Matthew: The Sabres will finish 2nd in the division, 4th in the conference, and will make the Conference Final. Injuries will not be an issue this season, because of some impressive depth, however, bank of it: this team will have scoring inconsistency issues all throughout the year, and there will be a lot of frustration about the team’s inability to bring in the “much needed” Top 6 forward, who will come next season. Drew Stafford is going to come back to earth — he will not score 9 goals in two weeks this season, and will probably cap around 25. Tyler Ennis will have a breakout year of 30-35 goals. Tyler Myers will have his best season to date. Broken Jochen will play less than half of the season, but will be untradeable. Leopold will be gone at the deadline. Kassian, Foligno and Adam will all play significant roles on the team at some part in the year. Ryan Miller will have an impressive regular season, but a shaky post-season. Ville Leino will struggle, while Jason Pominville and Christian Ehrhoff quietly have career years.
Brandon: On paper, the Sabres appear to have one of the deepest rosters in the entire league if everyone is to live up to their potential. Right now I expect a full, prosperous season from Derek Roy; one in which he proves to everyone he is in fact worthy of centering a top line in the NHL. I also think Thomas Vanek notches 35+ goals relatively easily while Ennis breaks out with his first 30-goal campaign. Ryan Miller gives me the feeling he has the Vezina in his sights once again and he’ll have one hell of a year. Players like Jhonas Enroth, Luke Adam and Mike Weber will all exceed expectations and play a big role in one form or another throughout the season. Quite simply this team is not getting enough credit from the national media (aside from Pierre LeBrun, who happens to be one very smart man) and I think they’ll open a lot of eyes around the league this season. This made up for it’s loses (if you can call Tim Connolly a loss) with huge gains this offseason so I don’t really get why improvement shouldn’t be anticipated. Taking a look at the conference as a whole, the only teams I say are clearly better than the Sabres are Washington and Pittsburgh. My prediction? The Sabres eclipse the 100-point marker while helping Boston to remember why this our division. They’ll make a great run in the playoffs but ultimately fall short to the Capitals in the Eastern Conference Finals. All things considered, those are fair expectations for this team. Anything more is an added bonus.
Brian: The team will struggle back and forth with Boston all year, finishing 2nd in the division and fourth in the conference. There will be a 2 week stretch where this team hurts their chances for the division, but shouldn’t hurt them too much in their playoff quest. I expect Vanek to actually take charge of this team and push close to 40 goals, while Stafford takes a small step back. At least 6-8 players should score 20+ goals in Vanek, Stafford, Roy, Ennis, Gerbe, Pominville. Leino, Boyes and Adam. Not to mention multiple defensemen and other forwards being able to generate points. How effective this team can play in front of Miller/Enroth will be key. I expect Enroth to play 15-20 games, and Kassian ends up on the roster if/when Kaleta is down with an injury. 100+ points and an Eastern Conference Finals appearance.
Fake Darcy: 114 points and a three year extension.
Mike: My gut feeling is that the Sabres win the Northeast and finish second or third in the conference. Fact: no team has ever won the Northeast Divison in back-to-back years. In fact, you’d have to go all the way back to the Adams Division and the 1989-90 and 1990-91 Bruins to find a current Northeast team that repeated as division champs. The Sabres added a lot of quality in Ehrhoff, Regehr, and Leino; meanwhile, Toronto is depending on Tim Connolly to be a top-line center, Ottawa will probably be a bottom-five team at best, and Montreal is just sort of there. So if the trend continues and Boston doesn’t repeat, who else besides Buffalo has a realistic shot as division champ?
Shelby: I think they can get between 5-7 in the conference. The additions of Regehr, Leino, and Ehrhoff are definitely going to help but I don’t think it’s going to immediately make them a contender for the Cup. If Miller stays healthy, as does a lot of the key guys on this team, I think they can get as far as the second round in the playoffs.
Mark: I expect the Sabres to be 4th in conference. We’ll be a very good team, but I’m not ready to place us higher than the Bruins yet, so top 3 is out. Even with all the free agent additions, the key will still be Miller. I expect him to have a rebound season and help secure us home ice for 1st round of playoffs. Myers should have a much better all around season as well.
Joe: The biggest problem last year was that the Sabres were bad in their own zone. Enter Robyn Regehr and Christian Ehrhoff, and now the Sabres blueline may be the deepest in the conference. Unfortuntely, I don’t think the Sabres will overtake Boston in the divison. However, I do see both teams being over 100 points, but I just think Boston’s toughness with their forwards will be the ex-factor for the division race. I’ll say that I wouldn’t be shocked if the Sabres win the division. Overall, I think the Sabres will finish 4th in the conference.
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