Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - The Buffalo Sabres open their 2024-25 regular season on Friday in Czechia against the New Jersey Devils.
Lindy Ruff is the new head coach in Buffalo, taking over for Don Granato. He and general manager Kevyn Adams have said numerous times this offseason and preseason that the time is now. Adams made numerous moves in the offseason to make this team faster, bigger and harder to play against.
Before we get into that, though, the biggest thing for this team is to take accountability, and buy in to what Ruff is selling.
Tage Thompson began talking about accountability during locker cleanout back in April, and again as training camp started. He is one of the team’s alternate captains with Alex Tuch, Dylan Cozens and Mattias Samuelsson.
"Accountability is all about habits, and you can’t let anything go," said Thompson earlier this preseason. "I think if you let one thing go, then you let another one go and then it starts to develop into bad habits.
"I think it’s about commitment. If everyone commits to what he’s throwing out there and everyone is on the same page, we’re going to have success. It just had to be everyone buying in and a lot of selflessness."
Thompson went from 47 goals to 29 goals last season. Injuries played a big role in that, but he is right. He needs to be better.
I personally feel Thompson can be a consistent 45-to-50 goal scorer in this league. If the power play improves, his goals will be right back up there.
Last season, Tuch’s production fell to 22 goals and 37 assists for 59 points. That’s 14 goals fewer and 20 points less than the season before when he set career highs.
Many times already, Tuch has referenced his start to last season when he had no goals and one point in his first six games. He only had one goal in his first 11 games.
"First and foremost, I know I need to be better," said Tuch earlier this preseason. "Personally, I came in with a chip on my shoulder this summer. I skated earlier than I usually do, and each guy in that locker room has to push the guy next to us, raising that standard individually, and as a full team.
"I know I personally underachieved, but most of all our team underachieved. I take that personally, and I look forward to the future and what we can do as a group."
Between trades and free agent signing, Adams made over 26% of the team. He traded for Ryan McLeod from the Edmonton Oilers and Beck Malenstyn from the Washington Capitals, while signing Jason Zucker, Dennis Gilbert, Sam Lafferty and Nicolas Aube-Kubel in free agency.
Malenstyn, Lafferty and Aube-Kubel make up a line that is fast, and is extremely hard to play against. I’ve been saying through most of this playoff drought that the Sabres have not been constructed right, and Adams finally took care of that with the moves he made.
Thompson has been very impressed with the line of Malenstyn-Lafferty-Aube-Kubel.
"The first thing that stands out with all those guys is the speed. They’re all tenacious on the puck," Thompson said. "You get the puck on your stick and you look up, there’s someone right in your face, and it’s usually one of those guys. That’s the kind of intensity and relentlessness you need."
"We brought in guys like McLeod and Lafferty, guys that fly up and down the ice and will bring a lot of energy," Tuch added. "I didn’t think we were a slow team by any means, but we’re definitely harping on the idea of playing faster."
What Adams didn’t bring in this offseason was a top-six forward.
Zach Benson is going to get the chance to fill that role with Cozens and Jack Quinn. Last year in 71 games as an 18-year-old, he scored 11 goals to go with 19 assists for 30 points.
Benson has scored goals at every level he’s ever played in, so the question is, how much of a bump up can the Sabres expect in Year 2?
Only four guys from the 2023 NHL Draft played in the NHL, and Benson’s 30 points ranked second behind Chicago Blackhawks' first overall pick Connor Bedard. Benson was picked 13th overall, while the other two players were picks second and third overall. His 71 games were the most of any of them.
Two big "ifs" for this team are Quinn and Mattias Samuelsson. Can they both stay healthy?
They haven’t been able to do it in their short professional careers, but I fully believe that if Quinn stays healthy, he will score 30 or more goals. His shot and his hockey sense around the net is elite.
Ruff only has two right-shot defensemen out of eight, and he likes having a left-handed defenseman with a right-handed partner when possible. Samuelsson is definitely a top-four defensemen, but since he shoots left, he’s with Connor Clifton, who shoots right.
Owen Power and Bo Byram are both lefties, but when Rasmus Dahlin missed much of camp with an injury, Power went to the right side and was paired with Byram. They performed extremely well together.
Power had a very good second half of the 2023-24 season, while Byram struggled because of no structure in the defensive zone. Ruff has brought structure, and both looked vastly improved in the preseason.
That brings me to the new captain of the Sabres.
Dahlin will be with Henri Jokiharju to start the year, who had his best season in the NHL last year. Dahlin is an excellent defenseman, but if the Sabres are going to be champions, at some point, he’ll need to be elite all of the time, not just some of the time.
The NHL Network ranked him as the 11th-best defenseman in the NHL, and I don’t think that’s wrong. Vancouver Canucks defenseman Quinn Hughes shouldn’t be better than Dahlin, but the reigning Norris Trophy winner is.
If you re-draft the 2018 NHL Draft, I think Hughes and Brady Tkachuk would be one-two, and then Dahlin would be third overall.
If the Sabres are to eventually win the Stanley Cup, Dahlin has to elevate himself to be one of the top-two or three defensemen in the NHL. I think he’s totally capable of achieving that.
Related
JJ Peterka remains on the top line with Thompson and Tuch. The kid scored 28 goals last season, and there is likely more to give.
Adams got the two-way center with speed and the ability to win draws to play behind Thompson and Cozens.
McLeod comes in with 56 games of playoff experience with the Oilers, and played in the Stanley Cup Final this past year.
None of this really matters if Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen isn’t as good or better than he was last season. The same goes for Devon Levi.
Last year was Luukkonen’s first season as a No. 1 NHL goalie, and he did very well in a career-high 54 games. Luukkonen showed that hard work and a "never say die" attitude really does pay off in the end.
I don’t see any reason why it won’t continue.
Related
Peyton Krebs is still the young player without a role. He will start the season as the Sabres' 13th forward and will have to wait his turn to get in the lineup.
Join Brian Koziol on Friday, as he hosts pregame coverage on WGR live from Prague starting at 12 p.m. ET. He’ll be joined by NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly, as well as myself and Pat Malacaro.