HILLsabre Posted July 9 Report Posted July 9 Well, it's way too early, but....Utah ahead of us? Really? The claim is Buffalo just hasn't done enough this off-season considering all the pressure to win now. Hmmmmm. Think I've heard this somewhere!!!https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/40509506/nhl-power-rankings-2024-2025-best-teams-standings-free-agency-trades-draft Quote
matter2003 Posted July 9 Report Posted July 9 Sometimes the best moves you make are the ones you don't...FA signings by and in large are not worth the money they cost in terms of production per point and that's been born out over many years of studying the data. 1 4 Quote
msw2112 Posted July 9 Report Posted July 9 (edited) I find no issue with this ranking or the write-up, but the Sabres do have a fair amount of talent and new, proven coach, so they could surprise. I was genuinely excited for last season and thought the team would take the next step, and was obviously disappointed. For this upcoming season, I'm neither excited nor disappointed with what they've done in the offseason. Most of their moves were logical and along the lines of what was expected, plus they may not be done. I'm taking a wait and see approach. Edited July 9 by msw2112 1 Quote
TageMVP Posted July 9 Report Posted July 9 I'm fine with it, no offense taken. Would rather fly under the radar and when we make the playoffs and beat the snot out of Florida in the first round, it will be all the sweeter Nobody thought we'd do jack squat following the 05 lockout either, then look what happened... 1 Quote
LGR4GM Posted July 9 Report Posted July 9 "At some point, the Yzerplan must result in the Red Wings' return to the playoffs." Lol, that's not how anything works. 1 Quote
Taro T Posted July 9 Report Posted July 9 4 minutes ago, LGR4GM said: "At some point, the Yzerplan must result in the Red Wings' return to the playoffs." Lol, that's not how anything works. Isn't that what was said about the Pegulaplan about 10 years ago? Eventually they should be back in there. But who knows how "eventually" is defined? 1 Quote
LGR4GM Posted July 9 Report Posted July 9 32 minutes ago, Taro T said: Isn't that what was said about the Pegulaplan about 10 years ago? Eventually they should be back in there. But who knows how "eventually" is defined? B4 the league folds? 1 1 Quote
PromoTheRobot Posted July 9 Report Posted July 9 2 hours ago, HILLsabre said: Well, it's way too early, but....Utah ahead of us? Really? The claim is Buffalo just hasn't done enough this off-season considering all the pressure to win now. Hmmmmm. Think I've heard this somewhere!!!https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/40509506/nhl-power-rankings-2024-2025-best-teams-standings-free-agency-trades-draft Last year's standings adjusted slightly for free agency. Quote
PerreaultForever Posted July 10 Report Posted July 10 So the very top group is pretty much the same as last year. Nashville adds obviously move them up. Same for New Jersey, but I'd seriously question Detroit being placed there. Utah is the wildcard to watch for me. Some good kids in the system, some big time new additions, a new environment. They could surprise. Quote
French Collection Posted July 10 Report Posted July 10 5 hours ago, PerreaultForever said: I'd seriously question Detroit being placed there. Everybody loves Yzerman and wants him to succeed. He hasn’t been able to take the next step with the Wings, he should be feeling the heat soon. Quote
LGR4GM Posted July 10 Report Posted July 10 1 hour ago, French Collection said: Everybody loves Yzerman and wants him to succeed. He hasn’t been able to take the next step with the Wings, he should be feeling the heat soon. I'm not convinced Detroit drafts well. Maybe, but if Buffalo supposedly only drafts small speedsters, then Detroit loves their 6'1" high floor lower ceiling middle 6 guys. Quote
JoeSchmoe Posted July 10 Report Posted July 10 Our 4th line is better this year, and that might be about it. Mitts at 3C hasn't been replaced with McLeod, nor has Skinner been replaced with Zucker. We're basically praying that our remaining top 5 stay completely healthy and go back to their 22-23 form (without Skinner's help), Benson takes a major step forward, and/or Kulich is able to be an effective 3rd line or better NHL player. That's too much to come together at once. We're worse this year. Quote
Demoted Posted July 10 Report Posted July 10 12 hours ago, spndnchz said: Yeah. Way too early Never too early to rank the Sabres low. 1 Quote
inkman Posted July 10 Report Posted July 10 The next time I care about power rankings, will be the first time I care about power rankings. 3 1 Quote
WhenWillItEnd66 Posted July 10 Report Posted July 10 A lot of powers that be stated we had a poor offseason which would translate into rankings like this. Not going to argue until i see what happens after 20 games in. Quote
shrader Posted July 10 Report Posted July 10 8 hours ago, French Collection said: Everybody loves Yzerman and wants him to succeed. He hasn’t been able to take the next step with the Wings, he should be feeling the heat soon. The whole no income tax thing in Tampa Bay sure does make things easier. Quote
Thorner Posted July 10 Report Posted July 10 Aiming low on Sabres projections has been the proven, safe bet for a decade: the Sabres will have to give them reason to change their tune (and why wouldn’t they?). There’s nothing about our offseason that stands out relative to the league, so there’s no perceived separation/gained ground from that (and tbh outside of a couple big splashes I’m not sure an offseason would even have that much sway). So it’ll have to be on ice. They have to surprise. Like someone mentioned, the most accurate predictions are usually just last year’s standings. Give or take. The first time we get projected for a solid playoff berth, we’ll have likely already accomplished the feat Quote
PerreaultForever Posted July 10 Report Posted July 10 13 hours ago, French Collection said: Everybody loves Yzerman and wants him to succeed. He hasn’t been able to take the next step with the Wings, he should be feeling the heat soon. True, but I can't see them turning on him there. He's too much of a local legend type thing. You'd probably see him bumped upstairs to some sort of upper management role if they wanted to go new GM. Sort of like Philly has done with their "legends" over the years. Or the way Cam Neely gets to sit up top in Boston. Quote
Gatorman0519 Posted July 11 Report Posted July 11 Seems about the right spot. Don't think we did enough to be a playoff team. 1 Quote
dudacek Posted July 11 Report Posted July 11 (edited) 11 hours ago, JoeSchmoe said: Our 4th line is better this year, and that might be about it. Mitts at 3C hasn't been replaced with McLeod, nor has Skinner been replaced with Zucker. We're basically praying that our remaining top 5 stay completely healthy and go back to their 22-23 form (without Skinner's help), Benson takes a major step forward, and/or Kulich is able to be an effective 3rd line or better NHL player. That's too much to come together at once. We're worse this year. I'm a little more hopeful. Roster-wise, we've lost some skill up front, but we're bigger and faster, and we should be more physical and better defensively. We've also changed the coach and our young players have got another year's experience, which often brings improvement. Chemistry, balance and 'tools' are just as important to team success as pure skill. But I also don't know if we've had much of a drop-off even doing a straight comparison On the left is last year's team ranked by ice time, on the right who I project taking that ice time (obviously contingent on health). Forwards Tuch 1462 -> Thompson Cozens 1360 -> Tuch Peterka 1342 -> Cozens Thompson 1286 -> Quinn Skinner 1183 -> Peterka Greenway 1155 -> Benson Mittelstadt 1132 -> McLeod Benson 1030 -> Zucker Krebs 1000 -> Greenway Okposo 830 -> Malenstyn Girgensons 746 -> Lafferty Olofsson 590 -> Kulich Jost 455 -> Krebs Robinson 440 -> Aube-Kubel * Quinn 422 -> Rousek/Rosen Defence Dahlin 2059 -> Dahlin Power 1741 -> Power Jokiharju 1404 -> Byram Clifton 1307 -> Samuelsson * Samuelsson 840 -> Jokiharu Erik Johnson 690 -> Clifton Ryan Johnson 568 -> Gilbert Bryson 528 -> Bryson/Johnson You can't ignore the fact that a healthy Quinn and Samuelsson (and to a lesser extent Thompson) improve the team. But you also have to account for the fact that the team is likely going to have to overcome similar injuries this year. That said, plugging Byram and Samuelsson into Jokiharju and Clifton's ice time and pushing those guys down the roster should mean an upgrade. At the top of the roster, I think the most realistic way of looking at the significant change is Quinn and McLeod for Mittelstadt and Skinner. The bottom got a huge makeover in terms of identity. I don't know if it adds up to being better; I've been saying for weeks a lot of that is going to be tied to how many players rebound from last year's disappointments. But I don't expect it to be worse. Edited July 11 by dudacek Quote
dudacek Posted July 11 Report Posted July 11 As if you needed more evidence of Sabres irrelevance, check out this way-to-early file from the Athletic. https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5628252/2024/07/11/nhl-picks-2025-stanley-cup-playoffs-awards/ Predictions about just everything under the sun — team and individual, bad and good — and not a Sabre to be found. The only place the franchise shows up at all is in the predicted eastern conference standings list: an utterly mediocre 12th. Quote
French Collection Posted July 11 Report Posted July 11 1 hour ago, dudacek said: As if you needed more evidence of Sabres irrelevance, check out this way-to-early file from the Athletic. https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5628252/2024/07/11/nhl-picks-2025-stanley-cup-playoffs-awards/ Predictions about just everything under the sun — team and individual, bad and good — and not a Sabre to be found. The only place the franchise shows up at all is in the predicted eastern conference standings list: an utterly mediocre 12th. That’s OK, let the team be under the radar. The players don’t need any extra pressure, I’m sure they expect to take a step forward. Lots of room on the bandwagon for all of the ‘experts’. 1 Quote
triumph_communes Posted July 11 Report Posted July 11 100 ptn team. Y’all underestimating coaching Quote
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