NHL Preview - Buffalo Sabres

Buffalo Sabres

2015-16 season: 35-36-11, 81 points	Head Coach: Dan Bylsma (2015)
7th Place Atlantic Division	General Manager: Tim Murray (2014)
14th Place Eastern Conference	AHL Affiliate: Rochester Americans ECHL Affiliate: Elmira Jackals
Cap Space: $8,537,978

Team News

• Buffalo acquired D Dmitry Kulikov from Florida for Mark Pysyk and draft picks
• Buffalo acquired G Anders Nilsson from St. Louis for draft picks

Free Agents Lost in the Offseason

POS.	Player	New Team	Contract
C	David Legwand	UFA
C	Tim Shaller	Boston Bruins	1 year, $600,000
D	Carlo Colaiacovo	UFA
D	Chad Ruhwedel	Pittsburgh Penguins	1 year, $575,000
G	Chad Johnson	Calgary Flames	1 year, $1,700,000

Incoming Free Agents

POS.	Player	Old Team	Contract
RW	Kyle Okposo	New York Islanders	7 years, $42 million
D	Taylor Fedun	Vancouver Canucks	2 years, $1,200,000

2016 Draft Picks

RD	Pick No.	POS.	Name	Junior/College/Club Team
1	18	LW	Alexander Nylander	Mississauga Steelheads (OHL)
2	33	C	Rasmus Asplund	Farjestads BK Karlstad (SHL)
3	69	RW	Cliff Pu	London Knights (OHL)
3	86	D	Casey Fitzgerald	Boston College (Hockey East)
4	99	LW	Brett Murray	Carleton Place Canadians (CCHL)
5	129	D	Philip Nyberg	Linkoping Jrs (Sweden)
5	130	D	Vojtech Budik	Prince Albert Raiders (WHL)
6	159	LW	Brandon Hagel	Red Deer Rebels (WHL)
7	189	D	Austin Osmanski	Mississauga Steelheads (OHL)
7	190	C	Vasili Glotov	SKA Jrs (Russia)

Top Three Prospects

POS	Name	Draft Info	Current Team
LW	Alexander Nylander	2016 1st RD (8)	Mississauga Steelheads
C	Rasmus Asplund	2016 2nd RD (33)	SHL
RW	Hudson Fasching	2013 4th RD (118)	NHL/AHL

Projected Lineup

Forwards

POS	Name	Age	Nationality	Free Agent Year
RW	Sam Reinhart	20	Canada	2018 (RFA)
C	Jack Eichel	19	United States	2018 (RFA)
RW	Kyle Okposo	28	United States	2023
LW	Evander Kane	25	Canada	2018
C	Ryan O’Reilly	25	Canada	2023
RW	Tyler Ennis	26	Canada	2019
LW	Marcus Foligno	25	Canada	2017 (RFA)
LW	Johan Larsson	24	Sweden	2017 (RFA)
RW	(C) Brian Gionta	37	United States	2017
LW	(A) Matt Moulson	32	Canada	2019
C	Zemgus Girgensons	22	Latvia	2017 (RFA)
RW	Hudson Fasching	21	United States	2018 (RFA)

Defensemen

POS	Name	Age	Nationality	Free Agent Year
D	Jake McCabe	22	United States	2019 (RFA)
D	Zach Bogosian	26	United States	2020
D	Dmitry Kulikov	25	Russia	2017
D	Rasmus Ristolainen	21	Finland	2016(RFA)
D	(A) Josh Gorges	32	Canada	2018
D	Cody Franson	29	Canada	2017

Goalies

POS	Name	Age	Nationality	Free Agent Year
G	Robin Lehner	25	Sweden	2017 (RFA)
G	Anders Nilsson	26	Sweden	2017 (RFA)

Extra Skaters

POS	Name	Age	Nationality	Free Agent Year
C	Nicolas Keslauriers	25	Canada	2018 (RFA)
LW	Cal O’Reilly	29	Canada	2017
D	Taylor Fedun	28	Canada	2018

Season Outlook

• Considering that the Sabres were in the middle of a rebuild last season, they were never an easy out and were competitive all season.  Head coach Dan Bylsma did an incredible job with such a young team.  He helped convert them into a stronger puck possession team, a remarkable feat considering their youth.  Jack Eichel proved he was worth the 2nd overall draft pick last season and will anchor their first line this coming season.  Had the Sabres been a little better on defense and in net, they probably would have been in Wild Card contention until the very end of the season.

CAT.	Goals For	Goals Against	PP %	PK %	PDO	Corsi For	Corsi Against	Corsi For %	oZS%	dZS%
Stat	201	222	18.90	82.57	99.8	4317	4600	48.4	49.6	50.4
Sabres’ Rank	27th	17th	12th	9th	20th	25th	18th	23rd	24th	24th

PDO= Even Strength Shooting Percentage + Even Strength Save Percentage

Corsi For= Shots + Blocks + Misses while in possession of puck

Crosi Against= Shots + Blocks + Misses while not in possession of puck

Corsi For %= Corsi For/(Corsi For+Corsi Against) -> Above 50% means that team controls play

oZS% = Offensive Zone Start Percentage

dZS% = Defensive Zone Start Percentage

• This offseason, GM Tim Murray continued his excellent tenure by signing, in my opinion, the best available free agent not name Stamkos, in winger Kyle Okposo.  Okposo is a consistent 20+ goal scorer who will bring a great goal scoring skill set to Buffalo.  Some might say that Okposo was only as successful as he was in New York because he skated on a line with John Tavares.  Well, in Buffalo, he'll have Eichel as his center and Sam Reinhart on the other wing, both young and über talented.  They also acquired defenseman Dmitry Kulikov from Florida to help lengthen their defensive corps.  They have one last thing to do before the season starts and that is signing defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen to an extension, or to any deal for that matter. He currently does not have a contract for this season and is far too important to the Sabres for them not to have on their roster.  If goaltender Robin Lehner can live up to his hype, Buffalo could be a surprise team in the conference this year.  They need to continue on this path of developing their youth, but not trying to spend a lot of money on free agents unless the players fit their needs.  They're going to continue getting better too, as their young players grow and more prospects are called up to the NHL level.  Within three to four years, the Sabres could be in the talks as fringe contenders for the Stanley Cup.

Breakout Candidate:

• RW Sam Reinhart - skating on a line with Jack Eichel and now Kyle Okposo will help him to further advance as a scoring forward

Regression Candidate:

• LW Evander Kane - cannot make his off-ice mentality match his on-ice talent and potential; could be out of the league in a couple years if he doesn't figure stuff out

Bounceback Candidate:

• Matt Moulson - Moulson scored 41 points in 77 games during the 2014-15 season and just 21 points in 81 games last season.  While I don't expect him to ever get back to the production levels he was at with the Islanders, I think he can be a contributing player on a young, talented team.  Look for him to get back in the 40's for his points production.

*All statistics and information come from: rosterresource.com, thehockeywriters.com, hockeydb.com, hockey-reference.com, and generalfanager.com