Montreal finished with a 30-36-16 record (76 points), eight points behind Buffalo
The Buffalo Sabres took a step back after barely missing the playoffs in 2023, finishing seven points out of the final Eastern Conference wildcard spot with a 39-37-6 record (84 points). The regression cost head coach Don Granato his job and put more pressure on GM Kevyn Adams to snap the league’s longest playoff drought of 13 seasons.
Adams brought back veteran head coach Lindy Ruff to stress accountability and has made trades and free agent signings to remedy the Sabres depth and defensive issues, but the question now is whether they are as good or better than their competition in the Eastern Conference.
The Montreal Canadiens finished eight points behind the Sabres with a 30-36-16 record and in last place in the Atlantic Division. Under Team President Jeff Gorton and GM Kent Hughes, the Habs are in the midst of a slow rebuild, accumulating young assets in the draft and locking up young core players Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, and this summer extending former first overall pick Juraj Slafkovsky.
This similar to what Buffalo did with Rasmus Dahlin, Owen Power, Tage Thompson, Dylan Cozens, and Mattias Samuelsson, but the difference is the Habs are burdened by more bad contracts than the Sabres, with aging veterans Brendan Gallagher, Josh Anderson, and David Savard taking up more than $15 million in cap space.
In every area Buffalo has a distinct advantage over Montreal, who appear likely to finish in last place again this season. The Sabres goaltending tandem of Luukkonen and Levi is superior to Montreal’s pair of Samuel Montembeault and Cayden Primeau. Defensively, the Sabres have three excellent top-four blueliners in Dahlin, Power, and Bowen Byram, while the Habs have a veteran in Mike Matheson coming off a career year (62 points) and a collection of youngsters in Kaiden Guhle, Lane Hutson, and Arber Xhekaj who are a couple of years away.
Up front, in spite of the Sabres offensive struggles, they scored 10 more goals last season than Les Habitants. Suzuki, Caufield, and Slavkovsky are excellent and have room to grow, but the Habs depth includes Alex Newhook, Kirby Dach, Alex Newhook, and Christian Dvorak.
Montreal did nothing in the trade market or free agency to add to their group, while Buffalo bolstered their bottom six and have a superior top six. While the Sabres appear to be one of five or six clubs in the mix for a wildcard spot, there is little chance that Montreal will be fighting for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
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