Emotionally in 2018
Joined: Nov. 2016
Posts: 9,290
Likes: 3,387
I see Buffalo as a team that made some decent acquisitions in the offseason, but in a tightly contested division, I don't think that they're ready for the playoffs. Eichel should continue to take steps towards being one of the most dominant players in the game, Nylander may contribute 15 goals, but Sam Reinhart needs to breakout. He had some nice stretches last season, I think he needs to put it together for an entire season for Buffalo to have a realistic shot at a wild card berth. You know what you're getting from O'Reilly and Okposo, plus Ristolainen is one of the more underrated defensemen in the league. Scandella should bring in a little bit of balance, and Beaulieu has some decent upside to his game, but I don't see it as being enough.
I think they'll be in the mix longer than they have been in recent years, but at the end of the day, I don't think they'll be able to put it all together. It seems like something is destined to go wrong for them, whether it's injuries, Lehner not playing well, Kane going dry, or other things that tend to plague them. What do the Sabres fans think are realistic expectations for them this season?