Profiling Detroit Red Wings Villains: Buffalo Sabres

Over the next 30 days, Octopus Thrower profiles every team in the NHL. Today we take a closer look at Atlantic rivals of the Detroit Red Wings, the Buffalo Sabres.

Team Name:

Buffalo Sabres

Division:

Atlantic

FanSided Foe:

Sabre Noise

Games Against Them:

Home; December 1st and 14, March 28th. Away; January 2nd and 22nd.

Last Year’s Results:

3-1, Nov 2nd; 2-3 L, Dec 23rd 3-6 W, Jan 13th 3-1 W, 18th 4-6 W

Head Coach:

Dan Bylsma

Watch out for these guys:

If I had to pick three that have actual playing time it would be; LW

Evander Kane

, C

Ryan O’Riley

, and C

Zemgus Girgensons

Apr 9, 2015; Boston, MA, USA; Boston University forward Jack Eichel (9) skates past North Dakota defenders during the first period of a semifinal game in the men

Farmhands worth Noting:

Jack Eichel

Goaltender:

Robin Lehner

Sieve or Savior?

I honestly do not know. I wish I could give you a clear cut answer. Looking at Lehner’s numbers last year with the Senators you see he played in 25 games and had a record of 9-12-3, in those 25 games he allowed 74 goals and had a .905 save percentage. I mean not bad numbers for a guy that wasn’t a regular goaltender. The Sabres also have another former backup goalie in

Chad Johnson

, who had pretty similar numbers. In 19 games last season Johnson was 8-8-1 allowing 54 goals and posting a .880 save percentage. I think that who is in the net will be a big importance for the Sabres, and may be one of their weaknesses this season. They don’t really have a savior in net in my eyes with Lehner or Johnson, I think one of those two guys needs to step up for the season to help this team not be as terrible as they have before.

Why Sabres worries us:

Even though we only play them five times this year they are a team I think the entire NHL should be watching. The Sabres picked up some great pieces last season in Evander Kane and this offseason in Ryan O’Riley and drafted Jack Eichel in the draft. Barring any huge injuries to star players and keeping a healthy core throughout the year, this team is picking up nicely and could easily be contenders in the very near future.

8 Quick Thoughts about the

4 Things We Respect About You:

They are rebuilding the right way and trying.
Buffalo, you aren’t the blow off team anymore.
You’re taking on the head ache that is Evander Kane, good luck with that.
Dominik Hasek, that is it, just Hasek.

4 Things We Hate About You:

We can’t just blow off games against you anymore
You did tank last season and that’s not cool bros.
Then you whined about not getting the number one overall pick, again, not cool bros.
I’ll give you a pass on this one… At least for now.

Playoff Threat Level (1-10, 1 being minimal)

This is not to be mean or anything, but the highest I’m going is maybe a 3, 4 at the most. I think the Buffalo Sabres are going in the right direction, they just aren’t there yet. They are in the Atlantic division with us, but so are Tampa Bay and Montreal and I’m far more worried about them in the short-term. Ask me this same question in a few seasons and I think that my threat level number increases closer to 10.

Final Thoughts

Like I’ve said a ton in this post, the Sabres are on the right road to being a team that you can’t just look over anymore. The pick-ups in the off-season were great. A nice draft by the team has produced a NHL player in Eichel and a cast of future players that could help in the long run.

Next: Check out the scouting report on the Boston Bruins