Buffalo will not be sneaking up on anyone in their pursuit of the postseason in 2023-24

The Buffalo Sabres and Buffalo Bills have something in common; they both have gone through lengthy playoff droughts. The Bills ended theirs in 2018 after missing the postseason for 17 straight years. The Sabres have not played in the Stanley Cup Playoffs since 2011, but there is belief within the organization and from the fanbase that the club, who just missed the postseason in 2022-23, are good enough to end that record of futility in 2023-24.

The question yet to be answered by the Sabres mix of young top-end talent and veteran support players is whether they can live up to those expectations.

Buffalo has undergone two wholesale rebuilds, and through six head coaches, and four general managers over the last decade, bottoming out in 2014 and 2015 to select Sam Reinhart and Jack Eichel with consecutive second overall picks, dealing both away, and reloading after finishing dead last in 2018 and 2021 with top-overall picks Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power.

The Sabres under GM Kevyn Adams and head coach Don Granato have found their way, developing Tage Thompson, Casey Mittelstadt, Dylan Cozens, Jack Quinn, J-J Peterka, and Mattias Samuelsson, acquiring players in trades like Alex Tuch, Peyton Krebs, Henri Jokiharju, and Calder Trophy candidate Devon Levi, and coming together last season to generate the third-best offense in the NHL last season (296 goals) and fall one point short of the playoffs.

After adding a pair of experienced defensemen in Erik Johnson and Connor Clifton, Buffalo hopes to reduce the number of goals surrendered from 300 last season, but they face tough competition within the Atlantic Division and in the Eastern Conference.

"Guys have their own personal expectations and we have sort of expectations as a group that are coming with the way the team is progressing." Sabres winger Jeff Skinner said. "We've had some forward steps in the past year and a half to two years. I think that we want to continue to keep building. We obviously know we play in a tough division, and it's going to be a long season, but I think for us, the next step in the progression is kind of what we want to take and that's what you want. You want to be on a team that's got talent, that's got good pieces and for us, it's about putting those pieces together.”

The challenge for Buffalo is they are in a division where the reigning President’s Trophy winner (Boston) and Eastern Conference Champion (Florida) reside. In spite of injuries and roster changes, the Bruins, Panthers, Tampa Bay and Toronto are considered strong playoff-caliber clubs. Detroit and Ottawa are also improved and could contend for the three top spots in the Atlantic or the two Eastern Conference wildcard spots, but Skinner believes the Sabres are confident and that they can rise to the occasion.

"It's an exciting time and I think guys are looking forward to the challenge."