GAMBLE: The Buffalo Sabres Hope They Have Enough Firepower to Return to the Playoffs This Season
The Buffalo Sabres are hoping to end their long playoff drought. Joe Debiosi of Locked on Sabres talks about the changes made in the offseason and what it’ll take to end the drought. All 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 Podcast Network. your team every day. Gil Martin here and welcome everybody to the Monday edition of the Lockdown NHL podcast. We are part of the Lockdown 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. Download the FanDuel app right now by visiting fanuel.com and win $300 in bonus bets if your first $5 bet wins. It is my pleasure to welcome back to the show the host of Locked On Sabres, Joe Debiosi. And uh Joe, interesting off season for the Sabres. A lot of movement, but a lot of questions out there from the national media. Uh, is this team right now heading into the season in your opinion better than the team was at the end of last season? At the end of last season, I think it’s, man, it’s it’s tough for me to say yes. It’s not impossible that they could be. They’re going with a very clear plan to be better defensively, to limit scoring opportunities, and to just be a tougher team to play against. I think they may have gone too far and you know we’ll get to JJ Purka on that. They have subtracted some offense and not even just this offseason but going back multiple offseasons to where they were one of the three highest scoring teams in the National Hockey League and little by little they’ve been chipping away at those players that let Casey Middlestats and Victor Olivesson’s not the not the best players in the world but good offensive players. Jeff Skinner um even you know though he was a diminished version of what he was the last couple years now Purka they’ve taken away a lot of offense so we’ll see they’re going to have to be really good at what they’re trying to be which is limit scoring opportunities penalty kill block shots four lines deep that are not going to get abused in their own end I just wonder if they’re going to be in their own end too much. So, I side with they probably are not going to be as good as last year cuz I just don’t think they’re going to score enough goals, but if they stay healthy and they really figure out ways to limit the opposing teams, it’s in there. Like, there’s a potential that they could be better. a as somebody who covers a team that has thrived on limiting other teams chances and just getting enough scoring to win in the Islanders. Uh it’s not an easy model to succeed with, but it can be done. Yeah, that’s that’s the team I think about a lot. And no offense, like I don’t really know if it’s the right blueprint to pick out in the league of oh, I really want to be the New York Islanders. Now listen, if there’s one team in the league that maybe could make that defense, it is this one because sure that that formula is not going to win you Stanley Cups. Like it’s just it just flatly is not. But are can you make the playoffs that way? Can you get close games to overtime and bank points that way and just be in every single game and have that be your formula to being in it, being in the race? Because the one thing the Islanders are every single year is they are in the race at least. I mean, there are some years in there where of course they’ll even win a round or two. I know it’s been a couple years, but that’s not too far in the distant past. So, again, I don’t know how much you want to strive to be like that, but this team is just trying to break the the playoff drought. They’re not thinking Stanley Cup. They’re thinking get to the postseason, get that monkey off your back. And we have seen teams do it this way. I just think it’s a really it’s a really, you know, tight window to to thread a needle through. Yeah. It’s a narrow path to try to walk for sure. And I mean, we we mentioned Peter. Is there enough scoring without him? I mean, you may not be able to match what he could produce, but is there enough scoring to win enough games? It’s it’s a really good question and that’s kind of where my biggest piece of skepticism with them has been all off seasonason is they really never replace that and I kind of think they wanted to. I think they wanted to take Bo Byum or take some other pieces and find that top six forward and it just never really happened. So now they’re hiding behind, well, we are expecting the internal growth to to take that over. And okay, like that could happen, but a lot of these failed seasons the Sabres have had is waiting for internal growth that either takes too long or it never comes in the first place. I think the most optimistic signs though are that Zack Benson at 20 years old going into his third year. A guy who made the league at 18 that wasn’t supposed to made the league at 18 having nothing to do with his offense. It’s why he was drafted in the first round. He made the team because of his hockey IQ and his ability as a defensive forward. There are advanced metrics from last year. Defensive EVO, like there’s a couple of different like real fancy numbers that point to Benson being one of the best defensive forwards in the h in hockey already. Well, now he’s going to the top line. Now it’s all right, you’ve made your mark. You’ve been a penalty killer. You’ve been a great two-way forward even as a teenager, but now we need you to start producing some offense. Last year, it was 28 points. A 28 point teenager is going to the top line. Who knows how that’s going to go. Preseason and training camp, it’s looked awesome so far. So maybe that translates to the regular season, but that’s kind of where their hopes are lying. I think it’s a lot on the shoulders of a 20-year-old that sure has two seasons of NHL experience now, but I think that’s a lot for him. And behind that, you’re hoping that Jack Quinn could take a big step up. Jury Koulik, like it’s not just Benson, but I think he’s definitely the number one hope that they have to replace Peter’s offense. Who are some of the prospects that are either ready to make the jump to the NHL or close to it? I would constellaneous first round pick from last season 2024. I think he is probably at a point where he’s the one of the first call-ups. Maybe he is the first callup to start the year. I think really if the Sabres were in a different place as a franchise 5 years ago, maybe they he would have a shot to make the team. He’s been great in training camp. He scored a couple of goals in preseason. He’s been playing with NHL guys in the preseason. I just don’t think they’re ever I don’t think they’re going to put another teenager on the roster. So, it’s kind of tough for him. Like, he could even earn a spot and I don’t think they’ll give it to him because you they just can only have so many 19, 20 year olds be asked to come in and play big roles. So, he’s getting there. He’s very close. Um, Noah Oselin, another first round pick forward from a couple of years ago, took a giant step forward last season, AHL player of the month. He earned a call up later in the year. So, same thing. He’s probably at a point where he’s a callup. Um there’s really nobody though that is taking the big step from Rochester last year or draft pick to they’re in the NHL club right away. There’s there’s these guys that are close. But really like I I might even go back to Benson 20 years old. Like that’s the prospect if you’re allowed to even label him that he’s got the age for it but he’s played a lot of games that I think they’re hoping takes the big step. Um but otherwise they’re they’re just hoping that these guys keep taking steps up in the pipeline. If you’re hoping to win a lot of two to one, three to two games, if that’s your formula, you have to have great goalending, how confident are you in the Sabres goalending right now? This is one where I I’m kind of off the beaten path a little bit here in Buffalo with this because I think if if you find someone that’s optimistic about the Sabres chances, I think a lot of it has to do with their blue line. And I think their blue line’s good. like the Michael Kessle ring edition. They finally found a partner for Owen Power, even though I think they probably paid too much for it, which was trading Purka, but they got it. They needed a right shot defenseman to play with Owen Power and they got there. So, okay, great. Like, blue line looks really good. The goalending piece, they’ve not had good goalending in a decade. Like, it is it, you know, little credit to Lena actually. So maybe not a full decade, a couple years in the middle there where when Lenus Almar could stay healthy for them, he was a he was a good number one goalie. Not as good as he was in Boston, but he was good. So other than those two, three years, they’ve had nothing. They’ve been searching for it. They make the playoffs three years ago and they just had a a league average goalie. They have not had that consistently. Ukipal Lucin had one good year and otherwise in his NHL career it hasn’t really happened. So, while he might still be pencled as the number one, the reason I’m optimistic is their plan, they have a plan B. They’ve not had a plan B. Their plan B before has been rookies been Devin Levi at 20, 21. And we know how hard it is for goalies to become regulars in the NHL at that young of an age. It takes longer at that position. And beyond that, it’s been like waiver guys like claiming James Rhymer off waiverss last year or uh Craig Anderson half retired a couple of years ago. And those guys have even given them some good games, but they’re old. They can only play so much. They can’t play 40 50 games if Lucinan doesn’t perform. They went out and signed Alex Lion. Alex Lion’s not the biggest name in the world. He’s not going to go win a VZNA trophy, but that’s an NHL goalie that helped Florida make the playoffs a couple years ago. He’s had he had good numbers in Detroit. Not great, but good numbers in Detroit. That gives you another option. Alex Gorgv, who coming off a horrible year in San Jose and Colorado, but is only a couple of years removed from solid seasons in Colorado. Few more removed from the really good years in New York. They got three dart throws. Three dart throws at the position. Three veterans at the position. And I guess I’m just hoping that the odds pay off there. that one of the three is going to give them better goalending than they’ve had in each of the last two years especially. We’ll see. It should be an interesting year up in Buffalo. 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. Definitely. You can uh follow me on Twitter at Sneaky Joe Sports if you could deal with some Bills tweets along the way as well. Uh sometimes those are more fun anyway. And then uh also you can check out the podcast wherever you’re listening to podcasts. We’ve got our text club as well. If you listen, you can find the details on that. So, yeah, a lot of fun heading into the season here. All right, Joe, thanks so much. Thanks, Gil. Today’s episode is brought to you by your friends at FanDuel. The NFL season is here, and FanDuel has an offer that you don’t want to miss. 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The Buffalo Sabres hope to find enough offense to end their lengthy absence from the Stanley Cup Playoffs but have they done enough?
Joe DiBiase of Locked On Sabres joins us to discuss the Sabres strategy for the season and who needs to step up for them to make the playoffs.
All this and more on today’s Locked On NHL Podcast with Gil Martin.
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3 comments
Yes, there will be a decline in goals scored with the trade of Peterka. But a 15-20 goals scorer that is +10, with a 200ft game. Would be more beneficial.
Owen Power is the worst number 1 overall pick of all time. Total bust.
This team almost has a little new Orleans saints going on. Banking on young talent to prosper but realistically not having enough to make a lot of noise.