12 forwards are six-foot or shorter, but they have enough creativity and high-end skill to get the job done in the offensive zone.
The other big positive for the Sabres is their salary cap status. Per CapFriendly, Buffalo GM Kevyn Adams has got 21 players signed for 2023-24, and he still has more than $16.9 million in cap space. That gives him the flexibility to go out and acquire a high-impact veteran, either via trade or free agency. Would someone such as current Winnipeg Jets superstar netminder Connor Hellebuyck be a perfect fit with the Sabres? You’d better believe it.
Another option between the pipes is veteran Semyon Varlamov, and, unlike the Hellebuyck situation, all Buffalo would have to give up to get Varlamov would be the cap space – probably in the neighborhood of the $5-million cap hit Varlamov had last season with the New York Islanders.
All things considered, the Sabres are going to be a threat to land a wild-card berth in the Atlantic Division next year. If they can tighten up their game in their own zone, Buffalo will be one of the toughest groups in the league.
Biggest Need Heading Into the Off-Season
The Sabres currently have journeyman Eric Comrie and youngsters Devon Levi and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen as their goaltenders, and that’s not ideal. Bringing in someone accustomed to the grind of an NHL regular season will give Buffalo the confidence they must have in their netminders.
Other than that, the Sabres could use their cap space to land a depth defenseman who can make Buffalo’s defensive zone much tougher for opponents. As Dahlin and Power mature into their primes, having a veteran who can eat up 20 minutes or more per game will ease the pressure on the duo.
Someone like gritty D-man and current UFA Matt Dumba would be a terrific investment for the Sabres, who surrendered 297 goals against this past season – the second-worst number in that category in the Atlantic and the third-worst in the Eastern Conference.
Buffalo’s offense is as explosive as any in the game, but allowing an average of 3.57 goals against per game simply cannot be allowed to continue. Figuring out a better battle plan both in net and on ‘D’ is paramount to turning this group into a playoff menace.
Bottom Line for Them This Off-Season
Sabres fans have suffered through a dozen seasons without post-season hockey, but the promise with this lineup is real and considerable. Adams and coach Don Granato can’t allow a lateral standings move, let alone a step backward.
There’s a good deal of pressure on the Sabres to make the playoffs, and given they finished one standings point behind Florida and had the same number of points as the Pittsburgh Penguins, there’s no longer a good reason why Buffalo shouldn't make the playoffs in 2023-24.
Other teams are on notice that the Sabres will be even more offensively imposing than they were last year, and better days are immediately ahead for them.
With a core of Thompson, Cozens, Power and Dahlin, Buffalo has high-impact stars in two of the three key positions. Once they add a goalie and another D-man, the Sabres will make that next step in the competitive cycle and assure their fans that NHL playoff hockey will take place in Upstate New York for the next decade or longer.