Ok they have Luongo/Reimer.
Hutton is a massive question mark at the most important position. Can't win without goaltending.
Florida has Luongo.
Well that’s part of the issue. He was out a lot last year. If he was healthy they make the playoffs.
It's not like he can be worse than Lehner really.
It would be really hard for him to not be an upgrade in some sense.
Is Skinner actually a "big add"?maybe, but i think Buffalo's stockpile of talent is also better than people think.
Skinner, Hutton and Dahlin are big adds, if their other stuff keeps growing...i mean, it's possible.
Detroit, Montreal, Ottawa, and NYI are dead fish though
And, there is no real reason to expect him to be healthier and play a full workload this season.
I'm just saying Buffalo should be in " the mix" with Florida, Carolina, Jersey, Columbus and Philly for 3 spots or so.
And, there is no real reason to expect him to be healthier and play a full workload this season.
I'm just saying Buffalo should be in " the mix" with Florida, Carolina, Jersey, Columbus and Philly for 3 spots or so.
Buffalo was a 62 point team last season. That's a long, long way to go for them to catch up to that group of teams. Dahlin is going to be very, very good, but he's not 30 point improvement good. And yeah, without Dahlin, they'd look worse going into this season, not better.
I will concede that buffalo has the most upside in my bottom feeder list and could possibly move into the maybe category.
I just have to see how they come together. Look at Edmonton, on paper they should be a playoff team but they’re mismanaged. Same goes for Buffalo, jury is still out.
Thing is, Buffalo is shit on paper when you look at what they actually have on paper. This is their top 9
Skinner-Eichel-Okposo
Reinhart-Middlestadt-Sheary
Sobotka-Berglund-Pominville
That's ****ing terrible. Compare that the the Panthers
Dadonov-Barkov-Hoffman
Huberdeau-Trochek-Bjugstad
McGinn-McCann-Sceviour
It's not even close to being close, and the Panthers have what I would call a good forward group in the EC, not a great one.
Buffalo will remain trash this season unless Dahlin is a norris calibre defender right out of the box. Then they'll just be mediocre.
Yeah, looking at that it is glaring that losing O’Reilly makes the middle look average. They’re worse down the middle.
Florida is the better team.
I'd kind of forgotten about that.yeah I like Florida better than Buffalo. Not sure what Dahlin will be immediately, but Ekblad is pretty good already, Barkov is much better than Eichel, and while Skinner's surface goalscoring numbers appear good there's a reason they couldn't get much for him. the guy is a whining diver who gives ****s only in 1 of 3 zones. and they're adding him to the last place offence. For this year, Buffalo still looks like a bottomfeeding roster to me.
I agree on Columbus...except again, for this year, Panarin and the goalie are still there. until one or both changes, Buffalo ain't knocking them out of a spot.
Now if Dahlin comes in and is dominant right away, then that could give them a boost past some of the other teams I see as currently ahead of the Sabres. that type of player makes a significant difference.
So another Drouin?