I think this is the year they make it back to the playoffs especially with Ruff as headcoach. Also love to see Quinn have a breakout year.
GuitarGuy93
If we stay healthy, I can’t possibly imagine finishing 21st. But the last decade plus says otherwise I guess 🤷🏻♂️
DangleDaddy716
We bought out one of our best players by far and didn’t replace his scoring. Our top 6 is significantly weaker now. The bottom 6 will be much better but that won’t account for many wins. We are going to be a bottom feeder and pick 7th in the draft next year.
Material_Mall_5359
Sounds about right
scaredwhiteboy1
That’s a fair assessment 😔
Secondclasscandy
Spot on
The_Ineffable_One
I think if that’s what happens, Adams is gone, that’s what I think.
Zealousideal_Big_289
If some of the top players like Tage have a better season, and our bottom 6 is better, I say we make the playoffs.
Why_So-Serious
We are never going to lose again.
Tour-Quality
I think it will be difficult, but I’m not counting them out. Believe the players learned something last year from anticipating making the playoffs and then failing. They have improved their coaching and bottom six. Not all of their top players should have down years again this season. As long as he is healthy, Quinn should make a significant difference for the team’s ability to score this year. Goaltending needs to hold up and expect Ruff Andrew to do something to strengthen the D.
YoungTroubadour
I’m just trying to figure out where Krebs and Brysgoat are
luv_train
Honestly our roster isn’t much better than last year, but we’ll see if Lindy really makes much of a difference
ForeverChangesBflo
Sounds right to me. Everything will have to go their way to make the playoffs with this group of players. Everyone stays healthy, everyone plays up to their potential, other teams fall off, etc. Seems unlikely to me.
Roguemutantbrain
It’s going to be a slog in our division. I’m not expecting greatness, but most outsiders are looking at our teams projection the wrong way.
If you don’t closely follow a team, it’s easy to look at where they finished in the standings, look at what came in, look at what went out, and make a projection.
However, IMO the makeup of our roster last year was better than our record showed. Our top six was virtually unchanged, yet our powerplay lost 26 goals. It’s pretty clear than injuries had severe detriments on the seasons of Quinn (obvi), Thompson, Samuelsson, and likely Tuch.
The deployment was stupid, causing offensive talents to get hurt and worn out on the PK as well.
This all occurring as teams had an offseason to figure out our guys that have recently become stars didn’t bode well for us.
I’m not saying none of this will happen again, but IMO we project much better than Detroit and Ottawa
MautDota3
If Lindy can’t get it done with this Team then no one can.
Sherman88
Projected by who?
schwarma_mcpotato
Sounds right.
Noahtuesday123
Playoffs? Playoffs? ……..playoffs?
Sarcastik_Moose
They haven’t even played a preseason game yet! Can we possibly hold off on the self pitying doomerism until at least November please? Also, what is “PE”?
splendid_ssbm
21st seems a little harsh, and I think the team will be better, but I think there are 8 teams better than us in the Eastern Conference. Simple as.
ksettle86
Until they prove otherwise, low ranks are what they deserve
PrayingForACup
What site is this?
downingrust12
I’m just parroting what most people are thinking.
Yeah it sounds right since it’s largely the same roster as last year. It’s going to be mainly lindy to squeeze and motivate what he can out of this roster. Since we didn’t really do much except the bottom 6, maybe the kids like kulich, helenius, rosen get a chance to shine.
It’s mainly on lindy to figure this out, our players to stay healthy, and the kids need to step up.. again if we’re under .500 by Thanksgiving it’s over.
Ok_Championship3262
Hmm…Must not have noticed that our 3rd and 4th lines “improved”
JackGilb
They’re downplaying the Sam Lafferty effect. Guy scored 200 goals and had 500 points in a single season in my NHL 24 GM mode. Needless to say we finished 19th, not 21st.
DaqCity
14th time’s a charm…
diebytheblade15
Is Peyton Krebs signing in the KHL or something I mean what’s going on there. Give him 1 year 1 million as a 13th F and move on
DueZookeepergame1924
13 in a row……tough to bet against that.
GreySuits
It seems correct to me. Can they do better, absolutely, but they are banking on that UPLs good half season is progression not anomaly, Jack Quinn can stay healthy and productive all season, that either a 19 year old Zach Benson or an up and down Jason Zucker can be a full time top 6 player, Tuch is actually more of a top line RW and not a third line RW, Samualsson can stay healthy, a first time NHL coach (Apert) can figure out the power play, and that Tage is a 90 point player and not a 50 point player.
This team has a lot of questions and not a great track record of consistency.
belowspot
I agree.
Better yet… over/under 12th pick in draft….
farrightsocialist
I’ve been pretty mixed but I feel like I’m fairly in the middle at this point. A few things go right and we make it, a few things go wrong and we miss.
Torrronto
This team is significantly better than last season. That’s not even including Ruff.
Playoffs are on the table.
dagsix
Ugh. I…
nefarious_dareus
Probably not that bad, but we’re not a playoff team
FesteringLion
Yes. No (18th).
Prove me wrong, boys. Prove. Me. Wrong.
Green_hippo17
It’s absolutely a real possibility but the Atlantic is going to be the hardest division to predict. You’ve got really only Florida and prolly Toronto at the top and after that it’s a bunch of guesses. Boston lost ullmark and we will see if swayman can carry the burden on his own (unless korpi plays a like a good goalie which isn’t a high chance). Tampa is aging and will need vasy to bounce back, they were smart to ditch stamkos for Guentzal, they aren’t the Tampa of old but they’re still a threat easily. Ottawa Detroit and Buffalo all could finish 7th and I don’t think it would surprise anyone (only disappoint). Montreal is the going to be on the bottom of the division but they should be improved, they’ll start off strong and fade by January
JERRYBOIZ
Unless we’re a trap playing squad then no but god I hate how our bottom 6 looks
Tiny_Ad_176
I don’t think we have any business pushing back on this.
ClosPins
Don’t worry, they have all that cap-space *that they won’t use*…
Aspence22
If you watch hockey long enough you know anything can happen during a season. I have 0 faith in these types of projections or predictions. Waste of someone’s time
vmeloni1232
Unfortunately that sounds about right
spkris1
I may outside looking in a bit, but I like alot about this Sabres team, looking at the roster I can’t really see this team not being able to compete for a Wild card spot, especially with how bad the metro is outside the top 2 (New York, Carolina) as long as they stay healthy and goaltending doesn’t become an issue they should be able to get a wild spot
YankeeTankieTrash
Who knows, but these types of projects tend to overweight recent trends and underestimate youth development.
44 Comments
I’m tired
I think this is the year they make it back to the playoffs especially with Ruff as headcoach. Also love to see Quinn have a breakout year.
If we stay healthy, I can’t possibly imagine finishing 21st. But the last decade plus says otherwise I guess 🤷🏻♂️
We bought out one of our best players by far and didn’t replace his scoring. Our top 6 is significantly weaker now. The bottom 6 will be much better but that won’t account for many wins. We are going to be a bottom feeder and pick 7th in the draft next year.
Sounds about right
That’s a fair assessment 😔
Spot on
I think if that’s what happens, Adams is gone, that’s what I think.
If some of the top players like Tage have a better season, and our bottom 6 is better, I say we make the playoffs.
We are never going to lose again.
I think it will be difficult, but I’m not counting them out. Believe the players learned something last year from anticipating making the playoffs and then failing. They have improved their coaching and bottom six. Not all of their top players should have down years again this season. As long as he is healthy, Quinn should make a significant difference for the team’s ability to score this year. Goaltending needs to hold up and expect Ruff Andrew to do something to strengthen the D.
I’m just trying to figure out where Krebs and Brysgoat are
Honestly our roster isn’t much better than last year, but we’ll see if Lindy really makes much of a difference
Sounds right to me. Everything will have to go their way to make the playoffs with this group of players. Everyone stays healthy, everyone plays up to their potential, other teams fall off, etc. Seems unlikely to me.
It’s going to be a slog in our division. I’m not expecting greatness, but most outsiders are looking at our teams projection the wrong way.
If you don’t closely follow a team, it’s easy to look at where they finished in the standings, look at what came in, look at what went out, and make a projection.
However, IMO the makeup of our roster last year was better than our record showed. Our top six was virtually unchanged, yet our powerplay lost 26 goals. It’s pretty clear than injuries had severe detriments on the seasons of Quinn (obvi), Thompson, Samuelsson, and likely Tuch.
The deployment was stupid, causing offensive talents to get hurt and worn out on the PK as well.
This all occurring as teams had an offseason to figure out our guys that have recently become stars didn’t bode well for us.
I’m not saying none of this will happen again, but IMO we project much better than Detroit and Ottawa
If Lindy can’t get it done with this Team then no one can.
Projected by who?
Sounds right.
Playoffs? Playoffs? ……..playoffs?
They haven’t even played a preseason game yet! Can we possibly hold off on the self pitying doomerism until at least November please? Also, what is “PE”?
21st seems a little harsh, and I think the team will be better, but I think there are 8 teams better than us in the Eastern Conference. Simple as.
Until they prove otherwise, low ranks are what they deserve
What site is this?
I’m just parroting what most people are thinking.
Yeah it sounds right since it’s largely the same roster as last year. It’s going to be mainly lindy to squeeze and motivate what he can out of this roster. Since we didn’t really do much except the bottom 6, maybe the kids like kulich, helenius, rosen get a chance to shine.
It’s mainly on lindy to figure this out, our players to stay healthy, and the kids need to step up.. again if we’re under .500 by Thanksgiving it’s over.
Hmm…Must not have noticed that our 3rd and 4th lines “improved”
They’re downplaying the Sam Lafferty effect. Guy scored 200 goals and had 500 points in a single season in my NHL 24 GM mode. Needless to say we finished 19th, not 21st.
14th time’s a charm…
Is Peyton Krebs signing in the KHL or something I mean what’s going on there. Give him 1 year 1 million as a 13th F and move on
13 in a row……tough to bet against that.
It seems correct to me. Can they do better, absolutely, but they are banking on that UPLs good half season is progression not anomaly, Jack Quinn can stay healthy and productive all season, that either a 19 year old Zach Benson or an up and down Jason Zucker can be a full time top 6 player, Tuch is actually more of a top line RW and not a third line RW, Samualsson can stay healthy, a first time NHL coach (Apert) can figure out the power play, and that Tage is a 90 point player and not a 50 point player.
This team has a lot of questions and not a great track record of consistency.
I agree.
Better yet… over/under 12th pick in draft….
I’ve been pretty mixed but I feel like I’m fairly in the middle at this point. A few things go right and we make it, a few things go wrong and we miss.
This team is significantly better than last season. That’s not even including Ruff.
Playoffs are on the table.
Ugh. I…
Probably not that bad, but we’re not a playoff team
Yes. No (18th).
Prove me wrong, boys. Prove. Me. Wrong.
It’s absolutely a real possibility but the Atlantic is going to be the hardest division to predict. You’ve got really only Florida and prolly Toronto at the top and after that it’s a bunch of guesses. Boston lost ullmark and we will see if swayman can carry the burden on his own (unless korpi plays a like a good goalie which isn’t a high chance). Tampa is aging and will need vasy to bounce back, they were smart to ditch stamkos for Guentzal, they aren’t the Tampa of old but they’re still a threat easily. Ottawa Detroit and Buffalo all could finish 7th and I don’t think it would surprise anyone (only disappoint). Montreal is the going to be on the bottom of the division but they should be improved, they’ll start off strong and fade by January
Unless we’re a trap playing squad then no but god I hate how our bottom 6 looks
I don’t think we have any business pushing back on this.
Don’t worry, they have all that cap-space *that they won’t use*…
If you watch hockey long enough you know anything can happen during a season. I have 0 faith in these types of projections or predictions. Waste of someone’s time
Unfortunately that sounds about right
I may outside looking in a bit, but I like alot about this Sabres team, looking at the roster I can’t really see this team not being able to compete for a Wild card spot, especially with how bad the metro is outside the top 2 (New York, Carolina) as long as they stay healthy and goaltending doesn’t become an issue they should be able to get a wild spot
Who knows, but these types of projects tend to overweight recent trends and underestimate youth development.