After a relatively active offseason, and a partly inactive offseason for other reasons, the Buffalo Sabres are ready to open up the 2021-22 season on Thursday night against the Montreal Canadiens at KeyBank Center.
To say the last 10 seasons of Sabres hockey has been a disappointment would be an understatement to many. Buffalo has failed to make the postseason since the 2010-11 season, and especially in the last eight years, the team hasn't even come close to sniffing the playoffs.
Once again, it is expected that Buffalo will finish as a bottom-feeding team in the National Hockey League. If the Sabres miss out on the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the team will set a new NHL record for the longest stretch of consecutive seasons without making the postseason.
Leading the way in the 2021-22 season will be head coach Don Granato, who takes over on a full-time basis after leading Buffalo to a 9-16-3 finish to last season on an interim basis. While that record in 28 games does not look all that promising on paper, the work Granato was able to do with some of the younger players on the roster gave the Sabres enough confidence he can do some good work with the group in place.
After taking over for head coaching duties for Ralph Krueger halfway through the COVID-19 pandemic-shortened season, Granato was able to turn around the confidence of the group, eventually had some key younger players on the team looking like they had a place in the NHL. Players like Rasmus Dahlin, Casey Mittelstadt, Tage Thompson, Rasmus Asplund and Henri Jokiharju all went from playing like timid youngsters on the ice to being confident in their play and back to hopeful pieces for the future. Meanwhile, struggling veterans like Jeff Skinner and Victor Olofsson were able to return to form towards the end of the season under Granato.
The focus for Granato and the rest of the organization going forward will be the continued development for some of the top young players at the NHL level, while continuing to develop elsewhere within the organization, and trying to compete and win hockey games on a nightly basis.
One player who will likely not be in the picture for the Sabres going forward is Jack Eichel. The 24-year-old center has been the topic of discussion throughout the summer surrounding his medical status and his disgruntled nature with the team over the handling of his neck injury.
At the start of training camp, Eichel failed his physical - as expected - and was then stripped of his captaincy with the team. The former second overall pick in the 2015 NHL Draft has since been sent home, and the Sabres and Eichel's agent, Pat Brisson, continue to work on a resolution that will likely mean a trade to another team.
While the overall expectations and the appeal of the Sabres may not be so promising this upcoming season, let's take a look at five bold predictions that may have an impact with the organization in some way this year:
1.) Jack Eichel will be traded before Thanksgiving
It feels like a trade has been coming for so long now that this prediction now feels like a complete a shot in the dark. We truly have no idea when a potential deal could come down the wire. It could happen on a Sunday morning at 7:30 a.m. ET, similar to when the Buffalo Bills fired Doug Whaley as general manager.
However, it has been reported that teams are getting the necessary medical information surrounding Eichel's herniated disk injury, with some teams even reported to being open to the idea of the artificial disk replacement surgery that the 24-year-old wishes to have.
While the dreams of playing in the 2022 Winter Olympics may not have an affect on the progression of trade talks, there could be some other factors that accelerate the process and push this trade to the finish line.
Will the Sabres get all they want in a possible return for Eichel? Probably not, but the package coming back to Buffalo should still be substantial, and general manager Kevyn Adams has approached this situation in the best way possible. Trades like this for a franchise center do not come about in normal circumstances, so why accept anything significantly less?
Eichel wants to get healthy and back on the ice as soon as possible, and the Sabres want to find a resolution to this situation and get past this dark time in the franchise's history as soon as possible.
Something will get done before Eichel's no-movement clause officially kicks in next offseason.
2.) Victor Olofsson will score more 5-on-5 goals than power play goals
We all know the type of weapon that Olofsson is on the power play with his shot around the right-wing circle. Through his first two seasons in the NHL with the Sabres, the 26-year-old has scored 20 goals on the man advantage, which has left many people yearning for more at 5-on-5.
When Olofsson made the jump to North America for the 2018-19 season, he really stood out in the American Hockey League with the Rochester Americans. In 66 games played, he was able to net 30 goals and register 33 assists for 63 points.
During that season, Olofsson only scored nine of his 30 goals while on the power play. Not only did Olofsson impress on the power play, he was a stalwart at even strength, getting thrown in all sorts of situations with the Amerks and thriving.
While we haven't seen Olofsson completely transfer that level of success to the NHL just yet, it could come during his third full season with the Sabres. He will be lined up on the right wing with Rasmus Asplund and Tage Thompson, which could allow him a chance to be the finisher on this line at 5-on-5.
It is realistic to believe that Olofsson can eclipse the 20-to-25-goal mark with the Sabres in a full 82-game season. The more Olofsson can score those goals while at even strength, the better off he and the Sabres will be.
While Olofsson is hoping to be up to goal scoring ways this season, he will not lead the Sabres in goals by the time the 2021-22 campaign comes to a close...
3.) Jeff Skinner will return to 30-goal form
Who can forget Skinner's first season with the Sabres? 40 goals and 63 points in 82 games, which resulted in a nice new eight-year contract worth a heaping $9 million per-year.
Since then, Skinner has exceedingly underwhelmed in production with just 21 goals and 37 points in 112 games over two shortened seasons.
Granted, those two seasons saw Skinner mostly playing as a fourth line winger under Ralph Krueger, but the 29-year-old has been looked to in the past as a driver of play and production, no matter who he's playing with. He certainly has to get back to form, especially with six years remaining on his massive contract.
Skinner will start the 2021-22 season on the left wing with Casey Mittelstadt at center and Vinnie Hinostroza on the right wing. Both linemates are pretty crafty players with the puck on their sticks, and Skinner could benefit from playing with guys who can get him the puck in scoring position.
There's no denying the past of success that Skinner has had, hitting the 30-goal mark three other times while with the Carolina Hurricanes. With more ice-time and being put in better spots to succeed, it's possible that Skinner can be a 30-goal scorer again with the Sabres and lead the team in goals.
4.) Rasmus Dahlin will finish top-10 in scoring among defensemen
Dahlin's rate of offensive production through his first three years in the NHL has been quite impressive, averaging 44.5 points per-82 games. Over that span, his 107 points stands tied for the 20th-best total in the league among defensemen.
While we've seen flashes of offensive brilliance from Dahlin in his three years in Buffalo, that one consistent season of pure dominance has yet to come to fruition.
It is expected this year for Dahlin's minutes to get a hike up with the likes of Rasmus Ristolainen and Jake McCabe no longer a part of the organization. On top of that, the team will continue to rely on Dahlin as a quarterback on the No. 1 power play unit.
If Dahlin can put his overall game together, similar to how Victor Hedman did after the first few years of his career with the Tampa Bay Lightning, the production should come for the 21-year-old defenseman. And if that does happen, who knows what the fourth-year defenseman can accomplish in Buffalo.
It will be fun to see just what the pairing of Dahlin and Henri Jokiharju can do this season after having some success under head coach Don Granato last year.
5.) Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen will be the full-time starting goalie in Buffalo after the Olympic break
There is still a lot of hype and promise surrounding the former second round pick of the Sabres in the 2017 NHL Draft.
Luukkonen did have a chance to take up the mantle as the starting goalie of the Sabres out of training camp this year, but it was clear that the 22-year-old was not quite ready yet.
The 6-foot-4 goalie will get plenty of opportunity with the Rochester Americans to start the 2021-22 season in the American Hockey League.If he can hit the ground running and solidify himself as the No. 1 netminder over the likes of Aaron Dell and Michael Houser, Luukkonen could get a chance at some more NHL action at some point this season.
With the current goaltending situation in Buffalo between Craig Anderson and Dustin Tokarski, if the Sabres are out of the mix by the Olympic break, general manager Kevyn Adams may be willing to give the kid a shot in Buffalo. That may require trading one of the two veteran names, but if he is playing unstoppable at the AHL level to start the year, why not see what you've got in goal for the final handful of games in March and April?
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