Buffalo’s disappointing five-game road trip likely has management looking forward to the off-season and potential changes
The Buffalo Sabres are not mathematically eliminated for the postseason, but for all intents and purposes, their playoff dreams ended with a 4-1 loss to Detroit one week ago and were punctuated by losses to Vancouver and Edmonton on their four-game Western road swing.
The Sabres are now seven points behind the Red Wings with 11 games to go and three teams in between them and Detroit for the last Eastern Conference wildcard spot.
While the solid, steady goaltending of Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and the improvement overall of their team defense have been positive developments the last two months, the club resorting back to their early-season inconsistencies during a stretch when they had no room for error may be the final straw for GM Kevyn Adams when considering some significant roster reconstruction this summer.
The acquisition of defenseman Bowen Byram to a top-four group that includes Rasmus Dahlin, Owen Power, and Mattias Samuelsson should provide stability on the back end. The hope will likely be that centers Dylan Cozens and Tage Thompson can bounce back from an inconsistent year and that Peyton Krebs or some of their young organizational depth up the middle will fill the gap created by the departure of Casey Mittelstadt.
The area where the club is likely to see a significant turnover is on the wing. The trade of team captain Kyle Okposo was the beginning, but Victor Olofsson will likely not be back and veteran Zemgus Girgensons future is in question. Any thought of moving out Jeff Skinner will be hampered by a no-movement clause and his $9 million cap hit, which could make the chatter about top-liner Alex Tuch that popped up close to the deadline come up again.
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