Modifié 26 juill. 2023 à 16 h 53
@BUF10
@GMDannyB
@homiedaclown
Quoting: palhal
I say not this year. But good reasons they could be a top contender in the East very soon. Good young "controllable" players and still lots of cap available in the next few years.
Wings and Sabres could be on top of the Atlantic soon.
Quoting: Stadel
They didnt really do anything to address their largest concerns. And theyre betting everything on a rookie with 7 games to his name. Does this have a history of working?
86 pts, 11th
I think you are both pessimistic. Let's consider:
First, Florida may suffer from Stanley Cup Hangover.
Tampa is definitely weaker this season after losing Killorn to free agency and trading Colton.
Boston is definitely weaker as Bergeron and Krejci will no longer be their top two centers.
The Sabres missed the playoffs by one point and were only 7 pts behind the Bolts.
Buffalo may not jump over them but since they are weaker, Buffalo should get more pts when they play against them.
Second, Johnson, Stillman and Clifton do not have to out standing just better than Bryson, Clague, Fitzgerald or Pilut who played 132 games last year.
That my friends is an easy hurdle to leap.
BTW, most Boston fans lament the loss of Clifton, he will not let us down.
Third, just as Cozens and Mittelstadt had break out seasons there is sufficient evidence that Power, Peterka, Quinn and Jokiharju could do the same this up coming year.
Fourth, Levi does not need to be great, just better than any of the GK's the Sabres had last year.
Considering how he has excelled at every level of competition for the past 4 years, it is not a stretch to presume he will do the same next year.
Fifth, The Sabres will not go through two seperate stretches equalling 20 games in which they only collected 4 pts.
The defense is better with the Free Agents but more importantly Samuelsson, Dahlin, Jokiharju and Power are all a year older.
They have endoured near playoff atmospher over the last month of the season and performed well.
Sixth, the most important, Don
Granato! Does he ever have a ill word to say about a player or get overly emotional?
Last year, I was wrong with my prediction that they would end with 90 pts.
I may be overly optimistic, but this season they will get 100, for all of the reasons above.