In Other News, Sabres Fans Suffer Endlessly
The juggernaut that is the Florida Panthers made it look fairly easy. Once again they defeated Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers in the Finals. It’s been 32 years since a team in Canada last lifted the Stanley Cup.
Florida is crafted as a near unstoppable team, built for playoff hockey. They could easily make a run at it again next year. They have the perfect blend of skill, scoring, size, physicality and clutch goaltending. Not to mention a great coaching staff and management team. They are everything that fans of the Buffalo Sabres would love to emulate.
As the season now comes to an end, the work begins again for the Blue and Gold. The draft is coming up fast, a chance to stock the cupboard once more. With years of development time for those prospects, of course. Which is why there is a good chance some of Buffalo’s draft picks will be used in trades, for a chance at immediate upgrades to the team. A few current Sabres players need attention as well. One player with his foot out the door already is Bo Byram. He wants a shot at being a number one defender, with a pay grade equal to that. Personally, I don’t see it. He is the perfect complimentary defensemen to a top defender on most teams, not a number one. But Bo should at least draw the Sabres a solid return player or two. Elsewhere, JJ Peterka is not happy with the direction of the team. It’s not even a rumor at this point. He wants out but Buffalo still holds the cards. They are listening to offers for JJ now but they have time to evaluate all this. The Sabres have his rights for several more years. They could sign him to a shorter bridge deal and play the long game with Peterka. Perhaps even convince him to stay by making the playoffs or trade him later for better value. Or they might address it now and move a player out who doesn’t want to be here. A growing trend, unfortunately. Then there is Alex Tuch, who didn’t give reporters a ringing endorsement for staying with Buffalo at locker clean out. He will be entering the final year of his deal. The Sabres would like to extend him I believe but will Tuch want to stay? This off season should go a long way towards influencing his decision.
We are at a crossroads. Seemingly, Buffalo had a solid team on paper last year but they failed spectacularly as usual. Dissension is seeping in once again with as many as 3 players looking for an out. The Sabres are teetering between reloading this roster for bigger and better things or unfortunately, another full rebuild. If Buffalo doesn’t set this straight soon, which disgruntled player is next? Tage? Dahlin? Maybe even newly acquired Josh Norris? The Sabres have made a couple of good moves so far, bringing in Jarmo Kekäläinen as senior advisor. He also seems an obvious heir apparent to Kevyn Adams. Plus one of the top strength and conditioning coaches in Brian Galivan, after 6 years with USA hockey. But this team needs to do even more and make real change this summer. Bring in established talent to get this team in contention and back in the playoffs. Show the fans and the players that they are serious about winning. Otherwise we will be looking at another tear down of the team and an even more demoralized fan base. If that is humanly possible.