Off-Season Review: The Buffalo Sabres are diving into yet another rebuild
It’s yet another rebuild in Buffalo.
The Sabres haven’t made the playoffs in a decade and after a complete mess of a year in 2020-21, the team is slamming the reset button. They dealt away two key veterans this summer and another one is more than likely going to be on the way out before the start of next season.
What happened in 2021?
The Sabres came into 2021 with some valid optimism. They acquired Eric Staal from the Wild and inked Taylor Hall to a one-year deal in the offseason, leading reason to believe they could, at the very least, be a competitive team.
That didn’t happen.
Buffalo had a miserable season, going 15-34-7, highlighted by an 18-game losing streak that spanned from late February to the end of March. They finished dead last in the league with just 37 points and their .330 points percentage was just about as bad as the 2014-15 season in which they were actively tanking for Connor McDavid.
The bow on top was what appears to be the final straw in the Sabres’ relationship with Jack Eichel. The team’s captain was limited to just 21 games due to injury and the player and the team don’t see eye-to-eye on him getting cutting-edge surgery to add an artificial disc to his neck.
Eichel’s exit interview with the Sabres at the end of the season wasn’t pretty…
The full Jack Eichel quote from his @BuffaloSabres exit interview. pic.twitter.com/VhanttZNWy
— Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski) May 10, 2021
What did they do in the off-season?
Notable Additions: Owen Power, Robert Hagg, Will Butcher, Vinnie Hinostroza, Mark Pysyk, Aaron Dell, Craig Anderson.
Notable Subtractions: Linus Ullmark, Rasmus Ristolainen, Sam Reinhart, Jake McCabe, Tobias Reider, Riley Sheahan, Carter Hutton.
While the Sabres haven’t yet pulled the trigger on an Eichel deal, they’ve traded away two other former top draft picks, Rasmus Ristolainen and Sam Reinhart.
Ristolainen was dealt to the Flyers in exchange for young defender Robert Hagg and a first-round pick while Reinhart was shipped to Florida for goaltending prospect Devon Levi and another first-round pick. Buffalo’s aim of stockpiling draft picks in order to hit the reset button is clear.
Also, Buffalo lost both members of its goaltending tandem in free agency. Veteran Carter Hutton signed in Arizona while Linus Ullmark, one of the few bright spots on last year’s team, wound up in Boston. The Sabres replaced them with Aaron Dell and Craig Anderson while prospect Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen is also in the mix for a role.
Right before the start of training camp, the Sabres inked former No. 1 overall pick, @Rasmus Dahlin, to a two-year contract worth $6,000,000 annually. Dahlin hasn’t yet established himself as a true top defender as his draft pedigree suggested, but not diving in and getting him locked up long-term might end up being costly down the road.
Dahlin will again be a restricted free agent in 2023 and will only be two years from unrestricted free agency. If he breaks out this season or next, he’ll command a massive contract next time around.
What to expect in 2021-22?
It’s going to be another rough year in Buffalo next year. With Ristolainen, Reinhart, and Ullmark gone and Eichel likely to follow, playoffs aren’t at all an expectation. The best thing for Buffalo is for young players like Dylan Cozens and Casey Mittelstadt to have strong seasons and for the team to wind up with another top draft pick.
One bold prediction…
The Sabres tied the 2003-04 Penguins for the longest losing streak in NHL history last season with 18 consecutive losses. They’ll break that record in 2021-22.
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