NHL
*NOTE* This article was written by former TSJ writer, John Lehocki.
The Dawn Of A New Era
“With the 1st pick in the 2018 NHL entry draft, the Buffalo Sabres are proud to select, from Frolunda HC, Rasmus Dahlin.” This pick is a franchise changing pick for the Sabres, and a light of hope for Sabres fans across the world.
With prospects such as Alex Nylander and Casey Middlestadt also in the line up, the future is bright for the Sabres, if they can fix a few of their problems.
2017-2018 Buffalo Sabres
To start off, lets take a look at the Sabres’ lineup from 2017-2018:
Reinhart – Eichel – Okposo
Pouliot – Middlestadt – Pominville
Girgensons – O’Reilly – Rodrigues
Wilson – Larsson – Nolan
Baptiste – Josefson – Nylander
Scandella – Ristolainen
Beaulieu – Bogosian
Antipin – McCabe
Nelson – Gorges
Lehner
Johnson
Ullmark
The Sabres scored the least amount of goals with 199 last season to finish last in the league. They began the off-season last year by acquiring Nathan Beaulieu, Jason Pominville, and Marco Scandella. Buffalo also signed Jacob Josefson, Benoit Pouliot, Victor Antipin, and Chad Johnson in the off-season. They acquired Jordan Nolan through waivers, and traded for Scott Wilson on December 4th.
OFFENSE
The Sabres need a boost in their offense to start getting more pucks in the back of the net. They need to add two new top 6 forwards who can do this to increase the production in Ryan O’Reilly and Jack Eichel. If you bring in a player such as James Van Riemsdyk on their top line, and also sign winger Michael Grabner, the Sabres would have much more offensive depth and could be considered a threat.
Buffalo would need to offer up a lot of money to get these two, but it would be an addition they would not regret. With Casey Middlestadt having an impressive start to his NHL career, and Alex Nylander on the rise, this offence has great potential. If Zemgus Girgensons plays back to his natural position as centre, the Sabres would be very deep down the middle. The Sabres can afford to lose UFA’s Benoit Pouliot, Scott Wilson, and Jordan Nolan, as players such as Nick Baptiste, and Justin Bailey can take their places. Here is how I see the offence looking next season.
Van Reimsdyk – Eichel – Pominville
Nylander – O’Reilly – Reinhart
Grabner – Middlestadt – Okposo
Larsson – Girgensons – Rodrigues
Bailey – Josefson – Baptiste
DEFENCE
The Sabres defence, on paper, is quite impressive. With the addition on Rasmus Dahlin, Buffalo may not need to make any changes to their roster on the defence. If Zach Bogosian can stay healthy for the season, the Sabres should have a very solid top six defensive core. They will be losing Victor Antpiin and Josh Georges in the offseason, but they have great replacements in Rochester. Here is how I see the defensive parings looking for next season.
Dahlin – Ristolainen
Scandella – Bogosian
Beaulieu – McCabe
Nelson – Guhle
GOALTENDING
This is the largest challenge the Sabres will face in the off-season. Buffalo management are letting RFA Robin Lehner become a UFA, and also have Chad Johnson unsigned. There are a few candidates on the market to replace both of these players.
First off, who I believe will be the best replacement for starting goaltender, is none other than Jonathan Bernier. Bernier is coming off a season with the Colorado Avalanche where he played 37 games and recorded a save percentage of .913. Bernier came in for relief for an injured Semyon Varlamov and earned his spot as the Avalanche starting goaltender. At the age of 29, Bernier would be a great fit for the Sabres, as he still has at least seven to ten years left in the NHL. Bernier also knows the Atlantic division quite well, as he started for the Toronto Maple Leafs from 2013 to 2016.
There are many other options such as Petr Mrazek, Carter Hutton, and Jaroslav Halak, but none have proven themselves lately as much as Bernier has.
For a backup goaltender, I can see Buffalo putting Linus Ullmark in the position, as he has been the starter in Rochester and has earned his spot on the Sabres organization. Ullmark played in 44 games for Rochester with a save percentage of .935. The Sabres will also need goaltending depth, and I can see them signing UFAs such as Zach Fucale or Chris Dreidger for those spots. Here is how I see the Sabres goaltending line-up for 2018-2019.
Bernier
Ullmark
Fucale/Dreidger
