Sunday, September 23, 2018

Sabres Slashes: Offseason Review

The Buffalo Sabres finished last season with only 62 points for last place in the NHL. There was some work to be done in the offseason, and it started with the draft.

The Sabres managed to win the 2018 NHL Entry Draft Lottery and get the number one pick overall. With that first pick, they snagged defenseman Rasmus Dahlin. Dahlin is expected to be a franchise number one defenseman and will start the year with the Sabres.

The team then went to work in the offseason by adding some speed and goal scoring. The first order of business was to sign some of their own players to contracts. Casey Nelson signed a two-year contract extension followed by the signings of Rasmus Asplund and Ukka-Pekka Luukkonen to three-year entry level contracts. Then the Sabres added some speed and goal scoring to the lineup with the addition of Conor Sheary in a trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins. They also added veteran defenseman Matt Hunwick in that same deal.

The biggest loss of the offseason was when they traded center Ryan O'Reilly to the St. Louis Blues for forwards Vladimir Sobotka, Tage Thompson, and Patrik Berglund. The team lost some veteran players to free agency like goalie Robin Lehner, center Jordan Nolan, goalie Chad Johnson and center Jacob Josefson.

They signed two new goalies in Scott Wedgewood and Carter Hutton. Hutton figures to be the starter come the regular season. The Sabres signed Dahlin to his entry level contract and then got back to business with taking care of their own players. Buffalo signed the following players to new one year deals: center Sean Malone, right wing Nicholas Baptiste, right wing Justin Bailey, center Danny O'Reagan and left wing CJ Smith. Another big move made by the Sabres was to acquire Jeff Skinner from the Carolina Hurricanes for Cliff Pu and a couple of draft picks.

Skinner will add some much needed scoring to the Sabres top six. He is a good skater and can put the puck in the net. Skinner has scored 20 or more goals in six of his eight seasons in the NHL. He has also added 40 or more points in six of eights seasons in the League.

The Sabres had one of the better summers in the League by having some luck with the Draft Lottery and filling some gaping holes in the roster. The biggest differences this season could be a healthy Jack Eichel and a break out season by Sam Reinhart.

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