The team to beat for the Toronto Maple Leafs will be the Buffalo Sabres.
If there is one team in the Atlantic Division that we should keep our eyes on its our enemies just south of the border in Buffalo, New York. Since buying the team in 2010, Terry Pegula has spent many years trying to rebuild his Sabres.
Unfortunately for Pegula, it’s taken a long time to turn the Sabres into a playoff team.
In recent years, Pegula has shown that he is making the right investments. His front office brought in forwards Jack Eichel, Casey Mittelstadt, Alexander Nylander, Kyle Okposo, Ryan O’Reilly and Sam Reinhart to Upstate New York.
At the point, they’ve also lured defensemen including Rasmus Ristolaninen, Zach Bogosian and Jake McCabe.
Rasmus Dahlin
Along with the names listed above, they are also likely to scoop up Rasmus Dahlin in the draft. With the addition of Dahlin to their defensive core, they are going to be tough to beat in their own zone.
Last season, Dahlin played with Frolunda HC and was outstanding.
In 41 games, he recorded 7 goals and 13 assists. As well, he played for Sweden at the World Junior Championships (WJC) in Buffalo. While the Swedes fell short at the end, he tallied five assists in six games played at the WJC.
Dahlin is the most highly sought after player in the draft and will likely be an asset for the Sabres right away.
Goalie Situation
The only major flaw with the Sabres is in net.
Last year, the Sabres relied upon Robin Lehner as their starting net-minder. Unfortunately for Pegula and the Sabres’ front office, this was the wrong choice. Last season, Lehner posted his worst numbers since his days in Ottawa, with a GAA of 3.01, a .908 SV%, 3 SO and just 14 wins in 53 games.
I doubt that the Sabres will rely on Lehner in 2018-2019. In fact, I believe that Buffalo will go hunting for another goaltender.
The Sabres could make a trade with the Washington Capitals and land Phillipp Grubauer.
This season, he was nothing short of outstanding in Washington. Grubauer provided solid insurance for the Capitals’ number one netminder, Braden Holtby. In 35 games, he registered a GAA of 2.35 and a .923 SV%. While it’s a small sample-size, he was phenomenal and proved that he could be a starting netminder in the NHL.
Grubauer is in the last year of his current deal and will likely command an increase in salary come July 1st. In order for the Sabres to bring Grubauer to Buffalo, they’ll likely have to make a trade since he’s an RFA.
My readers might ask why would the Capitals move Grubauer. I’ll answer this quickly.
Salary relief.
Come July 1st, the Capitals will have to decide whether they’ll keep Tom Wilson, John Carlson and Madison Bowey. The following off-season, the Capitals will have to worry about retaining Andre Burakovsky, Jakub Vrana, Chandler Stephenson and Christian Djoos. So as you can see, the Capitals really need to start moving some assets to ensure they have some cap space to sign assets.
This makes me believe that Grubauer becomes expendable.
Recap
If the Sabres add Dahlin and Grubauer or a goalie similar to him, they’ll be a lot more challenging next season.
While the Sabres might not be a shoe-in for the playoffs next year, they’ll likely be a lot better off and will be a tough competitor for the Toronto Maple Leafs to face.
Next: Kyle Dubas and Hidden Talent
Luckily, the Toronto Maple Leafs also have solid depth in both zones, so Leafs Nation doesn’t need to worry about sleepless nights. It’s just good to keep the Sabres on our radar.
stats from eliteprospects.com and NHL.com