February 11, 2023 by Jeffery Ade

Coming out of the All-Star break, the Buffalo Sabres rank 10th in the Eastern Conference with 56 points through 50 games, only three points shy of the final wild-card spot. The Sabres are currently on pace for 92 points, which would be their highest single-season point total since amassing 96 points in 2010-11.

Sabres Expectations

Each club across the league has a different set of expectations and bar for success. Despite playing in the strongest division in the NHL, the Sabres have exceeded expectations so far, which is a great pace for this young, inexperienced group. After registering 75 points in 2021-22 and entering this season with the youngest team in the league, making the playoffs wasn’t considered a realistic goal for the Sabres. However, they have given themselves a shot to end their 11-year post-season drought with 32 games left to play.

22 of their 32 remaining games are against teams either lower or tied with the Sabres in the standings, but the concern is the Sabres’ inexperience will catch up to them down the stretch drive. Teams like the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins, who currently hold the two wild-card spots, are aging and declining, but they’ve been there, and done that for well over a decade now, and I believe next season is when they finally fall out. Toss in the fact the New York Islanders just upgraded by bringing in Bo Horvat and the Florida Panthers will likely be active at the deadline, the Sabres will be up against very stiff competition to end their playoff woes.

The Sabres biggest hole would be their defensive depth, their bottom pairing badly needs to be addressed. Adams will most likely make a minor addition to the blue line at the trade deadline on Friday March 3. Overall, I don’t foresee this Sabres front office group taking unnecessary risks or rushing the plan just to merely squeeze into the 2023 playoffs. General Manager Kevyn Adams is savvy enough to realize that this current road to a Sabres Stanley Cup is a marathon, not a sprint.

Sabres Core Group and Great Cap Management

Speaking of marathons, Kevyn Adams the other day just locked down Dylan Cozens to a seven-year contract extension worth $49.7 million. Selected seventh-overall in 2019, Cozens has shown to be an excellent pick for the Sabres. The 21-year-old ranks third among the 2019 draftees in career points (94), behind only Jack Hughes (175) and Trevor Zegras (117). Cozens, who has 43 points in 49 games so far this season, has been centering the second line with a pair of rookies on his wings in Jack Quinn and John-Jason Peterka.

Tage Thompson signed a seven-year extension worth $7.14 million a season this past August after having a breakout year in 2021-22, where he set career-high numbers with 38 goals and 68 points across 78 games played. Already in this current season, Thompson has tied his 68 point total in only 50 games. He was selected to play in the 2023 NHL All-Star Game but unfortunately, missed the event due to a minor upper-body injury.

Thompson was at practice on Friday, where Head Coach Don Granato has announced he will be playing against the Calgary Flames on Saturday to the relief of Sabres fans. Keeping the team’s top two centres at such a low combined price, gives this team so many options for the future. Kevyn Adams has done great work securing his core. With their top nine forwards signed, top six defense and two goalies under contract for next season, the Sabres are still $3 million SHY of the cap floor. That’s tremendous cap management for a team on the rise.

Tyson Jost is an upcoming RFA, a player the Sabres claimed off waivers from Minnesota back in mid-November, has built great chemistry centering the third line with Casey Mittelstadt and Victor Olofsson on the wings. I firmly believe Jost will be brought back and won’t be over $3 million, so they’ll still be shy of the Cap floor even with 10 forwards, six defencemen and two goalies. Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power are both upcoming RFAs in July 2024 but eligible for extensions this coming offseason. Dahlin will be the big ticket, but we can already see the Sabres will have loads of cap space and zero issues locking him down as they can pretty much pay him whatever he wants.

Power, will be a curious case; do they bridge him? If they do bridge Power, it is NOT the end of the world as Jeff Skinner and his $9 million will come off the books in July 2027. If they go the bridge route with Power and sign him for three years, they can easily toss over the Skinner money and then lock Owen down long-term with a nice-looking raise as well.

Sabres Goaltending Future

All of this and I haven’t mentioned rookie goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen yet?! The 23-year-old Finn, most likely should be in the AHL right now but when Eric Comrie went down with an injury and was out for six weeks starting in mid-November, Luukkonen got the call and has owned the crease. They’re currently carrying 13 forwards, seven defense and three goaltenders. Tough to juggle at times with the netminders, but Luukkonen has proved he belongs to stay at this level.

Nothing has officially come out, but I feel 41-year-old goaltender Craig Anderson was convinced into returning for one more season instead of retiring, there must be some kind of mutual respect agreement where they won’t be moving Anderson unless he gives the green light and agrees to his next destination in what is most likely the last few months of his NHL career. Luukkonen is the starter now and for the near future. The Sabres do have Devon Levi still in college, doing phenomenal down there and will be turning pro next season; joining Rochester of the AHL.

Levi will most likely be in the minors 1-2 seasons, but the organization is in a great spot. If Luukkoneon doesn’t exactly pan out, there’s Levi not far behind. If Luukkonen does pan out, just solidifies the crease even better with a Luukkonen and Levi tandem.

Surging Sabres

We’re in for a wild ride these last few months with the Eastern playoff race, they’ll be close but sadly, I don’t believe will be making the playoffs this year. 2024 and beyond, we will see a consistent playoff team. I hear from some Oiler friends that the Sabres still haven’t proved anything yet, which to a certain extent is true but we can’t speed up time here.

All the proper pieces are in place: the trades, the drafting and the signings Adams has been making are all something Buffalo fans can smile about. They’re in a great position. I know, it’s already been 11 consecutive seasons without playoffs and soon could be extending that NHL-record to 12 this season, but it’ll be well worth it in the long run.