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Around the League 2018-2019 Edition

imo Eichel is a fake franchise player, but Dahlin is a real one.

I expect them to jump.
 
Ok they have Luongo/Reimer.

Hutton is a massive question mark at the most important position. Can't win without goaltending.
 
Habsy said:
Well that’s part of the issue. He was out a lot last year. If he was healthy they make the playoffs.
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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.
 
There's always going to be some upsets. Even teams like Boston and Columbus, while they probably should make it, could very easily miss with only a couple things going wrong. Might put Buffalo closer to the 2nd tier, but agree that Mtl/Det/Ott/NYI/NYR would need some crazy stuff to happen to sniff the playoffs.
 
MyNameIsJonas said:
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
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Is Skinner actually a "big add"?

Doesn't he just essentially replace the offense they lost when they traded Ryan O'Reilly for a pile of garbage & a couple of draft picks?

And is there some other "Hutton" I'm not aware of?

Or are we talking about the 32 year-old career backup/platoon goalie who put up the first legitimately good save percentage of his career last year, but in only 32 games?
 
Yeah, I think O'Reilly and Lehner for Skinner and Hutton is a downgrade. I'm not sure I like what Botterill has done there.

Obviously Dahlin is a game changer though.
 
MyNameIsJonas said:
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.
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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.
 
MyNameIsJonas said:
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.
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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.
 
MindzEye said:
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.
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Still a chance that Eichel can take the next step, but yeah, they have a long way to go.
 
Habsy said:
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.
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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 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.
 
MindzEye said:
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.
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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.
 
If Lehner -> Hutton is a downgrade, it's marginal. Hutton was signed as a mentor to Buffalo's young goalies - I don't think anyone believes that he is better than Lehner, but he appears to be more durable and won't stand in the way of a young starter when they are ready to make the next step. Lehner's one year deal with the Islanders, pretty much sums up the league's view of him (especially considering the amount of goalie movement this offseason).
 
Habsy said:
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.
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"average".

Eichel is a below average 1st line C imo
Middlestadt is likely to be a below average 2C this year, potentially significantly below average.
Berglund is an okay to below averaged 3C

They're a tire fire up the middle imo. I'm still not convinced that Eichel is a centre going forward tbh. He doesn't seem interested in any part of the centremans game other than having the extra ice with the puck on his stick.
 
Volcanologist said:
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.
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I'd kind of forgotten about that.

So if they really do run out Skinner-Eichel-Whoever as a #1 line, it might be JVR/Bozak/Kessel-esque in terms of being a defensive & possession tire fire.
 
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