Preseason Sabres Power Rankings (low)

[JoeSchmoe]

Pretty much every website that comes up on my Google search has the Sabres as being worse next year than they were this year. There really isn't any explanation for it considering they lost no one of any consequence (only the really bad players), and will have a lot of high end prospects joining the team. Barring injury, they also look to have legit NHL goaltending this year as opposed to the revolving door of AHL and below netminders they had last year. They just didn't make any splashy headline grabbing signings.

Expect the same sites to either a) be surprised when the Sabres outperform their low expectations, or b) claim they saw it all along.

No one will own up to the fact they just are sloppy/lazy writers and analysts.

[Thorner]

- - - 

https://blogs.mtdv.me/articles/Sabres-prediction-source-I-trust

[PerreaultForever]

1 hour ago, JoeSchmoe said:

Pretty much every website that comes up on my Google search has the Sabres as being worse next year than they were this year. There really isn't any explanation for it considering they lost no one of any consequence (only the really bad players), and will have a lot of high end prospects joining the team. Barring injury, they also look to have legit NHL goaltending this year as opposed to the revolving door of AHL and below netminders they had last year. They just didn't make any splashy headline grabbing signings.

Expect the same sites to either a) be surprised when the Sabres outperform their low expectations, or b) claim they saw it all along.

No one will own up to the fact they just are sloppy/lazy writers and analysts.

So I think the conclusion there is that they feel the other teams around us will rise (Ottawa, Detroit) and we still have no goaltending. 

I mentioned this in the other thread but even if we are better than last year we might still do worse (or be about the same) the losses just might be closer games. The competition for any sort of playoff spot is pretty substantial and I don't think anybody above us got worse (although Florida's D is a little suspect). 

Oh wait, I forgot. Pittsburgh lost E Rod. They're out. 

[MattPie]

While the hopium is flowing here and we're chuckling at other teams moves, it's a pretty easy bet to put the Sabres roughly the same place as last year from the outside.

• The team hasn't made a splash in the off-season
• They appear to be running a 41-year-old and some other team's backup in net
• There will be like 10 rookies in the lineup (I exaggerate, but there are a bunch of unproven guys in the forward group)
• No one is going to risk saying the Sabres will be good this year given the past decade

I don't think all these things are true, but it'd be easy for a few rookies to get sent back to the AHL, a sophomore slump, and an injured G to have the Sabres be terrible again.

[LGR4GM]

9 hours ago, JoeSchmoe said:

Pretty much every website that comes up on my Google search has the Sabres as being worse next year than they were this year. There really isn't any explanation for it considering they lost no one of any consequence (only the really bad players), and will have a lot of high end prospects joining the team. Barring injury, they also look to have legit NHL goaltending this year as opposed to the revolving door of AHL and below netminders they had last year. They just didn't make any splashy headline grabbing signings.

Expect the same sites to either a) be surprised when the Sabres outperform their low expectations, or b) claim they saw it all along.

No one will own up to the fact they just are sloppy/lazy writers and analysts.

Power rankings are written primarily by lazy national guys who need some clicks. So they do little to no extra research on the bottom feeding teams and those bottom feeding teams are based on perception. The Sabres are going to surprise a lot of ppl this season because I think they are the the team we saw in the final 28 and I think we see more sustained success. I would put us right around 24-ish in the league this year for a start of season power ranking (based on my perceptions lol). 

[French Collection]

Let everyone think the Sabres will be near the bottom again. We can get the last laugh if they get in the playoff race.

I’ve said before that the bottom of our division will all improve which will erode points from the top teams, closing the gap for the playoffs. I don’t see eight 100 point teams in the east. Boston, Pittsburgh and Washington are all a year closer to the end. Marchand, McAvoy and Backstrom are slated to miss a lot of games.

[LGR4GM]

Not to mention the NYI did basically nothing this offseason and already fired the coach that was holding that team together. 

[dudacek]

This is the perception of an NHL fan who pays as much attention to the Sabres as we do the Sharks or the Bluejackets:

• A perennial loser: they've got dysfunctional ownership and they're barely spending to the cap floor
• They are a disaster in goal: an ancient Craig Anderson and who else? Some journeyman backups?
• Two first overall picks on D. Those guys should be good, but they're young and they've got nobody else back there.
• Up front, you can't rely on Skinner and that Tage guy was probably a fluke. Oh, I like Tuch.
• They were bottom 10 last year and they didn't really add anybody.
• They've got some good kids coming, but they're a few years away.

It'll stay that way until wins change it.

[ddaryl]

Until we prove we are not the same old Sabres by making the playoffs we deserve the ranking

[JoeSchmoe]

No one has given a bump for Power being in the lineup and even a minimum amount of research should tell you Quinn, the AHL Rookie of the Year should have an impact. That much I'd expect from a legit source. They should have realized we're better in net with Comrie too vs the AHL tending we ahd last year.

I'd give them a pass on them not knowing about Samuelsson and the likelihood of Peterka having an impact. I'd also give them a pass on not being aware of Dahlins progression throughout last year. 

Lastly, I'll give the writers a pass for not seeing what our biggest is overall improvement will be. That is us not icing the flaming puke line of Bjork-Eakin-Hayden for 12 to 15 minutes a game! Heaven help my TV set if I see Bjork anywhere near the ice in opening night.

 

 

[MattPie]

10 minutes ago, JoeSchmoe said:

No one has given a bump for Power being in the lineup and even a minimum amount of research should tell you Quinn, the AHL Rookie of the Year should have an impact. That much I'd expect from a legit source. They should have realized we're better in net with Comrie too vs the AHL tending we ahd last year.

Ah, now I see where you went off path. No one is doing research on the Sabres outside upstate NY and the diaspora.

[MattPie]

Although, someone really needs to do a Power ranking with the Sabres at #1, and everyone else tied for second with 0 Powers on the roster.

[French Collection]

1 hour ago, JoeSchmoe said:

No one has given a bump for Power being in the lineup and even a minimum amount of research should tell you Quinn, the AHL Rookie of the Year should have an impact. That much I'd expect from a legit source. They should have realized we're better in net with Comrie too vs the AHL tending we ahd last year.

I'd give them a pass on them not knowing about Samuelsson and the likelihood of Peterka having an impact. I'd also give them a pass on not being aware of Dahlins progression throughout last year. 

Lastly, I'll give the writers a pass for not seeing what our biggest is overall improvement will be. That is us not icing the flaming puke line of Bjork-Eakin-Hayden for 12 to 15 minutes a game! Heaven help my TV set if I see Bjork anywhere near the ice in opening night.

 

 

Things will need to be bad, injury wise, to have Bjork in the lineup.

Maybe a stint in the AHL gets him to get some confidence back so he can contribute a little bit when asked to do so.

[JoeSchmoe]

12 minutes ago, French Collection said:

Maybe a stint in the AHL gets him to get some confidence back so he can contribute a little bit when asked to do so.

I don't think it's possible for him to be anything but a boat anchor at the NHL level. The game just happens too fast for him to figure out what to do. It's too bad because he is a decent skater.

 

[GASabresIUFAN]

Lets look at this from lazy journalist point of view.

1) Sabres haven’t made the playoffs in over a decade

2) They made no headline moves in the off-season. Their biggest “splashes” were on a depth defenseman and a goalie with only 19 games of NHL experience

3) Their rivals, in Ottawa, and Det, added extremely well known talent and finished about the same as the Sabres in the standings last year.

4) The Sabres biggest moves are really the addition of 3 touted but unproven rookies in Power, Quinn and JJP and re-signing long-term a player with only one year of good play in Thompson.

5) Their goaltending on paper maybe the worst in the division with a 41 year old and the previously mentioned goalie with 19 games of experience.

6) The team plays in the hardest division in the harder conference.  TB, Tor and Fla are almost certainly playoff teams.

Ultimately this team is a series of what if’s to the journalist.  Will Skinner and KO continue their good play?  Can Comrie handle being a starter? How much will the 3 rookies really give next season? Will Thompson and Dahlin continue their high level of player?  What will youngsters like Cozens, Mitts, Krebs and Samuelsson bring?

We are bullish, but with this much uncertainty it’s easy to understand that in “impartial” observer may not agree. 

Edited September 14, 2022 by GASabresIUFAN

[Pimlach]

Yes, it is hard to score the Sabres high in "Power Rankings".   

• Nothing substantial in net unless Comrie is a big sleeper and comes of age.  Big IF. 
• Need last years breakout players (Tage, Dahlin) have to continue the trend up.
• Need last years vets to have another good season (Okposo, Skinner, Tuch)
• Need improvement from Mitts, Cozens, Krebs, Joker, and Samuelsson
• Three rookies - Power, Quinn, and JJP 
• Detroit and Ottawa made moves 

I would like to bank on the fact we finished strong last year, but until the season starts we should not be ranked higher than were we finished and I can certainly understand why Ottawa and Detroit are ranked ahead.  

Edited September 13, 2022 by Pimlach

[Huckleberry]

4 hours ago, Pimlach said:

Yes, it is hard to score the Sabres high in "Power Rankings".   

• Nothing substantial in net unless Comrie is a big sleeper and comes of age.  Big IF. 
• Need last years breakout players (Tage, Dahlin) have to continue the trend up.
• Need last years vets to have another good season (Okposo, Skinner, Tuch)
• Need improvement from Mitts, Cozens, Krebs, Joker, and Samuelsson
• Three rookies - Power, Quinn, and JJP 
• Detroit and Ottawa made moves 

I would like to bank on the fact we finished strong last year, but until the season starts we should not be ranked higher than were we finished and I can certainly understand why Ottawa and Detroit are ranked ahead.  

Detroit not really, Copp = Girgensons, making him your 2C after 1 good season is questionable.   Perron is a 40 point RW, Kubalik needs to bounce back.   Detroit have as much question marks as us.   I do see Ottawa playoff bound though with some luck.

I see this year as how the 2004 sabres would have looked like if no lockout.

[LGR4GM]

31 minutes ago, Huckleberry said:

Detroit not really, Copp = Girgensons, making him your 2C after 1 good season is questionable.   Perron is a 40 point RW, Kubalik needs to bounce back.   Detroit have as much question marks as us.   I do see Ottawa playoff bound though with some luck.

I see this year as how the 2004 sabres would have looked like if no lockout.

I don't understand how anyone looks at Detroits defense and thinks it's good. 

[Huckleberry]

2 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

I don't understand how anyone looks at Detroits defense and thinks it's good. 

They have Seider and hopefully that Swedish rookie that they need to be in the top 4.   Its a lot to expect from a rookie.   I think our rebuild is going a lot better.

[mjd1001]

9 hours ago, MattPie said:

While the hopium is flowing here and we're chuckling at other teams moves, it's a pretty easy bet to put the Sabres roughly the same place as last year from the outside.

• The team hasn't made a splash in the off-season
• They appear to be running a 41-year-old and some other team's backup in net
• There will be like 10 rookies in the lineup (I exaggerate, but there are a bunch of unproven guys in the forward group)
• No one is going to risk saying the Sabres will be good this year given the past decade

I don't think all these things are true, but it'd be easy for a few rookies to get sent back to the AHL, a sophomore slump, and an injured G to have the Sabres be terrible again.

I agree with just about everything you said.  No one really outside Buffalo has any reason to think they will be better and say so. Eventually, one of these years, they will. But there is no huge reason for anyone to make that prediction now.  Personally I think this team will be better this coming season, but I have no expectations that most people outside of WNY will think so/predict so, and I hold nothing against them for that.

Edited September 13, 2022 by mjd1001

[Doohicksie]

12 hours ago, dudacek said:

It'll stay that way until wins change it.

And I'm okay with that.  Sports is results based.  Until they have a body of work to be proud of, no one is going to think they are any good.

[LGR4GM]

14 hours ago, mjd1001 said:

I agree with just about everything you said.  No one really outside Buffalo has any reason to think they will be better and say so. Eventually, one of these years, they will. But there is no huge reason for anyone to make that prediction now.  Personally I think this team will be better this coming season, but I have no expectations that most people outside of WNY will think so/predict so, and I hold nothing against them for that.

No one outside of Buffalo cares about the Sabres. They have been largely irrelevant to the rest of the league for a decade. 

[JoeSchmoe]

14 hours ago, mjd1001 said:

No one really outside Buffalo has any reason to think they will be better and say so

I agree with this.

However, most of the rankings have them as being worse.

[French Collection]

38 minutes ago, JoeSchmoe said:

I agree with this.

However, most of the rankings have them as being worse.

It has been said by others, the national level media think a big splash in UFA or trades is the primary method of improvement. The Sabres have chosen to grow from within and that doesn’t generate attention.

Just win and these same guys will be singing the praises of draft and develop.

[LGR4GM]

16 hours ago, Huckleberry said:

They have Seider and hopefully that Swedish rookie that they need to be in the top 4.   Its a lot to expect from a rookie.   I think our rebuild is going a lot better.

Simon Edvinsson might not even make the team. Seider is good for sure but I don't think he can carry that team and they remind me an awful lot of the 2020 Sabres where you can role out 2 decent lines and then have some JAGS filling out your roster. 

Here is Detroit's projected forward lines
LUCAS RAYMOND- DYLAN LARKIN- TYLER BERTUZZI (solid first line with upside)

JAKUB VRANA- ANDREW COPP- DAVID PERRON (I think Copp overachieved last year even though I do like him. He shot 25% in his NYR games which is absurd and realistically he is probably a 15g, 30a center. I do like Perron still and he's good for 60pts. Vrana shooting 20% seems unlikely but he's probably a 55pt player if he can stay in the lineup for 82 games)

DOMINIK KUBALIK- PIUS SUTER- FILIP ZADINA (Suter might hit 40pts so he's an okay 3rd line center. Zadina has yet to breakout and has major questions, maybe 40pts but that would be a career high for him after only 24pts last year. Kubalik isn't the 30g player his first year makes him look like and is most likely a 15g, 15a guy so again, decent 3rd line but nothing really exciting here.)

ADAM ERNE- MICHAEL RASMUSSEN- OSKAR SUNDQVIST (Rasmussen has breakout potential but so far we are talking a better Zemgus level of player with 25pts likely. Sundqvist is a 20pt 4th line winger. Erne is a 20pt 4th line winger) 

Really the only 2 good lines they have are the first 2 and that 2nd line really will depend on Copp being good and Perron not declining with age. 

The defensive pairs are this:
BEN CHIAROT
MORITZ SEIDER (Seider is really good but Chiarot is not and much like Ristolainen or Jokiharju he won't be good in a top pairing role. Chariot had good possession metrics in Florida where there is enough offense to offset what he is but in Montreal he was bad. If this was the 2nd pairing, I could see it working but Seider isn't a 2nd pairing guy so unless Chiarot can just get the puck to him, I hate it.)

OLLI MAATTA
FILIP HRONEK (Maatta is okay-ish but nothing spectacular. He is probably good for about 20pts and he is probably okay defensively on the 2nd pairing. Hronek gets points and at 5v5 but man are his possesion numbers bad. He is young and could take a step with Maatta as his partner but I would label them at best an average 2nd pairing. I would in no way say they are better than Power and Boosh.)

SIMON EDVINSSON
GUSTAV LINDSTROM (if Edvinsson makes the team it will be NA ice and as a rookie so idk what that will look like but I have concerns here. Lindstrom is a 5/6 defender that can play up in a pinch but nothing special.)

When I look at Detroit overall I see a team that is relying on vets they signed in UFA to fill holes and also is relying on not much as else going wrong. Their center depth is bad and idk if Copp is a true 2nd line center. On defense Idk how I could argue that Dahlin - Muel, Power - Boosh, Bryson - Joker is not as good as their defense and honestly, I think the top 2 pairings can be better than their defense. Dahlin is lesser defensively than Seider but better offensively. Muel IMPO is a better defender than what Chiarot will bring. Idk, I just don't see Detroit as a really good team, they remind me of the 2020 Sabres where lines were filled out with UFAs or guys that you had to bank on being good. The difference is Buffalo is relying on youth to improve in the form of Cozens, Krebs, Quinn, JJP as opposed to looking at Copp, Kubalik, Perron to maintain their play. 

We will find out soon enough I suppose. 

Edited September 14, 2022 by LGR4GM