Which Roster Would You Pick Right Now -- The Sabres Or Sharks? The Answer May Not Surprise You

It occurred to us when we recently put together an upcoming THN.com column on the San Jose Sharks – one of the NHL’s most consistently-terrible teams in the past six years – that only the Buffalo Sabres (okay, and the Detroit Red Wings) have been sub-par for longer than the Sharks. Although they’ve won two in a row, Buffalo currently is only two standings points ahead of San Jose in the NHL standings, and only the Calgary Flames are as bad as the Sharks.  

So, if you’re a Sabres fan, you should be asking yourself, “What roster would I rather have – Buffalo’s or San Jose’s?”. Because the answer to that question is an indictment against Sabres management.

Indeed, even the most fervent Sabres fan would have to concede that, for all their warts, the Sharks have a slew of young talent – including superstar-in-the-making center Macklin Celebrini, star center Will Smith and star forward Michael Misa – that give San Jose the edge over Buffalo as the answer to that question.

Now, to be fair to the Sabres, they clearly have players you’d want on a legitimate Stanley Cup contender. Defenseman Rasmus Dahlin, winger Tage Thompson, and D-man Owen Power all fall into that category. You’d definitely refer to Dahlin as a generational player, but would you do the same for Power and Thompson? We’re not so sure.

This is why the Sharks are obviously the choice when you’re choosing between Buffalo’s lineup and San Jose’s lineup. The Sharks have plenty of holes in their organizational depth chart, but clearly – and in spite of the Sabres’ modest win streak – Buffalo does as well. 

Is Trading Star Winger Thompson The Right Thing To Do For Sabres? Even with a slow start, trading star winger Tage Thompson now would be a massive mistake. Buffalo needs him as a foundational piece.

The Sabres’ brutal 14-year playoff drought spans the entire length of San Jose’s struggles, and Buffalo still had many more years of suffering. But for all that suffering, the Sabres sure don’t have a roster that has a number of generational talent on it. That feels like the opposite should be true – that Buffalo should have more to show for it. Alas, that’s not the case.

The Sabres’ long stretches of mismanagement are the reason why Buffalo’s trophy cabinet is nearly empty. By now they should’ve had a slew of high-end talents still playing for them. Instead, they employed a slew or utterly-forgettable talents. And Buffalo’s lineup simply doesn’t have that zing!-feel to it.   

The Sabres have to look at other teams with envy. Buffalo needs to figure out a way to acquire generational talent, because if you don’t have it, you can’t beat the teams that do.