The Buffalo Sabres are a team on the rise as they approach what could be an extremely interesting offseason.
After having one of the worst seasons that a non-expansion team has ever had in 2014-15, the Buffalo Sabres drastically improved during the 2015-16 season. They still finished 14th in the Eastern Conference and 23rd in the NHL, but considering how bad they were in 2014-15, that’s a significant improvement.
More importantly, Buffalo saw young players develop. Jack Eichel was worth every ounce of the hype that he received as the second overall pick. Sam Reinhart showed why he was a high draft pick. Ryan O’Reilly proved to be worth every penny of the hefty price tag that Buffalo paid to get him. Defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen finally showed that he can be a first pairing defenseman. Mark Pysyk slowly earned the trust of Dan Bylsma and is a breakout candidate for the 2016-17 season.
Entering the offseason, Buffalo has 16 players under contract for the 2016-17 season and has over $22 million of cap space. General Manager Tim Murray has proven that he’s not afraid to be aggressive to improve his team by trading for Evander Kane, Zach Bogosian, Robin Lehner, and Ryan O’Reilly over the past 16 months. The Sabres have 12 draft picks (including four third round picks) in the 2016 NHL Draft. Don’t be surprised if Buffalo uses them to trade up or infuse more talent onto their roster.
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Next: 2015-16 Season Review