Toronto Maple Leafs: Atlantic Division Preview and Predictions

Last season, the Buffalo Sabres were the most disappointing team in the NHL.  After signing Taylor Hall before the season, fans imagined an unstoppable dynamic duo of Hall and superstar centre, Jack Eichel, blasting pucks passed helpless goaltenders all season long.

We all know how that turned out.  Jack Eichel missed most of the season with a terrible neck injury and Taylor Hall had two goals in 37 games before he was traded to the Boston Bruins for relatively little return.

The Buffalo Sabres finished dead last in the league.

Key Offseason Acquisitions:

Vinnie Hinostroza RW (Signed from Chicago)

Will Butcher D (Trade with New Jersey)

Craig Anderson G (Signed from Washington)

Aaron Dell G (Signed from New Jersey)

Biggest Offseason Losses:

Sam Reinhart C (Traded to Florida)

Riley Sheahan RW (Signed with Seattle)

Rasmus Ristolainen D (Traded to Philadelphia)

Jake McCabe D (Signed with Chicago)

Linus Ullmark G (Signed with Boston)

Carter Hutton G (Signed with Phoenix)

Roster Breakdown:

It seems apparent looking at these transactions that the Buffalo Sabres have no intentions of chasing a cup any time soon.  They’ve dumped their leading scorer from last season (Sam Reinhart), their top minute eating defenseman (Rasmus Ristolainen) and their top goaltender (Linus Ullmark).  Those are huge losses with nothing coming back to help them now.

This doesn’t even include any of the players they sold off around the trade deadline last season: Taylor Hall, Curtis Lazar, Brandon Montaur and Eric Staal.

Their goaltending is an absolute mess.  Dustin Tokarski played the most games last season out of the goalies on their current roster with 13; only two of them wins.  Craig Anderson is an interesting pickup.

Craig Anderon played well in only four games with Washington last season with a .914 AAV and even better in his two playoff games (.929 AAV), but he’s 40 years old and I expect him to get shelled with Buffalo’s lacking defense in front of him.  Who knows who Buffalo’s starting goaltender will be.

Vinnie Hinostroza and Will Butcher are the two skaters they picked up that may see significant time with the team, but they honestly wouldn’t crack the roster of many NHL teams.

The only good news is that Buffalo has a lot of young players who should continue to improve this season.  Rasmus Dahlin, Casey Mittelstadt, and Dylan Cozens all have superstar potential, but it’s difficult to develop in a toxic environment and that seems to be where the Buffalo Sabres find themselves right now.

In case you haven’t heard, Jack Eichel is also looking for a trade and seems to be super frustrated with the team’s losing culture, how they’ve treated his injury, and the lack of a trade so far.  He’s recently obtained a new agent to try to help facilitate a trade.  The Buffalo Sabres have been shopping him, but have said they’re in no rush to trade him.

I feel that the Sabres think they’ll get more for Eichel if they trade him during the season instead of before the season.  He’s been out a while and teams may want to see how healthy he is before they give in to Buffalo’s high asking price.  There are teams interested in him now, but it seems like they haven’t pulled the trigger because they want Buffalo to drop their price for an injured player.

Can lasts season worse team get any worse?  I think the answer is “yes.”