Flortheast Division Previews: The Buffalo Sabres

The popular word around Buffalo this offseason has been “suffering”. A choice word that was taken from a Darcy Regier press conference this summer, in which he said that building a Stanley Cup Champion “would require some suffering”. With the talk of how the team is beginning a rebuild, most fans have braced themselves for what is expected to be a very rough season.

With that said, we’ve seen in the past that a rebuild does not necessarily mean you will suffer for years on end before becoming relevant again. In fact, a well-guided rebuild does not need to entail any suffering at all. Continuing on with that notion, I really do not think the Sabres are going to be as bad as a lot of people think they will. I should state, my perception of being as “bad as a lot of people think” means them being a bottom 3-5 team in the NHL.

The term “tire fire” was invented for this team under Lindy Ruff last season. They were an absolute wreck at both ends of the ice without so much of a hint of structure or cohesion. The team was completely reliant on Thomas Vanek and/or Ryan Miller to singlehandedly attempt to drag the team from the jaws of defeat on a nightly basis. With the Lindy Ruff firing came hints of improvement; the team was 6-10-1 (0.382 pts%) under Ruff and 15-11-5 (0.565 pts%) under Rolston. Granted, 0.565 pts% is not great but that puts you on the brink of playoff contention (~92 full season, ~54 points in the shortened 48 games season or one point out of the playoffs). To get a better look at the shift in team performance from Ruff to Rolston, here is a look at the 10 games rolling totals for points per 10 game sections:

*Ruff was fired after game 17

There is a ton of uncertainty with this team heading into the season. The backend looks shaky with limited scoring up front as well. What we do know is that the team will be backed by a pretty solid goaltending duo of Miller and Enroth, a duo they relied on to keep them in games way too often last season. From the perspective of player improvement, the biggest positive that came from the coaching change was the turnaround in Tyler Myers from just complete and total suck to adequate NHL defenseman. There’s a long way to go before he gets back to where he could (or should) get to, but this is the first sign of improvement we’ve seen in years, and his preseason play is reflecting further improvement. His importance to this team cannot be overstated and if he can keep moving the right way, that could go a long way to alleviating some of the worries with the back end. Buffalo will also be looking for youngsters Mark Pysyk and Rasmus Ristolainen to step up and fill the void left by the departure of Andrej Sekera (which is sure to hurt).

There is a ton of potential with this team but also a ton of uncertainty. Ron Rolston is lauded as a player developer and this will be his first extended chance to show that at the NHL level. A lot of the team’s success will be based on his ability to do just that with this team loaded with young players in virtually all facets of the game. Though the playoffs are likely a long shot, I wouldn’t view this team in the same vein as the team from early 2013. The problem was never the talent, the problem was the mix of players along with the team simply not responding to a coach anymore. With the coach gone, and a few players shuffled in and out the team was actually playing some pretty good hockey at the end of last season. With a motivated Ryan Miller and Thomas Vanek (and if they’re here for a full season), a seemingly resurgent Tyler Myers, and a group of talented youngsters looking to break out, I don’t think the suffering will be quite as bad as many Sabres fans are expecting.