Buffalo Sabres: Rasmus Dahlin leads revamped defense
Are Jack Eichel, Rasmus Dahlin, and the Buffalo Sabres ready to take the NHL by surprise after an offseason full of changes?
The Buffalo Sabres have been stuck in a rebuild for the past seven years. Their rebuild has been started, restarted, and restarted from the previous restart. All of the pain became worth it when the Sabres drafted defenseman Rasmus Dahlin with the top overall pick.
A huge reason Buffalo has been rebuilding has been to get their franchise cornerstones. They already had Jack Eichel and Casey Mittelstadt but needed a defenseman to lead their blueline. There’s no reason to believe Dahlin won’t be that guy.
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Last season, the Sabres were expecting results, and rightfully so. They didn’t get the desired results, so Buffalo began a lengthy process of changing their culture. It was led by trading center Ryan O’Reilly to the St. Louis Blues.
Next, the Sabres made some bold moves by signing goaltender Carter Hutton and trading for goal scoring wing Jeff Skinner. Both of these moves show Buffalo is once again expecting better results this season.
Last season, the New Jersey Devils took the league by surprise and wound up making the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Could the 2017-18 Sabres follow a similar path?
Offseason Review
Additions: Skinner, Hutton, Dahlin, F Conor Sheary, D Matt Hunwick, F Vladimir Sobotka, F Patrik Berglund, F Tage Thompson, G Scott Wedgewood, D Brandon Hickey
Departures: O’Relly, G Robin Lehner, D Justin Falk, D Josh Gorges, D Victor Antipin, F Jacob Josefson, F Jordan Nolan, G Chad Johnson, F Benoit Pouliot
The Sabres made it a point to address their forward depth this offseason. Sheary is an intriguing wing, even if he hasn’t done well away from Sidney Crosby. Hunwick is a decent depth defenseman. Sobotka and Berglund should help anchor the Sabres’ bottom six while Thompson could grab a top-six role.
Wedgewood will effectively be the third-string goaltender and gives them some AHL depth now that Linus Ullmark will probably be on the NHL roster. Skinner has one year left on his contract, so that’s going to be a fascinating situation to watch. Will they re-sign him? Or hope to flip him at the trade deadline for a larger return than they gave up?