Breaking down the Buffalo Sabres ahead of NHL Free Agency.
Pending free agents
Unrestricted: 14 | Restricted: 5 | See full list
[teamleaders league=”nhl” team=”buf” season=”2013″]
Sabres overview
That mushroom cloud you see over Western New York is courtesy of the Sabres completely blowing things up. The scope of Buffalo’s rebuild is wider than we’ve seen in a while because some of the team’s flat-lining young players might even be up for grabs. Overseeing it all is general manager Tim Murray, who was hired in January and already cleared one hurdle by getting a nice return from the St. Louis Blues for former franchise face Ryan Miller. Ted Nolan, who took over the coaching reins with the interim tag last November, earned himself a three-year contract to see if he can squeeze the most out of this group of kids. The problem for Buffalo is, a number of its younger players — from Tyler Myers to Cody Hodgson to Mikhail Grigorenko — aren’t living up to previous billing. For that reason, Murray might consider swapping some under-25 guys, something you don’t normally see from a rebuilding club.
The good news for the Sabres is the team has a boatload of picks in the next couple drafts, and their awfulness couldn’t be better timed with prodigious talents Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel eligible to be drafted in 2015.
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| Click player positions to see depth chart | ||
Areas to address
This is a scorched-earth scenario, so the Sabres need help everywhere. That said, the one area the team can already feel pretty good about is its future is on defence. Nineteen-year-olds Rasmus Ristolainen and Nikita Zadorov — six-foot-four and six-foot-five, respectively — will take some time to fully develop, but figure to be blueline fixtures for the next decade alongside 2013 Team USA world juniors captain Jake McCabe. What the Sabres really need is an injection of young scoring talent, especially up the middle. Zemgus Girgensons had a great rookie campaign this past season and factors prominently in the organization’s future, but he doesn’t have top-line offensive skill. It’s hard to know what, exactly, will become of 20-year-old Grigorenko; all we know is he was rushed to the NHL and the early returns haven’t been good. Hodgson, meanwhile, was productive during the lockout-shortened 2013 campaign, but regressed last year.
In the crease, things are wide open at both the NHL level and in the pipeline. Michal Neuvirth and Jhonas Enroth will begin the year trying to prove they can handle the starter’s load, while prospects Matt Hackett and Nathan Lieuwen nip at their heels. But at this point, it’s hard to look at any of those guys and finger them as the next Miller.
Realistically, Buffalo’s plan will see it address most of its needs via the draft table, but the club could look at good veteran role models and perhaps some amount of skill to give the youngsters something to work with.
Possible signing targets
David Booth (LW): Reclamation project needs a place to restart his NHL career. What better way than to sign a one-year deal with a rebuilding team that can offer lots of ice?
Marcel Goc (C): Crafty bottom-six player could teach the youngsters some good habits.
Anton Stralman (D): One guy you could take a bigger swing at because, at 27, he’s young enough that he could still be a contributor when you start turning the corner.
Shawn Thornton (RW): Already won his Cups; maybe he’d relish being a mentor for a couple of years at the end of his career. You know the Buffalo faithful would love his style.
