Do the Buffalo Sabres Have a Plan to Move Forward This Offseason and Can They Get Better?
It’s been a very active off season for the Buffalo Sabres, but is the team better now than they were at the end of last season? Joe Debiosi of Locked On Sabres comes to talk about that and more next on today’s Locked On NHL podcast. You’re Locked on NHL, your daily podcast on the National Hockey League, part of the Locked On Network. Your team every day. Gil Martin here. Welcome everybody to the Monday edition of the Locked On NHL podcast. We’re part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. I want to thank everyone who makes Locked on NHL your first listen every day. Don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts so you never miss an episode. Today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, new FanDuel customers can get $150 in bonus bets if your first $5 bet wins. It is my pleasure to welcome back to the show the host of Locked on Savers, Joe Debasi. And uh Joe, it’s been an interesting off season in Buffalo. Lot of movement going on, but I I guess as a opening question, do you see a plan here? Is there a organized plan to get this team to be better or is this more ad hoc? Yeah, it’s a it’s a good question because I think if you told a Sabres fan right now like, hey, it’s been an active off season for them, they might go, uh, it has. We haven’t had I think a lot of the moves that fans have been hoping for. Is there a plan? I mean, I I think this is the least convinced I’ve maybe ever been in an off season with Kevin Adams at the helm that there is a plan and that they are enacting it. Other than the plan just being, which I think this could be what it is, just run it back with a team that wasn’t all that close to making the postseason last year, which is why I think a lot jumped to the conclusion of you don’t have a plan. you’re you are, you know, cowering into this mindset of no, no, no, we liked what we were last year and we think that we’re going to progress in all these different areas, but that might just be something you say when you don’t get a lot of the moves that you wanted done. Um, and one of them is up front in front of everybody. Everybody knows the GM’s been talking about it since the deadline. They want to trade one of their top defenseman, Bowen Byum, who we’ll talk about, and he still sits there on the team right now. Now, I think that’s one example there of there hasn’t been a lot. They brought in a goalie to compete with Ukapukin. Okay, that was one thing they needed and they they did that. But how much does signing Alex Lion really move the meter around the league? Not much. And beyond that, it’s guys that play at the bottom of your roster. So, um, if there’s a plan, I I I’m not sure that they actually have executed it. How do you replace the production of a JJ Peter? That’s really I mean that is the key. I mean that is what we’re hoping this Byum trade whenever it might end up coming becomes because right now I don’t I don’t see an easy answer to that question. I mean he was one of their best five on five goal scorers for the last two seasons. He wasn’t a perfect player. He was not very good in his own end. He actually kind of weirdly for being such a good offensive player, good finisher, he actually wasn’t that strong on the power play. and they’ve had a bad power play for two years. So, I I don’t think they’re getting any worse on that front losing him. But your second best five on five score behind Taage Thompson that needs to be replaced. And right now it’s like I guess Jack Quinn might be able to do it who scored, you know, 13 goals, 14 goals last season. I think he might have actually got a little higher. He stacks him up at the very end of the season. 15 was the number. But that that’s a player that nobody has been impressed with for the last two seasons. Zack Benson, like okay, I love watching Zack Benson play, but 19 years old and he has a long way to go, I think, physically before he is scoring anything close to 27 28 goals. So all the internal options, I mean, I would stick my nose up at it thinking any of them are going to be able to do that. I’d be crossing my fingers right now that they’re still going to find their way to some external move, either a Byum trade or something else. Um because I I don’t think they’ve got it on the roster right now. Give me some reasons for hope and optimism in Buffalo right now. I think right now the best reason for hope is you’re going into year two with a coach and I think it took them a little bit of time to get used to Lindy’s system was very different than what they had under Don Granado before that. So you would like to think going into year two there’s a little bit more comfort with that. I do think, you know, going back to your original question about like what the plan might be. The closest thing to a plan might be that they are getting tougher to play against, stronger in their own end, more two-way responsible. I think that could be a trap. I think that’s what bad teams sometimes say about their team when they’re not winning. But, okay, let’s see it. Let’s see it. You’re going to get you’re going to get tougher to play against. You’re going to be, you know, grinding out these lowscoring games. If you’re going to be able to do that, then all right, I think you got to have the goalending to go with it in that with that type of team. And that’s a big question mark for me. But Lucin had a really good season two years ago. If you can return to that and you’re stronger defensively, all right, you’re you’ve got a season. If even Alex Lion, who has played more limited opportunities throughout his career, but in spots, we remember him two years ago for Florida going on that run. They only made the playoffs by one point that season over the Sabres that he that he kind of lifted them in and even started those playoffs. And then the next year with Detroit, pretty good playing 43 games. So, if I can get one of those two to have a good year and the team does come a long way defensively, then I think you are the Sabres are a bubble team. I wouldn’t pick them to make the playoffs. I would need like one more thing to get to postseason. That could be a lucky power play season. Teams have that a lot. Some teams just have a lucky season shooting the puck where, you know, they have four guys that are shooting 5% higher than they normally would and everybody kind of knows like h a little bit of a fluky year, but I think you’re just one lucky element of the team away with the goalending and with the defensive part of the game from them being a playoff team. Psychologically, how important is it for this team to end this playoff drought? Oh, it’s huge. I mean, I think I think Gil, they are really at a dangerous point here. I think you could easily argue this is the second most important season of this playoff drought, right next to another season where I would describe a lot of similarities. The COVID year in 2021 when Jack Eel is still on the roster, but there everyone kind of knew. There were whispers. It’s like he’s not going to do this forever. He’s not going to play 10 years for you, 11 years for you, you know, down the road in his contract if you can’t prove you can’t win. And what did the Sabres do that year? They they signed Taylor Hall to a big contract and they brought in all these veterans. They traded for Eric Stall. It’s like, we’re pushing in to win right now because everyone kind of knew you don’t win now, the whole thing is going to blow up. And that ended up happening. Michael wanted out and Reinhardt is like, I’m not signing an extension, so you got to trade him and the whole thing blows up and all those guys go off and win cups. So, we know the story on that front. Um, right now I think it’s kind of the same. It’s a guess though. Like, it’s again whispers. You don’t actually know if Rasmus Dalene will want out. You don’t actually know if Tae Thompson will want out. It’s more of a just looking at the two individuals. I I’ll list those two because they’re the most important and they’re the best on the team and they’re both at an age where like they’ve been on doing this for seven years now. It’s been a long time Dene and Ta have actually been on the team and I don’t know how fair it is to ask them to come back and do it over and over and over and over before you have to guess that one of them might want out. So to me, when I think psychological for this team, it is kind of getting through that, getting those players to not want desperately to leave because if you have another season where you’re just not even close and there doesn’t look like any reason for optimism, then eventually that psyche breaks for your star players. They can only go through so many of those types of seasons, I think, before they’re going to, you know, think the grass is greener somewhere else. Before we started recording, you mentioned some front office rumors that were out there. Why don’t you address that? Yeah, so there was a rumor from Andrew Peters, who does the After the Whistle podcast. He’s plugged in on the Sabres. Um, and he he said that he had heard that Brendan Shanahan had offered his services to the Buffalo Sabres in a president of hockey operations role. And the Sabres basically said, “Thanks, but no thanks.” Because Terry, maybe even directly from Terry Pagula, Sabres’s owner, he views himself as that role. Like, we don’t need you to be president of hockey operations because, well, I’m the president of hockey operations. And I do think this is kind of where Saber fans lose trust is right now what they are lacking as a franchise more than anything. I mean, maybe more anything, they’re missing a goal score right now. There other things, but right, they don’t have credibility. They do not have credibility in the league. Kevin Adams especially like did not have a resume that screamed NHL general manager when they brought him in. He got the job because most likely that is well documented. He’s very close to the owner and the owner has trusted him in different roles for a long time. And that’s evidenced by the fact that he’s going into a sixth season where they’ve only even come close to making the playoffs once, have not made the playoffs any time, and he’s like he’s just still going. In year six, how many times in the NHL on other organizations do guys get that type of chance? It just isn’t viewed as a serious organization right now. I I tend to think sometimes it’s kind of run like a mom and pop shop, which I think that is I think a lot of the discouragement that Saber fans walk in with. And here’s this guy, Brennan Shanahan, who listen, he was not perfect in Toronto. There were a lot of things in Toronto that I did not like when he was at the helm. But if there’s a one thing Brennan Shanahan is, he’s a credible person in the world of hockey. He’s a Hall of Fame player. He’s been in this role. He’s an experienced executive now for a decade. You know, we can go back and forth about how good he actually was. I don’t think he was the worst, but I don’t think he was perfect either, but that’s a credible person in the sport that, you know, if that if that rumor is true, like he wants to come work with you and lead this thing. I not saying yes to that, I think is part of the problem that people believe this organization has. And I think it also is evidence that they will never have somebody in that job as long as Terry Pagula is the owner. So, if you ever see rumors in the future about like, hey, they might hire a president of hockey operations, I think, this is evidence they will never do that. Wow. All right, Joe, why don’t you tell our viewers and our listeners where they could find the podcast and where they could find you on social media. Sure. Check us out, Lockdown Sabers, wherever you get your podcast, hit that like and subscribe button on YouTube. And then if you want to follow me on Twitter, if you can, if you can stand some Bills things along the way as well, which sometimes can be more positive anyway, uh, sneaky Joe Sports, you can follow me on uh, TwitterX there. All right, Joe, thanks so much. Yeah, no problem. Today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Summer sports are in full swing, and whether you’re all about baseball under the lights, golf on the green, or high stakes soccer action, FanDuel is the best way to make every game even more exciting. You’re already following the action. Why not make it a little more thrilling? With FanDuel, you can get in on the game while your friends are getting sunburned at the beach. I’ve been using FanDuel to track my favorite matchups, and the app keeps it fresh with new daily promotions and fun ways to bet. It’s easy to use, fast to pay out, and it makes even regular season games feel like much events. 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The Buffalo Sabres made some moves this offseason, but are they any better than they were last year and is there a plan in place to improve the team?
Joe DiBiase of Locked On Sabres joins us to discuss the direction of the team, the future of Bowen Byram and where the Sabres go from here.
All this and more on today’s Locked On NHL Podcast with Gil Martin.
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