The Buffalo Sabres’ woes have continued this past week, as they just had their roof blown off twice in a row by letting 6 goals past their netminders against the St. Louis Blues and Carolina Hurricanes respectively. They have lost their identity of being a high-octane, goal-scoring team, and while it kept them alive last season, it is time to recognize that something needs to change for them to improve. At this point, a number of things could be done to improve this team, but the question remains as to which one would work best.
This season was all about showing that the young players developed enough to be given the keys to the car and drive it to a playoff spot, but instead, it was closer to handing them the keys just to realize that they are trying to press on the gas while the car is in park. The engine is revving up, but the car is going nowhere, and neither is this team. Night in and night out, they look flat and unmotivated to compete for longer than 20 minutes in a game. They are unable to get any offensive zone time, and the defense puck watches for so long that the goalies have no chance to react. It is time for some changes on multiple fronts to get this team going this season.
Sabres’ Special Teams Coaching Needs a Change
Without mincing words, the power play is pathetic and predictable. There is no creativity and even less variation in the power-play strategy that opposing teams barely break a sweat trying to defend it, and it ultimately becomes a two-minute time waster. The constant strategy of sitting Rasmus Dahlin or Owen Power up top at the point while they try to feed it to the right side winger in Victor Olofsson or JJ Peterka for a one-timer (or the left side when Tage Thompson is healthy) or having Dahlin just fire slap-shots into the pressuring forward’s shins are just not working. The utilization of Mittelstadt, Alex Tuch, Jeff Skinner, and Zach Benson is minimal, and Dylan Cozens has had almost no impact whatsoever. The coach that runs the power play needs to be removed from the bench and replaced with someone that has a fresh idea to make this group successful.
The penalty kill (PK) has been alright but has also been slipping a lot in recent games. We can be upset as fans all we want about how or when officials call penalties, but ultimately, the penalty kill needs to keep pucks out of the net if they are going to have a chance at winning. The strategy once again is not working, and there needs to be an adjustment by the coaching staff or an adjustment to the coaching staff. Don Granato needs to be held accountable for these things, and he needs to be the one to motivate his coaches and players to give more to the overall effort. Adjusting the special teams will only lead to more scoring as a whole, and it needs to be done as soon as possible.
Sabres’ Need New Life Brought In
The forward group has a lot of scoring talent, but they have no synergy as of late. Yes, players like Casey Mittelstadt, Alex Tuch, and JJ Peterka are scoring more than the others, but the group as a whole has been lackluster. Even when young talents like Matt Savoie, Jiri Kulich, Brandon Biro, and Isak Rosen are called up from the minors to be given a chance to play, they are given little to no chance to make an impact before they are benched or sent down. So, the current group can’t score, and the kids who have potential aren’t given a chance to score. Where does that leave this team?
It leads to the conclusion of a potential trade being made to jolt some new life into this group. If the kids aren’t allowed to contribute, then the veterans need to step aside and let Kevyn Adams use some of those young assets or draft picks to bring in a player or two who can mix up the chemistry and bring some scoring touch with them. One name that comes to mind is San Jose Sharks forward Anthony Duclair. He is a 28-year-old scoring player who has some term left on his contract, and being on the Sharks, he is definitely available for the right price. Adams has a lot of young players to offer, along with draft picks, so bringing him in to add some speed and grit to the offense would be a great way to shake things up.
Give Jiri Kulich a Real Shot
One game is not enough time to determine if a young player is ready for the NHL, especially for what could be considered the team’s top prospect in a lot of ways. Kulich was given one game and around 15 minutes of ice time in a blowout game against the New Jersey Devils as his NHL debut, but he was sent back down to Rochester in favor of Brandon Biro and Isak Rosen being in the NHL. In his minor league season thus far, Kulich has 13 goals and 19 points in 18 games played, and a number of them have come on the power play.
With the Sabres needing goal-scoring help in general and a new option to score on their power play since Thompson went down with his injury, having a scoring threat like Kulich could go a long way if he was given better linemates than Peyton Krebs and Kyle Okposo. Giving him a playmaker like Casey Mittelstadt along with a hard-working power forward like Alex Tuch would give him the ability to play his game, keep things simple, and find opportunities to be open and score. His call-up was long overdue as it was, and sending him back down in favor of keeping Rosen and Biro is ridiculous. This team is built to score, and so is he, so it is about time Adams and Granato saw that connection and put it into practice immediately.
Sabres Scoring Drought Only Means One Thing
They cannot just sit back and “trust the process” anymore. Talking about doing better and taking the positives away from each game is not enough for anyone. The players are clearly fed up with it, as Dylan Cozens voiced his disapproval in his post-game remarks from the 6-2 loss to the Hurricanes, and the fans are even more fed up with it. Action is all that matters now, and it is on the shoulders of Adams and Granato to make the necessary moves that will make this team a success.
Related – Grading Sabres A Quarter Way Through The Season
Nothing short of a winning record is acceptable this season. Playoffs are what matter more than anything, and those hopes are slipping away slowly once again early on. Thankfully, the rest of the Atlantic division is not doing nearly as well as was originally anticipated, so there still is a sliver of hope for the Buffalo Sabres. Enough is enough. It is time for something to change to get this team up to the standard that everyone was expecting at the start of the season.
