2009-2010 Buffalo Sabres Preview

Buffalo has gone through a steady rebuilding process in the last few years, bringing a lot of young talent up early and allowing them to develop at the NHL level. The young Sabres are fast and fun to watch and the enthusiastic fans of Buffalo will pack the HSBC Arena like usual. Can their team make a return to the playoffs for the first time in three years?

Looking Back at 2008-2009

The young Sabres competed well throughout the year and many of the youngest took steps towards becoming the new faces of the team. Star young winger Thomas Vanek continued to reward Buffalo’s faith in matching a monster restricted free agency offer sheet by scoring 40 goals and Ryan Miller continued his ascent to the elite among NHL goalkeepers. However, the Sabres fell just short of the playoffs as their 41-33-9 record left them a mere two points short of postseason action.

The Offseason

The Sabres were fairly quiet during the summer since the majority of their team is young and signed for the next few years. The biggest deals were the free agency acquisition of defenseman Steve Montador, the retirement of stalwart Teppo Numinen and the departure of enigmatic winger Maxim Afinogenov. The Sabres also brought veteran Mike Grier back into the fold.

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2009-2010 Outlook

Vanek is clearly Buffalo’s top scoring option, but there is a lot of strong depth on hand behind him. Derek Roy led the team in scoring, Jason Pominville scored 20 goals and Tim Connolly continued to tantalize with his talent and inability to stay healthy. The Sabres are fast and deep up front.

The defense is more of a concern. Captain Craig Rivet is solid and reliable and Tony Lydman and Montador should provide strong play behind him. However, the rest of the defenders are either journeymen or rising young players with little experience and I have some concerns about the steadiness of this unit in front of Miller. Needless to say, there isn’t a major offensive presence here either.

Speaking of Miller, expect him to have a huge season as he’ll be competing all season long for the starting job for the USA Olympic Hockey team. With solid vet Patrick Lalime behind him, the team should find plenty of chances to get him a rest and the Sabres appear set in goal.

PREDICTION: The Sabres are the one team that is the toughest to pick in the entire Eastern Conference. Their diverse group of forwards are fast and talented and built perfectly for the new NHL. Furthermore, they’re largely younger and could take another step forward this season, even the hypertalented Miller, who is already among the best at his position.

On the other hand, their defense isn’t very deep and it is completely possible that the young forwards up front could have some growing pains. I think that there is going to be some inconsistency in Buffalo thanks to a young team and a thin set of defensemen and I’m picking them to finish 3rd in the Northeast Division and fall just short of the playoffs as the 9th best team in the Eastern Conference.

By Matt Baxendall
DFN Sports & ProHockey-fans.com Staff Writer

Feel your team is underrated? Tell Matt Baxendell why at matt.baxendell@gmail.com

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