The Buffalo Sabres have been one of the most disappointing teams in the Eastern Conference this season. And given that we’re at the one-third point of the season, it’s as good a time as any to deliver grades for Buffalo’s GM, coach, and Sabres players.

We started on the process by grading GM Adams, as well as coach Lindy Ruff, and Buffalo’s goaltenders and defensemen. And in this final file in the series, we’re focusing on the Sabres’ group of forwards. Let’s get to it:

Position: Forward

The Buffalo Sabres have been one of the most disappointing teams in the Eastern Conference this season. And given that we’re at the one-third point of the season, it’s as good a time as any to deliver grades for Buffalo’s GM, coach, and Sabres players. 

Grade: D 

The Lowdown: The Sabres’ average of 2.93 goals-for per game this season is 20th-overall in the league– and given how much stock Adams put in his forwards when he talked about his team this past summer, that’s not nearly good enough. 

The Sabres have had scores of goals-allowed to atone for by producing tons of offense. They’re not an elite team in any sense, and they need contributions from all areas, forwards included. That means having an offense that spreads out the love, and that just wasn’t apparent through Buffalo’s first-third of the season.

Grading The Sabres At The One-Third Mark Of The Season: The Defense Corps At the one-third point of the season, we're handing out grades at each Sabres position. And in this file, we're focusing on Buffalo's defensemen -- thought to be a strength heading into the season. But that hasn't turned out to be the case.

To wit: the Sabres currently have just one player who has goals in double-digits – star forward Tage Thompson, who has 12 goals in 28 games – and that’s a pace that would put Thompson at 35 goals, well below his production last year of 44 goals. Meanwhile, last season, Buffalo had only four scorers who scored at least 20 goals – and they traded one of them – J.J. Peterka – to the Utah Mammoth. And this year, only four Sabres are on pace for more than 20 goals. So there’s really no improvement as a group of forwards for Buffalo.

If the Sabres’ forwards were a tight defense-minded team, you could understand why they might have some issues on offense. But alas, there’s a production problem at both ends of the ice in Buffalo, and management hasn’t addressed it via trades.

Grading The Sabres At The One-Third Mark Of The Season: The Goalies In our ongoing series, we're grading the Sabres' season at each position. And in this file, we're grading Buffalo's netminders.

Sure, seeing a youngster like Josh Doan put together some decent numbers (including eight goals and 19 points this season) gives Sabres fans some hope this team will evolve into a legitimately-solid group.

But as it stands, Buffalo needs significant help up front – and until they get it, their grade is going to be sub-par to say the least.