With the annual Rookie Tournament underway and the days counting down to training camp, it is time to take a look at the Toronto Maple Leafs competition in the Atlantic Division and see where they stand prior to the season.
The Atlantic once again appears top heavy, with a trio of clubs that earned more than 100 points occupying the automatic playoff spots at the top of the division last season and five clubs that either will battle for a wild card spot or to stay away from the bottom of the standings, but there is always one team that no one expects and surprises.
The Buffalo Sabres have arguably been one of the worst, most mismanaged clubs in the NHL this decade, having not made the playoffs since 2011, finishing last in their division five of the last six years and with the league’s worst record in 2014, 2015 and 2018.
Buffalo made the prudent decision to tank in 2015 to get either Connor McDavid or Jack Eichel, but bad trades and free agent signings by former GM Tim Murray to hasten the rebuild bogged down the Sabres.
GM Jason Botterill has begun reset the roster once again, dealing winger Evander Kane to San Jose for futures before the trade deadline and center Ryan O’ Reilly to St. Louis over the summer and adopting a model similar to Toronto with a club centered around a core group of talented youngsters.
After being the bridesmaid in 2014 and 2015 resulted in drafting Sam Reinhart and Eichel, the Sabres have hit paydirt in their last two drafts with center Casey Mittelstadt (8th overall in 2017) and 2018 top pick Rasmus Dahlin. Eichel and Mittelstadt gives head coach Phil Housley two talented young centers to work with, and a top six that includes wingers Kyle Okposo, Reinhart and Jeff Skinner.
How the Leafs lines will look this afternoon at the Rookie Showdown. #TMLtalk
Veterans Vladimir Sobotka and Patrik Berglund (acquired from St. Louis) provide experience and depth to the Buffalo lineup and Conor Sheary (acquired from Pittsburgh) adds some much needed speed on the wing.
Dahlin is a remarkable talent with the size, speed, shot and hockey IQ that leaves most NHL GM’s salivating and could have an immediate impact. Rasmus Ristolainen is a top pairing defenseman no matter how many detractors, and has been overused the last few seasons because Buffalo’s blueline has been ravaged by injuries and lack of depth.
The Sabres have young up-and-comers in Brendan Guhle and Jake McCabe is a solid defender, but the key to not overwhelming Dahlin and Ristolainen is to get consistent contributions from veterans Nathan Beaulieu, Marco Scandella and Matt Hunwick and having the oft-injured Zach Bogosian stay healthy.
The failure of Robin Lehner to establish himself as a #1 led to the Sabres allowing him to walk as an unrestricted free agent. The torch apparently is being passed to 25-year-old Linus Ullmark (who had a very good year with the AHL Rochester Americans last season), but in case he is not ready to assume the workload of a full time starter, veteran free agent Carter Hutton was added to split the duties or serve as a stop gap #1.
Everything will have to go right for the Sabres to challenge for a wild card spot; no rookie hiccups, no major injuries to their blueline and Ullmark/Hutton providing consistent goaltending, but based on the young talent that they’ve assembled, it will not be long before they challenge the Bruins, Lightning and Leafs for one of the top three spots in the Atlantic.
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