Will the Buffalo Sabres finally make the playoffs?

Will the Buffalo Sabres finally make the playoffs?

You take a look at this team and what they’ve done on the back end and what they’ve done this summer. It hasn’t been the busiest offseason for GM Kevin Adams up there in Western New York. You can see some of their notable transactions here, the additions, subtractions, and the resignings there. Ryan Mloud, as well as that Bow and Byron that we just talked about. Stu, you said on paper you like this team. I do. I mean, at their core, the nucleus of this group, I have been saying the last two or three years. on paper, this is a roster that and I recognize, you know, it’s uh some things got to happen for people to fall out of contention in um in the Atlantic division for Buffalo to be a top four in that division. But um this is a team that, you know, it it wouldn’t surprise me there is a pathway to a top four finish the last couple years just given the way they’re built. A Tage Thompson up front, I think, you know, Tuck has proven to be a wonderful compliment up front. Zucker gives you meaningful important minutes. I really like the Norris ad. I think that gives them um you know a sturdier backbone kind of down the middle, but this to me is a roster that has the capacity to finish in the top four. Again, some things kind of got to fall into place. Um it’s not a lock, but they’re capable of more. No, I agree. I mean, you look at that forward group. I I like a lot of those players and how they kind of fill in. Can we put the additions up again because there’s a few that were on that list that I’m very intrigued with because we talked about Bow and Byum. We know about the number one overall picks that they have on their D core, but there’s a few that I wanna I want to pay attention to, and that’s Zack Jones. I I think Zack Jones has a lot of potential to be a very good defenseman in this league. He kind of got caught in a numbers game a little bit in New York with the Rangers. Kessle Ring, I think, is an awesome ad. He is a hard defenseman to play against. Um, and I think Connor Timonss is a is a defenseman that could do a little bit of this, a little bit of that, and you could find your way in maybe a bottom pair or seventh defenseman role. So, they’ve got guys in there on the back end. They They’ve got a complete group. The bigger thing for me, it’s not personnel, though. They have to shed this losing tradition. And I’m not saying that to come down on the Buffalo Sabres. We see it in other sports. It’s difficult to do. I mean, you look it it we’ve seen this Sabres team go on absolute heaters. But generally, it’s happening when the season is out of reach. Or maybe at the beginning of the season, you see them cooking good at the beginning of the season, putting themselves in a good spot, and then the bottom falls out. They’ve got to find a way to change their identity and their thought process because that’s what’s holding this franchise back. And I don’t know if any type of player movement is going to change it until they they change the way they I I guess manage the season in the NHL. You you can kind of connect that back to the Byron piece and the point that Pñota is making too, right? Remember strong D core. Byron may be expendable. That’s Buffalo potentially trading from a position of strength. A D assasset to go out and acquire somebody that fits with your profile. That that to me um smacks of you know it’s a seasoned forward with some offensive upside who maybe has a winning pedigree that can be a real difference maker on the ice. Yes, of course. but culture-wise, identity wise as well. Yeah, you saw it. One of the longest routes in all of professional sports. And if there’s a market that deserves some winning, it’s those fans in Buffalo, right? Competitive team. One of the most passionate fan bases we have in the NHL. And boy, do they deserve a playoff team uh sooner rather than

NHL Tonight discusses if the Buffalo Sabres are poised to break their postseason drought.

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