BY: KEVIN BOGDAN
Over the past few months, new General Manager Kevyn Adams has added some solid pieces to this not so solid Sabres team. Additions include Taylor Hall, Eric Staal, Tobias Rieder, Cody Eakin, and Matt Irwin. Dylan Cozens, Casey Mittelstadt, Artuu Ruotsalainen, Tage Thompson, and CJ Smith are also potential players that can move up and make the opening night squad.
Let’s start with the forwards. The Sabres have a very crowded forward group with a decent amount of depth.
Forwards:
The top-six is a no brainer. Moving Olofsson to the right side could be more beneficial than having him on the left. I can picture those one-timer goals right now, and they are just beautiful. The second line is interesting in the fact that it could rejuvenate Skinner’s goal-scoring touch. Staal and Reinhart are incredible playmakers, and putting Skinner alongside them could be electric. The bottom-six is where things get interesting. There are so many interchangeable combinations that you make equal arguments for. It will come down to how Krueger sees the chemistry between all those players and what he thinks is the best fit. The only lock is having Girgenson-Okposo on the fourth line going back to their success last season.
Keeping Mittelstadt on the LW would probably be best for his success. Putting Mittelstadt and Thompson, two young players, on the wings of a veteran like Cody Eakin will hopefully help those two mature into solid NHL forwards. Keeping Dylan Cozens in juniors may end up being the better route for him. After seeing what happened to Mittelstadt after jumping right into the NHL…the Sabres would be foolish to try to do the same with Cozens. Let Cozens dominate juniors and fine-tune his skill set rather than have him possibly struggle and lose confidence in the show.
Line 1:
Line 2:
Line 3:
Line 4:
Extras:
Defensive Pairings:
Now to the defense. It is now time to unleash Rasmus Dahlin. He is going into his third NHL season and has put on a lot of muscle this offseason. He has matured into his body, and his skillset speaks for itself. Time to give him the first pair minutes he deserves.
Now, I’m a little disappointed GMKA did not add to our D-core so far. Also, I am very disappointed Lawrence Pilut left for the KHL. I would’ve loved to see Pilut have a full-time position on the team and potentially trade Ristolainen for a second-line center. But here we are, and there’s not much we can do but hope Dahlin takes another step in his development and that Montour and Miller find their groove. If Miller can play as he did in Vegas, that would be a nice piece on the backside. Our defense has the potential to be solid if Dahlin and Jokiharju can make steps. Otherwise, it’s going to be more of the same defense wise.
Pair 1:
Pair 2:
Pair 3:
Goaltenders:
It looks like we are going to run with Linus Ullmark and Carter Hutton once again this season. Unless Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen lights up the AHL and gets himself called up. Ullmark will have all the opportunities in the world to prove that he is without a doubt a No. 1 goalie in this league. He has shown flashes in the past of being great. If he can become more consistent overall, he will be a solid goalie in this league for years to come. Hutton is a great locker room guy from what other players have said. I don’t have a huge problem with him being a backup for another season. But once UPL is ready, the Sabres will have a solid goalie tandem that could be very good.
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