Who are the Sabres? A look back on the season and forward to the future.

Since GM Stu took over, there was a promise of a team more collective, more depth, and a focus to a younger emerging core. There would always be growing pains with these promises, especially in the highly competitive Eastern conference.

These two seasons have had playoff appearances, but not playoff success. Buffalo out in 6 games to Florida this year. Further pain that Cale Makar, former Sabre traded by GM Stu, played an integral role in removing the Sabres from the playoff bracket this year. Can the Sabres take solace in the fact they went out in 6 games this year, and only 5 games to the New York Islanders last year? Probably not.

This article paints a rather grim picture of the Sabres, but maybe it shouldn’t. This is a young team with what appears to be a bright future.

Center

The center position had a big gap in it two seasons ago when Mika Zibanejad was traded to Blue Jackets. Sure Buffalo received among other pieces, Troy Terry, who turned into a productive top six winger, but it left Barzal and Granlund to patrol the middle. That was changed last off-season when Nick Suzuki was acquired and subsequently had a breakout year. Going into 2023/24, the middle looks something like this

Mathew Barzal

Nick Suzuki

Noah Cates/ Wyatt Johnston*

David Kampf

That should inspire confidence to any Sabre fan. Cates looks to be a defensive center one can only to build up from their prospect pool. Wyatt Johnston is a blue chip prospect who will likely man the wing rather than center but has a future as a top line forward.

Wing

Buffalo has what many would consider an embarrassment of riches on the wing. So much so I think a trade or two is in the future as some of the guys deserve top six spots that are just unavailable at this time. Manning the wings are:

Chris Kreider; Sam Reinhart; Matt Boldy; Troy Terry; Mason Marchment; Joel Farabee; Wyatt Johnston; William Carrier; Oliver Wahlstrom; Mikael Granlund

As we can see, there are only so many spots for this wealth of talent. Boldy has been such a breakout performer that he has accelerated Buffalo’s contender plans.

 Defence

If there is a weakness, it’s here. Buffalo may have traded Cale Makar for a big return, and Sam Reinhart, part of that return, has paid dividends, it still left some holes in the defensive side that probably was the difference between a long playoff run, and reflecting in an article like this. Here is the projected six for next season:

Aaron Ekblad – Tyson Barrie

Ryan Graves – Adam Boqvist

Caleb Jones – Will Borgen

It’s not bad, but it’s not jump out of the seat, win a cup good. The positive for Buffalo is what’s coming down the pipe. A+++ prospect Luke Hughes is going to make the jump to the AHL as soon as next season and looks to be a superstar D man. Nils Lundkvist is still a blue chipper and appears to be a top four guy. Those two, if they accelerate their progress, will give the Sabres the d depth they can only dream of right now. I suspect GM Stu will be looking for an upgrade this off-season rather than wait for the young men to turn into producers.

Goalie

While Jake Oettinger has not grabbed the top spot this season, he has every appearance of being a top 5 goalie in the league for seasons to come. Where Jake goes, the Sabres go. A little concerning he put up an 894 save percentage this year. But with Varlamov entering UFA, Jake gets the reigns. I think Buffalo has every confidence he will rise to the occasion.

Overall, the Sabres are far from spinning their wheels. Two first round exits are tough for the fan base but this isn’t a veteran team that’s not moving to the next step. It’s a young team poised to break through.