Cease me for those who’ve heard this one earlier than: the 2024-25 season is make-or-break for the Buffalo Sabres. Common Supervisor Kevyn Adams is on the new seat. New/outdated head coach Lindy Ruff has greater than a few issues he should tackle if the Sabres are going to get again to the playoffs for the primary time since 2011.
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Whereas there isn’t any playbook for getting over the hump and absolutely out of a rebuild, the Sabres have pivotal questions they have to tackle. Discovering the solutions to the questions laid out beneath will possible play a giant position in getting the workforce again into the playoffs.
1) Can the Core Rebound?
The 2022-23 season could have resulted in one other missed alternative on the playoffs, however at the very least it was enjoyable. The Sabres have been one of the crucial prolific and productive offensive groups within the league that season, led by Tage Thompson threatening to turn out to be the primary 50-goal scorer for the franchise since Pat Lafontaine and Alexander Mogilny achieved the feat in 1992-93.
Practically everybody took a step again final season and it harm the workforce. The flexibility is there – with a number of guys who can gentle the lamp – and guys like Thompson, Alex Tuch, and Dylan Cozens might want to regain their type if the Sabres are lastly going to get the 1,000-pound gorilla off their backs.
Thompson began to look extra like himself down the stretch after lastly recovering from a hand damage. A bounce again from him might get the offense rolling at a 2022-23 degree as soon as once more. There is just too a lot offensive expertise within the Atlantic Division to hope {that a} repeat of final season’s efficiency could be sufficient.
2) Is Lindy Ruff the Proper Match?
A brand new head coach was precedence when the offseason started, and Adams labored shortly to deal with the matter. Relatively than going completely new, he went again to a confirmed commodity: Lindy Ruff. Arguably the most profitable coach in franchise historical past, Ruff brings with him a pedigree that few different candidates can match.
Ruff has had tenures with the Dallas Stars and New Jersey Devils, incomes a Jack Adams Award runner-up with the latter and a win in 2015-16 with the previous. He’s a no-BS form of coach, pushes his gamers to work laborious throughout observe in addition to video games, and can work to get probably the most out of the workforce. He led the Sabres to their final Stanley Cup Closing look in 1999 and their final playoff look in 2011.
Ruff is probably not the man everybody wished, however he’s the man for what they want most. Attending to the playoffs isn’t simply one thing that’s lengthy overdue — it’s one thing the franchise desperately wants. Failing to recover from the hump may very well be disastrous and the very last thing everybody wants is one other rebuild. The ceiling could also be decrease for a man like Ruff, however the flooring is unquestionably greater.
3) Can Mattias Samuelsson Keep Wholesome?
Mattias Samuelsson could quietly be the largest X-factor for the Sabres within the season forward. When wholesome, he’s as dependable a defender in his personal finish because the Sabres have. He makes use of his measurement – 6-foot-4, 231 kilos – effectively, clears the entrance of the online, and even provides a bodily contact.
The issue is that he hasn’t been in a position to keep wholesome. He performed in 42 video games as a 21-year-old in 2021-22. His greatest season, 2022-23, noticed him seem in 55 video games. Final season, accidents dogged him and held the defender to simply 41 video games performed.
The Sabres protection is definitively higher with Samuelsson within the lineup. The truth that his title has come up in commerce discussions continuously exhibits that the workforce isn’t assured in his well being. A return to well being in 2024-25 can be an enormous boon for the Sabres and their efforts to get again into the playoffs.
4) Can the Energy Play Get well?
The Sabres have been third in objectives per sport in 2022-23, a big a part of that the 9th-ranked power-play unit. Clicking at 23.4%, few items might match the consistency of the Sabres. Thompson, en path to 47 objectives, unleashed bomb after bomb ready Alex Ovechkin made well-known.
A step again could have been anticipated in 2023-24, however the energy play did greater than that — it cratered solely. Zone entries suffered. Effectivity dropped and the Sabres completed with the fourth-worst energy play within the NHL, with a paltry 16.6% success price.
Matt Ellis is out the door, and the Sabres might be seeking to repair the ability play. With Thompson, Tuch, Cozens, Jack Quinn, Rasmus Dahlin, and J.J. Peterka prone to see ample time, there isn’t any excuse for a repeat of final season’s efficiency. The facility play has to enhance and get again into the highest half of the league.
It’s Time For Sabres to Get the Job Achieved
The Sabres have an excessive amount of expertise to nonetheless be lacking the playoffs. Discovering the reply in internet with Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen is an effective begin. Getting a coach with familiarity and a document of success is unquestionably a transfer in the fitting path.
It’s crucial the Sabres get off to a great begin. Failing to take action will solely put the workforce additional behind the eight ball, making it an much more daunting process to get well. At this level, there are not any extra excuses. It’s time for the Sabres to get the job completed and get again into the playoffs.
