What Went Wrong for the Sabres This Season

Sabre Issue #2: Special Teams

Powerplay percentage: 18.8% (24th in the NHL). Penalty kill percentage: 76.3% (23rd in the NHL). Bottom ten in both categories, not ideal. The Sabres powerplay unit struggled massively with zone entries throughout the year. It was hard to watch. Tage Thompson scored just 7 goals on the powerplay all year long. Thompson can rip the puck over 100mph. He led the league in even strength goals and finished third for total goals. For context, Leon Draisaitl had double the amount of powerplay goals Thompson had.

The penalty kill looked good at times. Alex Tuch led the NHL in shorthanded goals with six. However, the numbers speak for themselves. Whether poor goaltending or defensively play is to blame, it doesn’t matter when the puck keeps going in the net. If the Sabres can stabilize the penalty kill next season while maintaining scoring, it’ll be a good unit that should help them close out games.

Possible Solution

Seth Appert was promoted from Head Coach in Rochester to Assistant Coach for the Sabres. Appert is the one largely in charge of the powerplay. There may be a change in title coming for him this offseason. The Sabres previously had Matt Ellis running the powerplay. Last season they moved Ellis off the bench into a different role to let Appert take over. A similar move for Appert would not be surprising.

For the penalty kill, I hope a healthy Jordan Greenway can help solidify the unit. Greenway only played 34 games for the Sabres this season. But he’s a beast on the penalty kill. The 6’6 tall forward uses his long reach to disrupt plays and take away passing lanes. If Greenway can stay healthy, he should be a massive help for the Sabres penalty kill next season.

Sabre Issue #3: Team Defense

The Sabres gave up 3.50 goals per game. Bad enough for 29th in the NHL. The sabres made an effort last offseason to bolster their depth with hopes of being harder to play against. Sam Lafferty and Beck Malenstyn were two of those acquisitions. Lafferty finished -15, and Malenstyn -16. Jack Quinn finished a -13. Owen Power, with 40 points, finished -13. As addressed previous, goaltending was poor this season. However, this problem seems to be in two parts. The Sabres scored the 10th most goals in the NHL this year, offensively they did well. If they can clean things up defensively, they should be able to help out their goaltenders and win some more games.

Sabre Issue #4: 13 straight losses

Bad teams can go on winning streaks. Good teams don’t go on losing streaks. It’s very rare to see a good team losing multiple games in a row. And well, the Sabres surely did that. A stretch in December found them with 13 straight losses. Yes, star players were injured. It doesn’t matter. What sunk their season was that losing streak. The Sabres finished 12 points out off a playoff spot. If they had won half the games in this stretch, they could have competed for a spot at the latest. The losing trip saw them fall from a wildcard spot to last in the Atlantic. It was a brutal stretch. And worse, nothing was done by management. Just rode it out until the team inevitably broke the streak.

Possible Solution

Management should be willing to trade away assets if the team ever hits a rut again. Or this offseason, establish a veteran presence in the locker room that can will a young team to wins. Fingers crossed the Sabres never reach double digit losses next season.

This was a frustrating season for a young Sabres team. Teams like Montreal and Ottawa took leaps and made it to the postseason while the Sabres found themselves in a similar position at the end of the year. Management has work to do this summer. Best case scenario the Sabres can address these issues in the offseason. They score a lot of goals, they’re talented. Just haven’t figured out how to put it all together yet.