October 13, 2022 by Jeff Ade

This is Jeff Ade and here is my debut article for HeavyHockey.com; Buffalo Sabres Style!

Who am I? I’m a 35 years old hockey fanatic. I’ve played for over 15 years and I’ve added on ten years of coaching. I was born and raised in Edmonton, but I’m a die-hard Sabres fan. Why the Sabres of all teams? In short, many memories, loyalty, tons of merchandise; but most importantly family influence direct from Buffalo. I have been in attendance at every Sabres vs Edmonton Oilers match in Edmonton since 2006. Plus, I’ve made it down to Calgary a handful of times to watch the Sabres and Calgary Flames collide. As everyone knows, it’s not easy being a Sabres fan, but I’m in it for the long haul. 

Here is my outlook for the 2022-23′ Buffalo Sabres: 

Reasons for HOPE:

1. I’m intrigued by their progression: they finished with 75 points last season, and I’m not expecting anything close to playoffs, but as long as they’re climbing from that I’m satisfied. I’m hoping for somewhere in the 85-88 point range by the time they call it quits, maybe 10-11th in the East overall.

2. I’m also intrigued to see what kind of season Owen Power has. He’s a vital part of the Sabres’ future and I hope he’s at least a Calder candidate by the season’s end.

3. Eric Comrie: The Sabres have brought in goaltender Comrie to be their new starter. He’ll likely split games with Craig Anderson, but I bet Comrie has the bigger workload. Comrie, a career backup goaltender, finally gets his chance with more responsibility. At only 27 years old, something could be there, and it was a low-risk signing.

Let’s be realistic here, top-name goalies will not be signing with the Sabres. Buffalo gets the leftovers and has two prospects in the system that they don’t want to block in the future. Comrie only has 28 career NHL games under his belt, but if we look more recently, he played 19 of those games just last season with Winnipeg. In Comrie’s 19 games last year, he posted a 10-5-1 record with a 2.58 G.A.A and .920 save %; on a non-playoff team, that’s not bad. I don’t think he will be the saviour in the crease, but I believe he’ll be a step up from Craig Anderson and a suitable stopgap for developing youngsters Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Devon Levi.

Reasons for CONCERN:

1. Goaltending will be an obvious concern. In my opinion, I feel that they’re going the drafting/development/patience route. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen is in the AHL for one final season, and Devon Levi is in college for one more year. I get it; nobody wants to sign in Buffalo, and nobody will be trading solid players away anytime soon. They’ll have Comrie-
Luukkonen in the NHL next year, with Levi moving on up to the AHL. Strength in numbers? One of them has to pan out, right?

2. If anything huge is still holding them back, I’d say it’s simply youth and inexperience. They’ll have to weather that
storm for a year or two. They’ll have three rookies in Owen Power, Jack Quinn, and John-Jason Peterka this season, plus two sophomores in Peyton Krebs and Mattias Samuelsson. Yes, they’re a young group, but those five are all penciled in to be part of the future core success needed to pull them out of this funk.

3. It could be interpreted as a “cheap” excuse, but the division they’re in. The Atlantic is crazy brutal; the top four alone were all some of the top teams in the League last year, plus Detroit Red Wings and Ottawa Senators have improved from last season. Teams like Boston Bruins, Tampa Bay Lightning and maybe Toronto Maple Leafs will decline in the next handful of years while the likes of the Sabres, Senators, and Red Wings climb up over them.

Outlook and Expectations:

Management’s plan shows me they’re playing the long game and not rushing their potential stars. They’ve drafted exceptionally well over the last two years and are doing everything they can to ensure they can afford these prospects
when they become stars. Regardless, they’re such a young, inexperienced group, so I don’t think playoffs will happen this season. As long as they improve from last season’s performance and continue to keep climbing, it’ll be good. I think
Rasmus Dahlin is very close to being able to lead fully, but he still has room to grow. Power only has eight games under his belt so this entire season will be a “just get your feet wet, kid!” type of year. One to two more years is fair before we can expect them to be a playoff team. Next year should again be close, but by 2024-25, the Sabres are playoff bound! 

2022-23 NHL Predictions:

Atlantic:

1. Tampa Bay Lightning
2. Boston Bruins
3. Florida Panthers
4. Toronto Maple Leafs
5. Detroit Red Wings
6. Buffalo Sabres (38-33-11-87 points)
7. Ottawa Senators
8. Montreal Canadiens

Metropolitan:

1. Carolina Hurricanes
2. NY Rangers
3. Pittsburgh Penguins
4. Washington Capitals
5. New Jersey Devils
6. NY Islanders
7. Columbus Blue Jackets
8. Philadelphia Flyers

Central:

1. Colorado Avalanche
2. Minnesota Wild
3. St. Louis Blues
4. Nashville Predators
5. Dallas Stars*
6. Winnipeg Jets
7. Chicago Blackhawks
8. Arizona Coyotes

Pacific:

1. Calgary Flames
2. Edmonton Oilers
3. Los Angeles Kings
4. Vegas Golden Knights
5. Vancouver Canucks
6. Anaheim Ducks
7. Seattle Kraken
8. San Jose Sharks

I believe the bottom 5 teams will be Arizona, Chicago, Montreal, Philadelphia and San Jose.