The rankings are out

It seems that it's about that time when major publications start to make predictions on the upcoming season.  It's virtually impossible to predict the season while it's happening but it is impossible to try to do it in August.  That doesn't stop these major publications from trying, especially when the hockey news has pretty much run dry.  The options are limited, you could leave all the pages of the publication blank, you can try to make up false rumors or you can predict how each team will do in the regular season.  Here are a couple of early predictions as to how the Sabres are going to fare this season...

Here are The Hockey News predictions via Sabres Edge the blog from The Buffalo News

THN's East                 THN's West

1. Montreal                 1. Detroit

2. Pittsburgh              2. San Jose

3. Washington          3. Minnesota

4. Philadelphia          4. Dallas

5. Ottawa                     5. Anaheim

6. Rangers                  6. Edmonton

7. New Jersey             7. Chicago

8. Carolina                  8. Calgary

9. Tampa Bay             9. Nashville

10. Boston                 10. Phoenix

11. Buffalo                11. Vancouver

12. Florida                 12. Columbus

13. Atlanta                 13. Los Angeles

14. Toronto                14. Colorado

15. Islanders             15. St. Louis

They have the Buffalo Sabres finishing in 11th place behind teams like the Rangers, Devils and Hurricanes.  I haven't put enough thought into the season yet to really give a fair preview but I will publicly state that the Sabres will finish better than 11th place in the Eastern Conference. 

For the record Mike Harrington posted this originally and agrees that The Hockey News didn't do a very good job assessing where the Sabres will finish this season.

McKeen's did their picks for the season as well and they don't give the Sabres much of a chance either.  I was able to find this info by visiting the site of James Mirtle.  The Sabres are listed at 11th by McKeen's as well.  I may be missing something here but this was a team that started the season really poorly after one of the most tumultuous off-seasons ever but they managed to almost make the playoffs.  They have almost the same team but they added a stay-at-home defenseman that is sure to help out Ryan Miller, why would anyone think this team is going to get worse?

What are your thoughts on the Sabres season?  Is a prediction of 11th place in the Eastern Conference fair or unfair?  Share your thoughts in the comments and let us know what you think.