Way too early Atlantic division predictions for the Toronto Maple Leafs
7. Buffalo Sabres
The Sabres, currently in a 13-season-long playoff appearance drought, finished sixth in the Atlantic last season with 84 points.
This never-ending rebuild the Sabres find themselves in will continue into this season as they will drop a spot from last season and finish seventh in the division.
This Sabres team has pieces I like. JJ Peterka is coming off a strong sophomore season where he scored 28 goals (Stats from NHL.com), Cozens is coming off a tough year but has a lot of potential, Quinn had two major lower-body injuries last year, which limited him to 27 games played and Tage Thompson is looking to bounce back from a disappointing year after his breakout 2022-23 season. Along with those four, you also have Tuch, who has dealt with injuries throughout his career but is always a solid player and a young player with a lot of potential in Zach Benson. Benson is coming off a rookie year where he scored 11 goals and 19 assists for 30 points in 71 games.
On the blue line, the Sabres have a star in Rasmus Dahlin and a great defenseman with an injury history, specifically concussion issues in Bowen Byram. If the Sabres can get a full year of healthy Bowen Byram that would be a huge boost to this roster. 2021 first-overall pick Owen Power is entering his third year in the league and is looking for his breakout. Mattias Samuelsson is a nice defenseman on the third pair but will need to stay healthy this season.
The goaltending situation in Buffalo has always had a weird vibe for me since Levi entered the picture. Levi was rushed into the league from college and to his credit, played well. This past season was a struggle for him and he split time between Rochester in the AHL and Buffalo. Last season Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen had a great year posting a .910 save percentage, 11.1 goals saved above average and a 22.46 goals saved above expected. Although he was good all year, it felt like the Sabres wanted Levi to be the starter.
Luukkonen signed a five-year deal with an average annual value of 4.75 million and is entering his first year of the deal. It will be interesting to see if he can live up to that deal and if Levi makes another step in his development.
I don't think the Sabres had a strong offseason. Ultimately, I look at the bottom six and find it rather underwhelming. If the top-six isn't clicking all year, I can see the scoring drying up and it becoming difficult for the Sabres to win games. McLeod was a decent add, even though I thought they lost the trade by giving away a top prospect in Matt Savoie. Bringing back Lindy Ruff as head coach also doesn't move the needle that much for me.
With so many players that have me concerned due to injury histories and a lack of additions to this forward core, I don't think the Sabres are going to finish higher than seventh in the division.