There always comes a time when a long running series moves on from a cast member for good and bad reasons. Sometimes it's cause the actor or actress' career takes off and now they're doing movies. Sometimes because the drama behind the scenes makes the producers ask the question, "Can we do this show without Charlie Sheen?" For better or for worse, the show moves forward. Law and Order was pretty seamless for 20 years. MASH was able to slide characters in and out, but for every success are a Two and a Half Men and That 70s Show that wasn't the same after a lead actor is replaced. The Buffalo Sabres moved on from their lead, Captain Jack Eichel, and the results were a better season that gave fans reasons to believe they could be competitive sooner than later.
21-22 Expectations: In the reworked Mass Mutual East Division, the Sabres were not only a non-factor, they were the whipping boy of the division. Need a big moment? Sabres gave up Alexis Lafreniere's first NHL goal in OT. Need a losing streak stopped? Here come the Sabres. It got so bad that on the Big Apple Hockey podcast asked if the Mets would win a game before the Sabres as the went on an 18 game losing streak while losing star Jack Eichel to a neck injury. Although the team finished -61 in goal differential and were absolutely a doormat for every team to get points. After the dismissal of Ralph Krueger, the Sabres did improve under interim coach Don Granato as he notched 9 of the 15 wins the Sabres picked up in 2021, but he got the team playing well enough to have the "interim" tag removed.
21-22 Result: The Buffalo Sabres finished the 21-22 season 7 games under NHL .500. 32-39-11 with a -58 goal differential. On paper, the Sabres did not improve, but the eye test said otherwise. The Sabres 21.2% Power Play was an improvement even tough their ranking slipped. They played a more inspired style and were much more competitive. As like all teams, the Sabres had to play with covid and in October, the Western NY team played 2 games due to covid rescheduling. The Sabres found themselves at the "Christmas break" with a 10-5-5 record, but after ANOTHER week off because the spike in covid cases, the NHL shutdown. Upon returning after Christmas to the end of February (a span of 24 games), the Sabres recorded 6 wins (3rd worst in that time). It was a horrible time for the Sabres fans and looking like another lost season, but March would begin a different chapter. Beginning with a 5-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Sabres would rebound the final two months with a 16-9-3 record. Their goal differential was a mere -6, but it was clear that Buffalo got a lot better towards season's end.
What Went Right: First and foremost, Tage Thompson. The centerpiece of the Ryan O'Reilly trade didn't exactly make a dent in the league when coming into it in 2017 with St Louis. Up until last season, the 24 year old center from Arizona scored a total of 18 goals in 155 NHL games. LAST SEASON, Tage Thompson scored 38 goals and 30 assists for a total of 68 points. Thompson became a force to be reckoned with every night.
Jeff Skinner potted 33 goals, returning to his 30 goal form after that notion was far fetched after scoring a total of 21 goals in his last two seasons. Could Skinner be redeeming himself for those poor seasons and prove that the Sabres aren't wasting the $9m a season they rewarded the former Calder trophy winner with in 2019.
What Went Wrong: EVERYTHING IN NET! The Sabres had 6 different goalie start games in the 2021-22 season. The Sabres started Michael Houser, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, Craig Anderson, Dustin Tokarski, Aaron Dell and Malcom Subban all started games. That sentence was hard to write, but it's worse being a player and not thinking your goaltending was stable. The Sabres couldn't keep the puck out of their net, giving up the 8th most goals in the league (289). No Sabres goalie played more than 31 games (Anderson) and none with ten games played had a save percentage over 0.900%.
Reasons to be Optimistic: Among the Sabres returning to form was former 2018 top overall selection Rasmus Dahlin. The Swedish defenseman rebounded from his poor 2021 to post career highs in goals, assists and points. From looking lost to driving play, Dahlin has silenced the doubters. Dylan Cozens posted solid rookie season numbers (13-25-38). Victor Olofsson matched his 20 goals from his first full season and Kyle Okposo's 45 points tied the best he's put up since coming over from the Islanders in 2016. Either Okposo produces again or he's off the books in 2023. Alex Much also performed pretty well since coming over from Vegas in the Jack Eichel trade (12-26-38). Plus the team has 11 draft picks (3 in the first round) and 34 million dollars in cap space are sitting here for the Sabres to reshape their future. Buffalo has been free agent spenders before. They can again.
Reasons to be pessimistic: The eyes tell us that the Sabres coach Don Granato is doing a good job, but don't look at his numbers. The current coach in Western New York has a .436 winning percentage. That's slightly better than Ralph Krueger's .433 and Phil Housley's .421, but the Sabres fans would have to go all the way back to Lindy Ruff for a coach with over .500 for his winning percentage. Just because things look better doesn't mean they are.
What this team needs: If this team decides to dive into free agency, are they going for a Nazem Kadri or one of the other big fishes? As mentioned in the positives, They have $34 million in cap space and could sell a free agent on the possibilities this organization could have in the near future.
21-22 Expectations: With the Bruins getting worse and Tampa can't stay on top forever, Buffalo could steadily improve next season and get over NHL .500. It's easy to point to Buffalo's goaltending and think if they got ANY goaltending, they could have been 10 wins better. That would have put them closer to the playoffs, but still outside looking in. Craig Anderson is set to return and the Sabres acquired Devon Levi in the Sam Reinhart trade last summer, but he'll likely still be at Northeastern next season with his 21-10-1 record, 1.54 GAA and 0.952 Save %. Those are gaudy numbers in a tough division of college hockey, but he's not ready. Are the Sabres going to make the same mistake the Florida Panthers did? In 2019, the Panthers signed former 2-time Vezina winner Sergei Bobrovsky to an 8 year deal after drafting USA's Spencer Knight in the first round a week earlier. If the Sabres acquire a goalie, Levi could end up taking the job away from who the Sabres bring in, but it ain't gonna be next season or the one after. They'll need a quality veteran goalie if they want to compete. Perhaps Jack Campbell lands here if he parts from the Leafs. The Sabres are making strides, which is amazing after the dark shadow over this organization last year. Let's see if season two post-Eichel is a better show.
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