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Are the Sabres a Playoff Team now

Oct. 12, 2020 at 9:00 a.m.
#1
HutsonNorlinderGuhle
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With the additions of Eric Staal and Taylor Hall this offseason, the Sabres became a much scarier team to play against. Jack Eichel and Sam Reinhart are entering their primes, and Rasmus Dahlin is always a stud.

Their forwards seem fine, because with the additions of the two aforementioned and Cody Eakin, They got a lot deeper. It also allows them to let Dylan Cozens develop another year.

Their defense I thought was decent last year, because any defense core with Dahlin will be at least okay. This year, the hope is that Dahlin can take more minutes and Jokiharju can inch his way into the top four. If Mattias Samuelsson is ready, great. If not, they have a capable defenceman in the AHL in Casey Nelson

I think the only thing that will be stopping the Sabres at this point is their division. The Central and the Metro have been the perennial heavyweights, but the Central is getting old and the Metro is still very good(confusing myself here). The Pacific is as shaky and open as ever, and IMO the Atlantic might be the toughest this year.
If you have the Tampa Bay Lightning in your division, it sucks. You're not getting first in that division. Other than them, there's the ever-stronger Leafs, flailing Bruins, upstart Habs, the bloody Panthers!?!?!?!? A

Anyway, my take is that the Bruins are weakening. They lost Krug and don't have a replacement, and most of their impact players are on the wrong side of 30(Pasta, however....). IMO their Cup year was when they lost to the Blues.

The Bolts are downright scary. Even if they lose Cirelli, they are a heavyweight.

The Leafs added some veteran presence to their roster with Simmonds and Brodie, which IMO will help them infinitely. I think this will be their first year that they go far in the playoffs.

The Habs are in the same seat as the Sabres...made some good additions, are a decent team, but are battling with slightly better teams for a spot. If Pricey shows up, I think we can expect a playoff run

Bill Zito is not the type of man to sit back for a season and get to know his team. Mr Zito managed to get Patric Hornqvist, Alex Wennberg, and Carter Verhaeghe. I thought the Panthers were a decent team last yea,r now I'm scared for my Habs. Barkov and Huberdeau alone are frightening.

Okay. final question, considering all of the above. Are the Buffalo Sabres a playoff team?
Oct. 12, 2020 at 9:10 a.m.
#2
Kansler
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Not seeing them being better than the Bruins with the current goaltending. Wildcard spots go to Metro (countin 6-7 teams better than sabres), so its going to be tough to beat the trio of tampa, toronto, bruins.

(If ya had Trotz, not Krueger, it could be different)
Oct. 12, 2020 at 12:05 p.m.
#3
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There are a lot of reasons to think this team will be good next season. But, I don't trust their system, their defense, or their ability to develop good team chemistry. Too many things would have to go right for them to be a playoff team. Too many guys will need career-type seasons. Even if Staal, Eichel, and Hall have big years offensively, I don't trust the defense after Dahlin and unless Ullmark can play twice the number of games as he did last season, the goaltending is gonna be a big problem, too.

I can't see them ahead of TBL, TOR, or BOS next season. And given how deep the Metro is, it'll be tough to snag a WC spot. The Sabres will not make the playoffs next season (assuming a traditional playoff format with 16 teams). They will be playing meaningful games down the stretch, though. And that's something they haven't done much of in a long time.
Oct. 12, 2020 at 6:51 p.m.
#4
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I don't think they're better than Montreal. So 5th in the Atlantic. With a tough metro I'd say their a bubble team but a lot has to go right for them. If Hall can match Skinner's 40 goal season riding shotgun with Eichel they might still not make it. Staal and Skinner have to really get going to do any damage.
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Oct. 12, 2020 at 7:39 p.m.
#5
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Cody Eakin sucks and so does your bottom six, so no.
Oct. 12, 2020 at 10:10 p.m.
#6
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Quoting: HurricanesMan
Cody Eakin sucks and so does your bottom six, so no.


You can get into the playoffs with a suspect bottom 6. You just won't go anywhere.
Oct. 12, 2020 at 10:23 p.m.
#7
torontos finest
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no

I don't think the Sabres are currently better than the Bruins, Lightning, Leafs, Habs or Panthers. Their goaltending raises a lot of question marks and well as their defense to some degree. At this stage I think the five teams ahead of them have an edge over their current roster.

Not to mention the Metro division will be more competitive this upcoming season and likely hog the two wild card spots.
Oct. 13, 2020 at 9:28 a.m.
#8
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Quoting: HabsFan9
With the additions of Eric Staal and Taylor Hall this offseason, the Sabres became a much scarier team to play against. Jack Eichel and Sam Reinhart are entering their primes, and Rasmus Dahlin is always a stud.

Their forwards seem fine, because with the additions of the two aforementioned and Cody Eakin, They got a lot deeper. It also allows them to let Dylan Cozens develop another year.

Their defense I thought was decent last year, because any defense core with Dahlin will be at least okay. This year, the hope is that Dahlin can take more minutes and Jokiharju can inch his way into the top four. If Mattias Samuelsson is ready, great. If not, they have a capable defenceman in the AHL in Casey Nelson

I think the only thing that will be stopping the Sabres at this point is their division. The Central and the Metro have been the perennial heavyweights, but the Central is getting old and the Metro is still very good(confusing myself here). The Pacific is as shaky and open as ever, and IMO the Atlantic might be the toughest this year.
If you have the Tampa Bay Lightning in your division, it sucks. You're not getting first in that division. Other than them, there's the ever-stronger Leafs, flailing Bruins, upstart Habs, the bloody Panthers!?!?!?!? A

Anyway, my take is that the Bruins are weakening. They lost Krug and don't have a replacement, and most of their impact players are on the wrong side of 30(Pasta, however....). IMO their Cup year was when they lost to the Blues.

The Bolts are downright scary. Even if they lose Cirelli, they are a heavyweight.

The Leafs added some veteran presence to their roster with Simmonds and Brodie, which IMO will help them infinitely. I think this will be their first year that they go far in the playoffs.

The Habs are in the same seat as the Sabres...made some good additions, are a decent team, but are battling with slightly better teams for a spot. If Pricey shows up, I think we can expect a playoff run

Bill Zito is not the type of man to sit back for a season and get to know his team. Mr Zito managed to get Patric Hornqvist, Alex Wennberg, and Carter Verhaeghe. I thought the Panthers were a decent team last yea,r now I'm scared for my Habs. Barkov and Huberdeau alone are frightening.

Okay. final question, considering all of the above. Are the Buffalo Sabres a playoff team?


As a bruins fan... where did they fall off the wagon? not like bergeron or krejci or rask died. Krug not resigning here is a blessing in disguise as he wasnt good 5v5 defensively. his value was the pp if they can replace him with a 5v5 winger or a better 5v5 defenseman ide take it in a heartbeat. I think everyone is going to be shocked next year when grz scores 30-40 points or mcavoy takes a huge step up offensively and scores 50-60. mcavoy had 30 even strength points and 2 pp. krug had 21 even strength points and 28 pp. I wouldnt be shocked in the slightest if mcavoy or grz steps into krugs spot and gets 20 points right away from the pp with marchand bergeron and pastrnak still there.

Now is bergeron aging, yes more than ide like to witness. his groin issue was pretty bad last year and it takes him a while to get going because of it. He was pretty much a non factor other than faceoffs in the "playoffs" this year. Krejci is a major question mark at this point in his career. How much does he have left to offer, does an elongated offseason help his career along? Chara i really hope doesnt resign. As good as he is at the pk he is TERRIBLE at all other facets of the game right now because of how slow he is. I think him not resigning before free agency kinds of gives a tell that the bruins dont necessarily want him back this year.

Onto buffalo. They added hall for 1 year. they added staal who also is a FA in 1 year. they need to resign both reinhart and olofsson. and until they fix their defense/goalie situation they are certainly not contenders for the playoffs. Bottom 6 is not great either. top end talent with no depth will not win you a cup.
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Oct. 13, 2020 at 2:28 p.m.
#9
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Quoting: hanson493
As a bruins fan... where did they fall off the wagon? not like bergeron or krejci or rask died. Krug not resigning here is a blessing in disguise as he wasnt good 5v5 defensively. his value was the pp if they can replace him with a 5v5 winger or a better 5v5 defenseman ide take it in a heartbeat. I think everyone is going to be shocked next year when grz scores 30-40 points or mcavoy takes a huge step up offensively and scores 50-60. mcavoy had 30 even strength points and 2 pp. krug had 21 even strength points and 28 pp. I wouldnt be shocked in the slightest if mcavoy or grz steps into krugs spot and gets 20 points right away from the pp with marchand bergeron and pastrnak still there.

Now is bergeron aging, yes more than ide like to witness. his groin issue was pretty bad last year and it takes him a while to get going because of it. He was pretty much a non factor other than faceoffs in the "playoffs" this year. Krejci is a major question mark at this point in his career. How much does he have left to offer, does an elongated offseason help his career along? Chara i really hope doesnt resign. As good as he is at the pk he is TERRIBLE at all other facets of the game right now because of how slow he is. I think him not resigning before free agency kinds of gives a tell that the bruins dont necessarily want him back this year.

Onto buffalo. They added hall for 1 year. they added staal who also is a FA in 1 year. they need to resign both reinhart and olofsson. and until they fix their defense/goalie situation they are certainly not contenders for the playoffs. Bottom 6 is not great either. top end talent with no depth will not win you a cup.


On Krug: I agree that letting him walk isn't the end of the world. He's probably one if the more overrated D's. But, they didn't replace him and now have a big hole on the top PP unit. What are they gonna do now?
Oct. 13, 2020 at 4:09 p.m.
#10
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Quoting: Brian2016
On Krug: I agree that letting him walk isn't the end of the world. He's probably one if the more overrated D's. But, they didn't replace him and now have a big hole on the top PP unit. What are they gonna do now?


mcavoy/grz will be fine on the pp.
 
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